I'm not going to lie, I failed my first attempt back in February by just 3 points. I scored a 68% and needed a 71% to pass, so I was devastated. I'd been working in GI nursing for about 4 years at that point and figured my clinical experience would carry me through, but the infection control and equipment reprocessing sections absolutely wrecked me.
Second time around I gave myself 8 weeks and completely changed my approach. I focused heavily on the SGNA core curriculum, specifically the chapters on patient assessment and procedure-specific care. Those two content areas make up a huge chunk of the exam - I'd estimate 35-40% of the questions I saw were related to patient safety and procedure prep. I also drilled flashcards on medication dosages and sedation monitoring.
On exam day I had 100 questions and about 2.5 hours to complete it. I finished in around 90 minutes but went back and changed 4 answers - ended up getting 3 of those wrong, so lesson learned there. Final score was 78%, which felt amazing after the first attempt.
If you're retaking or prepping for the first time, don't underestimate the documentation and legal standards section. That one surprised me with how detailed the questions were around reporting requirements and patient rights.
The sedation monitoring content caught me off guard too. I reviewed capnography basics before my second attempt and saw at least 5-6 questions in that area - definitely worth dedicating a study session to it.
That infection control section is brutal, I completely agree. I passed on my first try last October with a 74% but it was close. The reprocessing questions felt really specific about endoscope handling timelines.
Congrats on pushing through and retaking - a lot of people just don't bother after a first fail.
I passed in 2023 and from what I remember it was probably 60% application and 40% pure recall. The scenario questions aren't super long but they require you to know the rationale behind the answer, not just the fact itself.
Do you remember if the exam was mostly knowledge-based or more scenario and application questions? I sit in 3 weeks and I'm not sure where to focus my last stretch of studying.
I've been using the SGNA practice questions but some of them feel outdated compared to current guidelines.