The short answer is: Yes, I think a CNOR prep course is absolutely necessary. It will dramatically improve your ability to pass the test.

Let me tell you about the CNOR and how a CNOR prep course helped me pass!

If you’ve been in the O.R. for any length of time, you’ve probably heard about the CNOR. It’s our certification as operating room nurses, or, as the letters go, Certified Nurse, Operating Room. And those 4 little letters seem to be a huge source of anxiety and stress for so many nurses.

Most of us have the same questions and concerns about the CNOR:

Do I really need to take this test?

Is it worth it?

What should I study?

Is a CNOR prep course really necessary?

What if I fail??

These are ALL legitimate. Then add test-taking anxiety to the mix, and you’ve got the potential to be really stressed out about this test.

I get it – I never wanted to get my certification. To me, it was expensive and unnecessary. And, I hate taking tests.

But after I’d been in the O.R. for a few years, I decided that I should at least give the CNOR a shot. I was in a leadership position and it seemed logical that I should be certified. I asked my director about taking the test and he gave me a copy of the current AORN standards (the Association of periOperative Nursing’s yearly published standards) and said that if I just read/studied those, I’d be fine for the test.

Um…have you seen the AORN Standards?! That book is HUGE! I took one look at that book and said, “Nope, I’m not gonna do it.”

So I didn’t. #overwhelmed

Fast forward a few more years, I’m working in a new O.R., and now I’m REQUIRED to take the CNOR. My current hospital requires that all team leaders have their certification, and since I’m a team leader for orthopedics, I really couldn’t avoid the test this time around. I still didn’t want to spend my nights randomly flipping through the AORN Standards, hoping I was covering the right material, though.

I was the only team leader without a certification.

The other team leaders I work with had tested a couple of years ago. They gave me some helpful tips, and they told me about an awesome CNOR prep course. They kept telling me, “You need to take Wendy’s class. It’s really good, and you’ll pass if you take it.”

I didn’t know who this Wendy person was, but I was definitely going to find out – especially if it meant I didn’t have to just aimlessly study a gigantic book.

It wasn’t that long until I found out who Wendy was…

Wendy Zander is the president and founder of Zander Perioperative Education. And fortunately for me, my hospital had offered Wendy’s CNOR prep course a couple of years before, and everyone was so impressed with it, they chose to offer her course again for anyone needing their certification. Woo-hoo!

So I signed up to take the course. I was a little hesitant – and somewhat anxious – but since I didn’t have a choice, I registered. The class would be held on location at our facility, which made it very convenient to get to. Ours was a weekend course, so we were in class all day Saturday and Sunday. We received a printed workbook for the course that included all of the material that we would cover in the class, plus plenty of room to take notes.

I had taken another notebook, but I found it was easiest to just write in the workbook that she gave us. As an added benefit, everyone in the class received access to the lectures online for 120 days (6 months!) after the course was over. And, as if all of that wasn’t enough, the course was worth 16 continuing education hours! – SCORE!

I was REALLY impressed with the class!

The class was fantastic. I don’t usually use that word to describe a class that’s 16 hours long and packed full of lectures and practice tests. Let’s be honest, most of that stuff is dry, boring, and a real snooze-fest.

But, this class was good. Wendy has an amazing ability to keep the material interesting and she really enjoys teaching – and it shows. She uses humor and real-life experience to help teach, which adds interest and credibility to the material.

There were practice tests at the end of every lecture. Those were really helpful for gauging what I had learned so far, and showed me where I needed to spend more time studying.

And pretty much I just needed to be spending a lot of time studying everything, I found out 😂

I’ll admit I was mentally worn out by the end of the second day. I left class with a pounding headache and a really high level of test anxiety. I felt like I was on information overload. There’s so much to take in during those 2 eight-hour classes. BUT! Wendy told us how to study, obviously she’d gone over all of the material thoroughly, and she was going to be sending us a link to access the lectures.

The link came very quickly – within just a couple of days.

Once I got the link, I was able to access the lectures individually. Everything was available in short sections, so if I wanted to just listen to the lecture on sterilization, I could – and I listened to that one A LOT! I was able to go back through the lectures, with my notes in hand, and slowly digest all of the information that we’d been given during the CNOR prep course.

The recorded lectures were a life-saver. It helped to hear everything again – as many times as I needed to – and to be able to study at my own pace.

The week after the review course, I went ahead and registered for the CNOR.

