After applying, you will receive a confirmation email stating that you successfully applied. Approximately 5-10 days after the confirmation email is sent, qualifying candidates will receive an approval-to-test email and postcard from AACN’s testing service, PSI/AMP. The email and postcard will include an exam identification number, instructions for scheduling the exam, and a 90-day window for scheduling and taking the exam. Paper Application For applicants applying with a group, taking a paper-and-pencil exam, and/or testing outside the US, a paper application is required. The application will ask for your RN or APRN license information and an honor statement. At this time, you must also pay the $230 examination fee ($140 for AACN members).

A CMC-certified nurse must continue to meet certain requirements to renew every three years. Twenty-five continuing education credits pertaining to cardiology, and in the Clinical Judgment category must be completed in the three year period. Also, within the three-year period, you must have completed 432 direct care hours, with 144 of those hours accrued in the 12 month period preceding the scheduled renewal date and in the care of acutely/critically ill adult cardiac patients. The CSC is a subspecialty certification for nurses who provide direct care to acutely and critically ill adult cardiac patients in the first 48 hours after surgery.
Read on for an overview of how to become a cardiac nurse practitioner, along with resources for you to explore as you plan your career. Located about five miles west of New Haven, the West Haven VA Hospital is a 216-bed hospital and the only tertiary care Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Connecticut. As such, it is the only VA hospital between New York and Massachusetts offering cardiothoracic surgery services. This is an important training location for general adult cardiac and thoracic cases, as well as offering a unique experience in independence and leadership. This is also a location for general surgery and vascular surgery rotations in the junior years.
You can report and record all of your hours there, and if you take them through the AACN’s website directly (or go to one of their conferences like NTI), it auto-populates for you into your profile. If you wanted to get a little preview of what the test questions are like, page 10 of the exam blueprint has eight of them. Finally, monitoring and diagnostics consist of 15% of the exam. This includes train-of-four, capnography, pulse ox, CVP, coagulation labs, ABGs, QT interval and ST-segment monitoring, 12-lead ECG interpretation, chest x-ray, and PA catheters. Prepare yourself ahead of time that there are going to be questions you don’t know.
Open weekly meetings are held for both the Cardiac and Thoracic clinical outcomes research groups, and residents are encouraged to become involved early in the research endeavors. The certified perfusionist should at least install fifty pumps a year. For recertification, the certified perfusionist is required to perform a minimum of forty clinical activities annually. During any two of the five year period, every certified perfusionist must earn twenty Continuing Education Units. After the operation, intensive physicians and nurses help to care the patients. When the patients are discharged, rehabilitation doctors help the patients to go back to normal life.
If you’re not sure if you’re eligible or if the area you work in counts, you can always ask your educator or manager directly or even contact the AACN. Your hospital may actually pay for this certification and testing materials! You should definitely ask your hospital if they offer reimbursement for the exam, and if so how you would go about doing so. If you decide to renew with continuing education credits, there are very specific requirements for them. That process is spelled out on their website, and it’s certainly not something you can do at the last minute. You definitely need to plan to get these done well before your certification expires.
Registered nurses (RNs) or Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) located in the United States, with unencumbered licenses, may apply. The CMC is a nationally accredited clinical nursing specialty certification. Depending on the state in which you practice, your education level, and the licenses and certifications you hold, you may be able to diagnose patients and prescribe medications—responsibilities that typically only fall under a physician’s role. Looking for additional information about what cardiac nurses do? Teague teaches postoperative cardiac surgery classes to new nursing graduates and new members of the CVICU team who don’t have prior cardiac surgery experience. Because of their advanced training, CSC nurses are frequently sought to serve as preceptors and provide education for other nurses on the CVICU team.
The CSC is for nurses who take care of patients within the first 48 hours postoperatively in a cardiovascular/thoracic ICU, stepdown, floor, or PACU. For over a century, a leader in patient care, medical education and research, with expertise in virtually every specialty of medicine and surgery. If that’s a career goal of yours, you can pursue the track to become a registered cardiac nurse and work your way up to being a cardiac nurse practitioner.

