8/22/25, 7:39 PM CCRN/PPCN certification Exam AACN critical care exam 1 (part 1)
CCRN/PPCN certification Exam AACN critical care exam 1
(part 1) STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS AND ACCURATE
ANSWERS\VERIFIED 100% \LATEST UPDATE 2025-2026
CCRN → nurses who provide care for critically ill adult,
pediatric, or neonatal populations
PCCN → nurses who provide acute care in progressive
care, telemetry, and similar units
certifications: CCRN? PCCN? Once nurses achieve the CCRN or PCCN credential, they
ACCNS?
can be eligible to sit for additional subspeciality
ACNPC-AG? why are
certification in cardiac medicine or cardiac surgery
certifications important?
ACCNS→ acute and critical care
clinical nurse specialist ACNPC-AG→
acute care nurse practitioners
Why are certifications important?
validates knowledge of critical care nursing, promotes
professional excellence, and helps nurse to maintain a
current knowledge base
The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN)
What 4 specific
National Patient Safety Goals→ by the
projects/organizations are in
Joint Commission Institute of
place to assist nurses in
Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
providing safe care?
rapid response teams/ medical emergency teams
roadmap for integrating quality and safety principles into
prelicensure nursing education
what does QSEN do?
six core competencies: patient-centered care,
teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based
practice, quality improvement, informatics, and
safety
reduce medical errors and promote an environment that
facilitates safe practices reduce infections
ex. improve accuracy of patient identification, improve
What do national patient
safety goals do? communication among health care providers, improve
/ 1/1
3
, 8/22/25, 7:39 PM CCRN/PPCN certification Exam AACN critical care exam 1 (part 1)
medication safety, use alarms safely, reduce risk of
healthcare- associated infections, identify safety risk,
and prevent complications associated with surgery
and procedures
action plan for reducing health care-associated
infections and preventing infections with multidrug-
What does IHI do? resistant organisms
promoted the concept of bundles of care to reduce harms, such
as infections
bundles→ evidence-based practices that are done as a
whole to improve outcomes (ex. ventilator bundle)
goal→ identify and manage both stable and unstable
What is the goal of rapid
response teams? patients and those at high risk for cardiopulmonary
arrest to prevent unnecessary deaths
Can you explain what a bundle of care is?
Bundle of Care→ evidence based best practices that
Can you explain what a are done as a whole to improve outcomes
bundle of care is? Give an A "bundle" is a group of interventions related to a disease process
that, when
example of one you may see executed together, result in better outcomes than when
at the bedside? implemented individually. Give an example of one you
may see at the bedside
Ventilator Bundle
Physical Setting→ background noise, lack of
What are four barriers to privacy interruptions Social Setting→
effective handoff organizational hierarchy and status issues
communication? Can you Language→ differences between people of varying
give an example of what racial and ethnic backgrounds or geographic areas
these would look like at Communication Medium→ limitations of communications
the bedside? via telephone, e-mail, paper, or computerized records
versus face-to-face
/ 2/1
3
CCRN/PPCN certification Exam AACN critical care exam 1
(part 1) STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS AND ACCURATE
ANSWERS\VERIFIED 100% \LATEST UPDATE 2025-2026
CCRN → nurses who provide care for critically ill adult,
pediatric, or neonatal populations
PCCN → nurses who provide acute care in progressive
care, telemetry, and similar units
certifications: CCRN? PCCN? Once nurses achieve the CCRN or PCCN credential, they
ACCNS?
can be eligible to sit for additional subspeciality
ACNPC-AG? why are
certification in cardiac medicine or cardiac surgery
certifications important?
ACCNS→ acute and critical care
clinical nurse specialist ACNPC-AG→
acute care nurse practitioners
Why are certifications important?
validates knowledge of critical care nursing, promotes
professional excellence, and helps nurse to maintain a
current knowledge base
The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN)
What 4 specific
National Patient Safety Goals→ by the
projects/organizations are in
Joint Commission Institute of
place to assist nurses in
Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
providing safe care?
rapid response teams/ medical emergency teams
roadmap for integrating quality and safety principles into
prelicensure nursing education
what does QSEN do?
six core competencies: patient-centered care,
teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based
practice, quality improvement, informatics, and
safety
reduce medical errors and promote an environment that
facilitates safe practices reduce infections
ex. improve accuracy of patient identification, improve
What do national patient
safety goals do? communication among health care providers, improve
/ 1/1
3
, 8/22/25, 7:39 PM CCRN/PPCN certification Exam AACN critical care exam 1 (part 1)
medication safety, use alarms safely, reduce risk of
healthcare- associated infections, identify safety risk,
and prevent complications associated with surgery
and procedures
action plan for reducing health care-associated
infections and preventing infections with multidrug-
What does IHI do? resistant organisms
promoted the concept of bundles of care to reduce harms, such
as infections
bundles→ evidence-based practices that are done as a
whole to improve outcomes (ex. ventilator bundle)
goal→ identify and manage both stable and unstable
What is the goal of rapid
response teams? patients and those at high risk for cardiopulmonary
arrest to prevent unnecessary deaths
Can you explain what a bundle of care is?
Bundle of Care→ evidence based best practices that
Can you explain what a are done as a whole to improve outcomes
bundle of care is? Give an A "bundle" is a group of interventions related to a disease process
that, when
example of one you may see executed together, result in better outcomes than when
at the bedside? implemented individually. Give an example of one you
may see at the bedside
Ventilator Bundle
Physical Setting→ background noise, lack of
What are four barriers to privacy interruptions Social Setting→
effective handoff organizational hierarchy and status issues
communication? Can you Language→ differences between people of varying
give an example of what racial and ethnic backgrounds or geographic areas
these would look like at Communication Medium→ limitations of communications
the bedside? via telephone, e-mail, paper, or computerized records
versus face-to-face
/ 2/1
3
