I have to share this because I was completely defeated after failing twice. I'm a neuro ICU nurse with 8 years of experience and I genuinely thought that would be enough to carry me through. It wasn't. My first two attempts I scored in the low 60s when you need a 70 to pass. The content felt familiar but the way the questions were written tripped me up constantly — they test critical thinking, not just recall.
What finally changed for me was being really systematic about it. I gave myself 10 weeks, studied about 90 minutes a day, and stopped relying on just my clinical experience. I found a solid CNRN study guide that broke down the neurological nursing domains and actually worked through every section instead of skipping what I thought I already knew. Spoiler: I didn't know it as well as I thought.
The biggest game changer was hammering CNRN practice test questions — like hundreds of them. Doing questions under timed conditions made the actual exam feel familiar. Anyone else been through multiple attempts? What clicked for you?