AACN Cardiac Surgery Subspecialty Certification Exam

Specifically, you need 1,750 hours as an RN or APRN OR be an RN or APRN with 5 years of experience and a minimum of 2,000 hours with 144 of those hours in the most recent year. You must also already have another certification like the CCRN, PCCN or CCNS. This is a specialty certification that you add to another certification. There are eligibility requirements that you must meet before you can take the CSC exam. This is a certification you can get after working in a position for a certain number of hours as I explained earlier in this post. Our policy is valid for a period of 30 calendar days from the date of the purchase.
At the end of that time period, the licensed RN or ARNP must have been employed for at least 432 hours, with 144 of those hours within the past year, in the area of caring for patients who underwent cardiac surgery within the past 48 hours. To obtain the CMC certification, you must pass the CMC proctored exam. Practice questions and study guides are also available from the AANC and other private vendors. An RN license can be obtained upon the completion of a registered nurse program and gaining licensure. Even at an entry level, nurses must commit to protect the public. Choose from two program options — FNP or PMHNP — and prepare to raise the standard of patient care.

Promote excellence in nursing by enabling future and current nurses with the education and employment resources they need to succeed. If you take the computer-based exam, you will receive your score report as soon as you finish the exam. If you take the paper-and-pencil version of the exam, you will receive your score report by mail 6 to 8 weeks after exam day. Before the exam begins, you will be asked to leave all personal items in your car. This includes items such as your cell phone, books, notes, jacket, hat, food and drink, etc. You will then be asked for your AACN customer number, and a digital photograph of you will be taken.
To qualify, you have to either be providing direct patient care to cardiac patients or supervising nurses that do. The supervising roles that qualify include nurse practitioner, educator, preceptor, manager, or are supervising nursing students who are caring for this specific patient population. This would be tough to say honestly – some hospitals pay more for specialty certifications, some don’t. Because studying for this exam and taking the test are financial and time investments, I would highly recommend how your hospital compensates nurses who go the extra mile for embarking on this professional development journey.

Cardiovascular Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, 2nd Ed

You can renew with continuing education credits or by testing again. You would renew with the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). Have you ever wondered how to get a CSC nursing certification? This includes problems that may arise in all of the body’s systems. The remainder of the CSC exam focuses on specific nursing interventions to be performed to treat these problems. “Your energy and passion to teach makes learning a breeze! Love how you break down complicated content and make it easy to remember.”

This includes the CABG, MAZE, valve repair, surgical treatment of lung and esophageal cancer, and various vascular surgeries. The Cardiac Surgery Certification (CSC) is a subspecialty certification for nurses who already have another certification, like the CCRN and PCCN. New Certification Operative Pathway
The ABTS has approved a new Cardiac Operative Pathway for certification for residents who start their training on or after July 1, 2022.

