Noelle M. Adams, RN, BSN, CCRN

By Erin Flynn Jay

Noelle Adams, a Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN®) at PeaceHealth in Vancouver, Washington, worked in critical care for many years and then worked in the medical device industry before returning to the bedside to work in critical care. “I wanted a CCRN® certification for a long time, so I thought, let’s do it,” she said.

Adams was certified as a CCRN® in August. When she started doing critical care about 20 years ago, she thought certification was important, but “it wasn’t really enforced how important it was for standardizing our care as nurses within the ICU.”

It became apparent to Adams that certification was going to be necessary. “As someone coming back to the bedside, working a shift as a nurse, I thought I needed to be at a high level of function,” said Adams. “I needed a goal of certification within the first year of being back at the bedside. October 15 marked my one-year anniversary back and by August I certified as a CCRN®.”

Adams said it was not easy to become certified. She bought books and listened to webinars to prepare.

The best study tactic she used to prepare for the exam was go to a two-day prep course from a local educator. This instructor did most of her practice at a hospital in Seattle. Adams reviewed prep books and online content. She made sure she was covering her bases. Adams set aside two weeks of studying for two hours a day and followed the schedule she set for herself. She knew what her weaknesses were in regard to the content she needed to be proficient in, so that’s what she focused on.

Is there anything Adams wishes she did differently to prepare for the exam? “I could have added an extra week of study,” she said.

Adams plans to recertify by keeping up with her CE credits through whatever means the ACN dictates. She would prefer not to take the exam again.

At PeaceHealth, Adams works in a cardiovascular intensive care unit. In her facility they give nurses an hourly bonus for being certified, which she noted is tremendous. Her hospital recognizes nurses in the unit for being certified (via a plaque on the wall in the unit and on your badge). Certification demonstrates that nurses have in-depth knowledge of their specialty.

A typical day for Adams starts at 6:30 am PST, when she is given an assignment. “You get that, but things change very quickly. The acuity of the patient can change dramatically if someone needs intubation or a new patient comes to you who is intubated,” she said. “It’s a dynamic environment. I am happy I returned to intensive care.”

Adams said her favorite part of being a CCRN® is working at the bedside. She feels she helps her patients the most “by having a certain base of knowledge, but I am propelled to learn more.” For example, Adams said she wants to know more about fluid balance with a patient who comes in with complicated comorbidities and needs fluid resuscitation.

One change in intensive care that Adams is pleased to see is related to family visits. “In the past we’d take patient’s families away from the bedside and visits would be very brief. There is much more transparency about what intensive care medicine can control and what is left up to chance; also, there is a lot of gray area,” said Adams. Now family members will often stay at the bedside for longer periods of time, which increases their understanding of the patient’s minute-to-minute care and expectations of the patient’s outcome. “If there are difficult decisions for the family to make on behalf of the patient, then the family can take comfort from an eyewitness perspective that they have made the best decisions with the most updated information for their loved one,” she added.

Adams plans to seek cardiacvascular certification next.

To get started on your path to becoming certified, take the next step with 14 days of FREE access to our Adult CCRN® Certification Review. We can help you pass.

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