3 Best CSC Exam Prep Books/ Study Guides for [2024] Exam

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With the surplus growth in complexity and size of the healthcare domain, the certification of nurses for excellence in their knowledge and job has become evident. The CSC examination certifies nurses for providing direct care to critically ill adult patients during the first 48 hours after cardiac surgery.

If you are a Registered Nurse (RN) or APRN with similar experiences, then you can appear for the examination. For more details on eligibility criteria, you can visit this link. This is a subspecialty certification exam for nurses with appropriate skills and experience.

For getting through this examination, utmost hard work and knowledge is prerequisite. The best CSC study guides will guide you in the appropriate direction for the best preparation for attempting the questions well.

Best CSC Exam Prep Books/ Study Guides For Certification At The First Attempt

CSC exam is one of the most difficult exams conducted by the American Association of critical care nurses (AACN). There are several methods to prepare for it. However, an efficient exam study guide for Cardiac Surgery Certification (CSC) can help in achieving abundant success at the first attempt itself.

Given below is a list of the best books selected by us for thorough preparation. These books are going to help you in the exam preparation in the best possible way.

  1. Best pick: CSC Exam Secrets Study Guide is the total preparedness exam study guide, covers all essential subject reviews and practice questions.
  2. Best value pick: Cardiac Surgery Essentials for Critical Care Nursing provides the foundational concepts and reviews of the exam sections in simple, concise, and brief way.

You can read more about them in the given upcoming section in detail. These are the best CSC cardiac surgery study books recommended for every aspirant appearing in the CSC exam.

1. CSC Exam Secrets Study Guide

CSC Exam Secrets Study Guide is a wonderful compilation of relevant information based on the challenging exam of CSC. This guide helps in thorough test preparation and boosts the confidence of the aspirants. This guide covers the section of patients’ problems such as related to pulmonary, renal, neurology, cardiothoracic, haematology, and more.

The nursing interventions section is about vasodilators, vasopressors, fluid volume management, pain management, mediastinal drainage, ventilator management, and so on. The practice questions are provided with detailed answers and explanations. A thorough overview of the examination pattern is also provided.

Why You Should Buy This Book

  • Includes only specific and detailed information key to passing the exam
  • The concepts and principles are described in simple language
  • Use of non-technical words and academic language
  • An in-depth explanation of every answer
  • Comprehensive questions with detailed explanations

How this book helps you to prepare for your exam?

This guide meets the standard of the concepts, procedures, principles, and vocabulary expected in an AACN certification exam, specifically for the CSC. Most recommended by the readers due to a brief overview and up-to-date information.

Our Rating: 5 out of 5

 

2. Ace the CSC: You Can Do It!

Ace the CSC: You Can Do It is the study guide for the AACN based exam which is designed in an accurate way that follows the blueprint of the CSC examination.

The essential topics from each test section are included such as- Cardiovascular basics and complications, haemodynamic monitoring, valvular surgery & procedures, pulmonary complications, electrical issues, bleeding, coagulation, thoracic surgery and so on.

There are numerous practice questions with their answers and rationale. It provides insight into the test-taking strategies. The more you practice the questions present in this guide, the better are the chances for performing extraordinarily.

Why You Should Buy This Book

  • More than 180 practice questions are given
  • Explanation of each answer and rationale in details
  • Rationale for both correct and incorrect answers are given
  • Reflects the guidelines and pattern of CSC examination
  • Written intricately, only bullet points used

How this book helps you to prepare for your exam?

The study guide has been very positively reviewed by the aspirants in the past. The simple and informative format makes the text easy to understand by the readers. The enough number of practice questions helps in self-assessment instantaneously.

Our Rating: 4.9 out of 5

 

3. Cardiac Surgery Essentials for Critical Care Nursing

Cardiac Surgery Essentials for Critical Care Nursing is a specialized study guide for nurses undergoing a certification examination called CSC by AACN. The cardiac surgery essentials is an intelligible resource for new and experienced nurses working in the cardiac surgery domain.

The guide has vital information relevant to the certification exam. The details on post Intensive Care Unit (ICU) care, psychological and spiritual support, and rehabilitation care after cardiac surgery are written down briefly.

Why You Should Buy This Book

  • Concise, to the point, and only necessary information covered
  • Simple, easy to understand language with a nice flow of text
  • The quality of content is up to the mark of the examination
  • Works as a reference book for nurses working in caring for acutely ill adult patient’s post-cardiac surgery

How this book helps you to prepare for your exam?

The guide is highly recommended for nurses working in cardiac surgery Intensive Care Units. It is published in partnership with AACN. No unnecessary information is included and written while keeping the examination in mind.

Our Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Also Check, Best Books for other AACN Exams:

4. CSC Exam Flashcard Study System

CSC exam flashcards study system is a beneficial and effective method for learning the concepts in a very short period. This study guide makes a huge difference in performance. It has an in-depth review of each section of the CSC exam. The first section is about patient problems related to cardiac, pulmonary, renal, and gastrointestinal and so on.

Another section is on the nursing Interventions such as hemodynamic monitoring, intra-aortic balloon pump, emergent to reopening of the chest, ventilator management, anaesthesia and management of recovery, hyperglycaemia, and hypoglycaemia management, and much more.

Why You Should Buy This Book

  • Precise, concise, to the point information written
  • Repetitive learning enables fast memorization
  • Easy to carry since handy and portable notes
  • Smaller, tiny bits of information are easy to understand and learn

How this book helps you to prepare for your exam?

The flashcards study system is proved to be very effective in the learning process. To secure appropriate marks in the CSC examination, aspirants can take major advantage of this flashcards based study guide. Users can go for it to brush up the previous knowledge.

Our Rating: 4.8 out of 5

In this article, we have briefly discussed about the best CSC exam prep books for the certification examination preparation. These are the best study guides for appearing in the exam due to the completeness they offer to the aspirants.

Each guide mentioned in this review includes a description of the CSC exam sections, along with practice test questions. The answers and explanations for both correct and incorrect choices clears the concepts and foundations of the readers.

These guides are going to help in obtaining better scores in the first attempt itself. With the certification, you can serve acutely ill adult cardiac surgery patients (within 48 hours) along with your family members and friends.