UK HealthCare encourages its nursing staff to pursue advanced certifications both for career advancement and because data show that certified nurses deliver optimal outcomes for patients. The PGY4-6 senior and chief experiences consist of dedicated cardiac and thoracic surgical rotations, with specifics based on the individual’s career interests. At this stage, residents will also assume administrative responsibilities to derive experience in managing busy clinical services and organizing the educational curriculum for their peers. Registered nurses need to have at least 2 years clinical experience before working in cardiac surgery ICU.
Unlimited access to your test re-views, no time limits & recurring charges. The AACN Cardiac Surgery Subspecialty Certification exam is offered year-round at computer-based testing centers across the United States. Candidates can find the nearest testing center and schedule their exam through the AACN website.
Phoenix Cardiac Surgery makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the value, usefulness or completeness of any information that is made available on this website. He has been voted “Top Doctor” in the field of Cardiothoracic Surgery by his physician peers as featured in Phoenix Magazine for 12 consecutive years. Dr. Fang is regarded as a national expert in the surgical treatment of Atrial Fibrillation.
Also, of the 1750 hours worked, 875 of them must be in the care of acute/critically ill adult cardiac patients. This concise clinical guide provides nurses who care for cardiac patients with speedy access to information and guidelines they need to know and use daily. Heavily updated with the newest clinical practice information, the third edition emphasizes postoperative complications and the nursing interventions designed to prevent and treat them.
About the Online Course
The Cardiac Surgery Certification (CSC®) Review Course is designed to follow the AACN Certification test plan for the CSC® exam. This subspecialty certification will assist nurses working with acutely/critically ill adult cardiac surgery patients in the first 48 hours post-operatively. The course is perfect for nurses working with cardiovascular surgery patients.
So for the CMC , you recommend using Nicole Kupchik’s book and for the CSC her book as well . Our program allows dedicated research opportunities of 1-3 years after the PGY3 year. Projects will be tailored to the trainee’s individual research interests such as basic science research or clinical outcomes research. Advanced degrees are encouraged and can also be obtained through the Yale Investigative Medicine Program, Yale School of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, or Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. A corresponding certification process at the graduate level is not yet available in China but is popular in other advanced area of Asia. Some cities in China are piloting in this area, like Shanghai and Beijing.
We seek diversity in gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. They must adhere to national training and education standards and their professional scope of practice. For example, the training of perfusionists consists of at least five years of academic in medical schools and another three-year-long clinical training in the hospital. The cardiac intensivists usually are medical doctors with a background in cardiology. They spend 3-4 years rotating in Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology, Emergency Rooms and Intensive Care Units.
Ideal for new graduates and nurses considering a switch to cardiac care and critical care, this resource reinforces existing knowledge and provides a foundation for developing additional skills. Nurses with this certification typically work in cardiovascular intensive care units (CVICU), post-anesthesia care units (PACU), or specialty recovery units specific to cardiac surgery (CVRU). The Cardiac Surgery Certification indicates specialization in all aspects of patient care in the area of cardiac surgery. Healthcare professionals with this certification are frequently employed to assess and treat cardiac patients throughout the perioperative period. The American Osteopathic Board of Surgery administers primary and subspecialty certification exams, as well as Osteopathic Continuous Certification requirements.
To pass the exam, you will need to answer at least 80% of the questions correctly. This means that AACN panelists are given information such as test results and other panelists’ rating results to determine the cut score. The cut score is a raw number that is based on how the AACN panelists established the difficulty ratings for each question. You will then be given a practice exam to help you familiarize yourself with the computer system. Once the practice exam is complete, the real exam will begin.
Forming part of the teaching staff is a group of professionals in the world of surgical nursing who bring to this training their work experience, as well as a group of renowned specialists, recognised by esteemed scientific communities. This knowledge will facilitate the provision of quality care throughout the surgical process to ensure the safety of the patient and the professional at all times. Each of the wide variety of surgical interventions that are performed requires a specific procedure, a specific technique and the exclusive surgical material for that intervention.
We put the findings together in a thorough, concise study guide that we believe allows any test taker, at any skill level, to improve his or her results dramatically with a minimum of effort. The requirements and other information provided on this page are determined by each ABMS Member Board and may be subject to change. Please refer to the relevant Board’s website to confirm the applicable requirements. To apply, AACN members will pay $140, and nonmembers will pay $230. Once the requirements are verified and met, you will be given an authorization to test. The re-examination fee is $115 for members and $160 for non-members.
The AACN gives a discount for members of their organization, both for the application fee and the CMC exam. A cardiologist will primarily diagnose disorders of the heart and treat them with medication. Cardiologists also perform interventions on the arteries in the heart working through puncture wounds in the groin, but they do not perform open surgery. General thoracic surgeons treat primarily lung cancer and diseases of the esophagus and chest wall.
You sound like your very book smart and we’re easily able to pass these exams . I’ve been in the cticu for a few months and I just can’t get myself to read the essentials of cardiac surgery book. For me it’s more seeing the surgeries and watching videos . I’m more of watch it , have it explained and then do it over and over until it sticks .