The test itself costs $395. But by registering for the test, I had a date set. I knew when I was testing, and I had a deadline. It helped me to study knowing the date was coming up. I also paid $75 for an Exam Prep Book offered by CCI. (CCI administers the CNOR credentialing program) CCI writes the test, so I figured their review book would be helpful – and I read that book cover to cover.

But overall, my biggest resource for the CNOR was Wendy’s CNOR prep course. The lectures were crucial for me – I accessed them almost daily and I reviewed my notes while I listened. I did have the exam prep book that I had purchased, but I found I didn’t reference it as much for studying after I’d read through it.

My test was about 2 months after I took the review course. Even though I studied daily for it, my anxiety was really high on test day. However, once I started taking the test, everything was great! I swear there were times I could hear the answer to a question in Wendy’s voice as I replayed the lecture in my head 😂

Finally, the moment of truth arrived!

Unlike in my NCLEX days, the CNOR is graded as soon as you hit “submit.” That is both cruel and amazing. Cruel because those were some INTENSE minutes (ok, maybe seconds, but it felt like forever) waiting on the screen to pop up with the long-awaited results. But amazing because I knew immediately that I had passed!!

That was a great feeling – knowing that all of the studying and effort had paid off and that I had succeeded in passing the CNOR. #whatarelief

So, let’s get back to the questions from the beginning…

Do I really need to take this test?

Yes, I think every operating room nurse should take the CNOR. I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know until I studied for this test.

Is it worth it?

$395 isn’t a small sum. But, check with your facility. They may offer reimbursement. Mine did, as long as I passed the test. When I had my result from the test, I just submitted a copy of my results with my credit card receipt and they paid me back. Hopefully your facility offers this as well. But, studying for the test forces you to review and learn so much, I still think it’s worth it for the education. And you can take pride in knowing what you have accomplished.

What should I study?

My highest recommendation is to use the material from Wendy’s CNOR prep course. It’s amazing. Obviously, there is other material out there. CCI offers a variety of study materials, and they administer the test, so you can trust their material. There are also several CNOR prep apps – just look on Google Play or in the App Store. These are practice test questions, which help you practice test taking, but they aren’t a substitute for other study material.

Is a CNOR prep course really necessary?

Yes! Even if you have to pay out of pocket to go to a class, I can’t recommend a CNOR prep course enough.

Wendy’s classes are affordable and easy to attend. For $245 you can attend a class like I did. You get the workbook, access to the material for 120 days after the class, 16 CE’s, and Wendy is available personally as a coach after the class if you ever have questions.

If you can’t go to a class like I did, she brings a camera a couple of times a month to her classes and offers a Live Virtual Class for the same price. She had a camera set up during the class I took and the virtual attendees were as much a part of the class as we were. They were able to use a chat box to ask questions and they had all of the materials available to them that we did – including the workbook, practice tests, and online lectures for 120 days after the class.

Now, obviously, both of those class options are scheduled. What if that doesn’t work for you? Wendy also offers an On Demand class. With this class you receive a series of recorded videos with an online practice test after each section. The same information is presented – it’s just like what you would get with the other class options – but there’s no printed material. You have access to the class for 60 days. And, once you’ve taken the course in order the first time, you’re able to go back and review wherever you like. This option is $50 cheaper than the Live/Virtual class and it offers you the ability to take the class whenever you want to.

What if I fail??

This is probably everyone’s biggest fear. I know it was mine. There’s no way that I can guarantee that anyone will pass a test, but I can tell you that if you take the time to study and put in the effort, you will increase your chances significantly. Taking a review course only increases them even more.

But, if you’re really scared, and the anxiety is just too much, CCI offers a Take Two Program. For $445, this program allows you to purchase two opportunities to take the test in a 12 month period. That way, if you do have to take it a second time, it only costs you an extra $50 for the second test. That’s a price many people are willing to pay. Knowing that you don’t have to pay another $395 if you don’t pass the first time is a huge mental – and financial – relief!

I hope all of this helps you while you pursue your own certification.

Wendy’s class was instrumental to my success in passing the CNOR. I can’t recommend it enough. And with three different ways to take the test, she really does make her class available to everyone.

Talk to your facility about hosting a class, or sign up for one yourself.

You won’t regret it. And good luck when you take your test! 😊

– Melanie

Zander Perioperative Education offers a variety of prep courses: CNOR, CAPA-CPAN, CST, and CRSTS. All of the classes are lead by amazing people with real world experience. By combining their real experience with their dynamic personalities, they provide the best, high-quality education to help you succeed in your career.

I was not paid for this review. My goal is to simply tell you about something that I found extremely helpful.