CNOR
CNOR - Is It Worth the Time and Money?
If you are a registered nurse currently working in an operating environment, you have probably at some point considered pursuing the Certified Nurse Operating Room designation. It takes a lot of time, effort, and money to take the CNOR exam. The test costs a few hundred dollars and requires a great deal of work to prepare for if you want to be confident of passing. If you happen to fail, you are looking at spending another couple hundred dollars and more hours of studying in order to retake it. Is becoming a CNOR really worth all this trouble?
In a few cases, it may not be worth a nurse's time and effort to pursue CNOR certification. If you are planning on retiring in the next few years, and your hospital is not pushing you to get certified, then, frankly, there is probably no need for you to do so. On the other hand, for the vast majority of operating room nurses, earning the CNOR is likely to be an investment in your career that will pay handsome dividends. For some people, these dividends will be immediate; for others, they will pay off somewhere down the road.
It is certainly true that most hospitals do not require CNOR certification to work in an operating room. In fact, this would be impossible, since a person must have 2400 hours of operating room nursing experience before taking the test. However, in many hospitals, a nurse who earns the certification will qualify for an immediate raise. Some hospitals will pay for the test and related materials. Even if an immediate raise is not forthcoming, a certified operating room nurse will be in a great position for more responsibilities and authority when opportunities come up in the future, which will most likely lead to an increase in pay.
The other main consideration is that having the designation will give an OR nurse many more opportunities if he or she is thinking of looking for a new job, whether in the same community or three thousand miles away. Everything else being equal, a future employer will prefer hiring a nurse who is a CNOR over one who is not. For most OR nurses, taking the CNOR test is certainly worth it.
CNOR Exam Facts
What is the CNOR Exam? It is a national certification test given for operating room nurses. Those who pass are allowed to use the designation CNOR, which stands for Certified Nurse Operating Room. While OR nurses in most hospitals are not required to possess the CNOR title, more and more of them are choosing to do so in order to qualify for more responsibilities and higher salaries. If present trends continue at the same rate, OR nurses who lack CNOR certification will soon find themselves at a competitive disadvantage in the employment market.
The CNOR exam is a computer based test, given at hundreds of locations across the U.S. It must be scheduled well in advance, and the test is given only during a certain period of time each year, called a testing window. (This schedule means that if the test taker does not pass, he or she will need to wait a year before retaking the test.) There are 200 questions on the CNOR test, and the exam must be completed within a time frame of three hours and 45 minutes. For security and other reasons, there are various versions of the CNOR exam, each one being slightly different, but generally speaking, it is necessary to answer approximately 75 percent of the questions correctly in order to pass. Because a blank answer counts the same as a wrong answer, it is in the interest of the test taker to guess at the answer if he or she is unsure. Because a wrong answer counts the same as no answer, guessing cannot lower a person's score; however, a correct guess can raise one's score.
Currently it costs nearly four hundred dollars to sit for the exam; members of AORN receive a discount of about one hundred dollars. In many cases, the hospital a nurse works for will cover the cost of the CNOR exam if he or she makes a passing grade, but this is certainly not true across the board. Because the test is so difficult and because of the long wait to retake the test, most nurses purchase a good CNOR exam study guide well in advance of the test and use it to sharpen their knowledge about the material the test covers, which is quite extensive. It should be noted that the failure rate of nurses taking the test for a second time is higher than for those taking it the first time, so it is prudent to be prepared for the exam the first time you take it.
CNOR Certification - Why You Should Consider It
CNOR Certification is something that is of interest to more and more operating room nurses. CNOR stands for Certified Nurse Operating Room, and the designation is proof that its holder has mastered all the theory and practice that makes for a top-notch operating room nurse. The test is given at Prometric testing locations across the United States and is computer based. There are several versions of the test, but they are all fairly similar. The testing center incorporates small changes in the different versions for security purposes. A nurse must register ahead of time to take the test; currently the registration window is July and August, while testing sessions are assigned from October through December.
