Pamela Bartley

“I began my nursing career working in intensive care in 1984. As soon as I met criteria to take the CCRN© exam, my educator handed me the AACN Core Curriculum and informed me to read the manual and pass the exam. I failed the CCRN© exam in 1987 by one point, leaving me feeling like a failure and doubting my skills as an ICU nurse. I realized I did not have test-taking skills, and I, like most nurses, do not comprehend material by just reading textbooks. I developed mnemonics for complex content and created flashcards of key content. I read the flashcards aloud and taught other nurses the content. I passed the CCRN© exam in 1988, but that initial disappointment led me to leave the ICU that year for the emergency department. Using my new study and test-taking skills, I went on to pass the CEN©, CPEN©, TCRN©, CFRN©, and CTRN© exams. I experienced the frustration firsthand, so my passion is to mentor nurses to achieve their certification goals.” Follow PDB Nurse Education, LLC on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and my blog posts on the website www.pdbnurseeducationllc.com. The “nurse pass-ologist” Pam