Many operating room nurses balk at CNOR certification. For one thing, it costs nearly four hundred dollars to take the CNOR exam, which is a lot of money. Since there is no guarantee of passing, that could be four hundred dollars wasted. Another common reason given for not taking the exam is that most hospital operating rooms do not require OR nurses to be CNOR certified. This leaves many nurses wondering why they should bother taking the test if it is not necessary for employment. However, there are some very good reasons for earning the CNOR designation; most OR nurses would benefit greatly from doing so.
One excellent reason for a nurse to take the exam is the respect that CNOR certification carries with it. It signifies that the nurse is among the elite of operating room nurses and has thoroughly mastered his or her vocation. Secondly, while it is true that most hospitals do not require CNOR certification, some of the top hospitals in the country do, and this requirement is expected to become more widespread in the coming years. A third reason for taking the test is that it can lead to higher salaries. Some hospitals will give a nurse a raise immediately after he or she passes the test; in addition, many hospitals will reimburse the test fees. In those hospitals where CNOR certification does not merit an immediate raise, it can certainly be a powerful bargaining chip during the annual employee review. It also opens up many more opportunities for nurses who are looking for a change in employment. A nurse who is CNOR certified will always have an edge over one who is not when it comes to hiring. For these reasons, most OR nurses should give serious consideration to taking the CNOR exam.
The CNOR Test - What Is It All About?
An increasing number of operating room nurses are taking the CNOR test every year. CNOR stands for Certified Nurse Operating Room, and this elite designation can be earned only by passing the exhaustive and demanding CNOR exam. It is given between October 1st and December 31st at Prometric testing locations across the U.S. and Canada, and any nurse seeking to take the test must apply to do so between July 1st and August 31st. (Both the testing and the application dates are subject to change.) The test is computer based, and there is a time limit of three hours and 45 minutes for completion. It currently costs $375 to take the test, which must be paid in advance. Members of AORN receive a substantial discount, and many hospitals will reimburse the nurse for the testing fee upon a passing score. There are different versions of the CNOR test, so passing score requirements are also slightly different; generally speaking, however, the test taker will need to answer between 75 percent and 80 percent of the questions correctly.
There are 200 questions on the CNOR test, covering all aspects of an OR nurse's vocation, both theoretical and practical. The vast majority of the questions, around 90 percent, will be about patient care management. The rest will cover knowledge of personnel, management, and materials issues. Approximately 150 of the questions will cover patient care during surgery, while about 15 percent of the questions will be on pre-op and post-op care. The remaining thirty or so questions will cover various other aspects of OR nursing. The CNOR test is very difficult; many nurses fail it on their first attempt and must wait another year before trying again at a cost of several hundred dollars. Most of those who pass on their first attempt have used a good CNOR study guide, studying it months in advance to renew their familiarity with the material.
CNOR Study Guide - Do not Take the CNOR Without One
If you are thinking of applying to take the CNOR exam, you should definitely purchase a CNOR study guide long before walking into the testing center. For anyone who is serious about becoming a Certified Nurse Operating Room, investing in a quality study guide will be one of the best steps he or she could ever take toward passing the exam. When one compares the small cost of a CNOR study guide to the financial benefits that come from passing the exam, the decision is a no brainer. Passing the CNOR exam is far from easy, and you will need every bit of help you can get. When you pay $375 to take a test, you do not want to have even a slight chance of not passing it.
Many OR nurses getting ready for the CNOR test labor under the illusion that because they have thousands of hours of OR nursing experience, they already know everything they need to know in order to pass the exam. This is a huge mistake; while OR experience is very important, it is not enough to make a passing score. Every year, many OR nurses with years of experience take the CNOR exam only to be crestfallen at finding out they did not pass. This experience is far too common and does not need to happen at all. A good CNOR study guide and diligent review can help ensure a successful testing experience.
Why do so many people fail the CNOR exam? Because the CNOR text is exhaustive and rigorous, and there is far more to it than the day-to-day experiences of a typical OR nurse. To pass the test, you will have to know not only what the right action is in a particular situation, but also need the theory behind that action. In other words, you will need to know why a particular action is the correct one, not just that it is the correct one. The CNOR exam will also cover many technical terms that you may not use on a frequent basis and therefore may have forgotten the meanings of. For all these reasons, and many more, getting a good CNOR study guide prior to the test is absolutely imperative. Do not risk failing this crucial exam.