The CCRN and the PCCN are both specialty certifications from the AACN Certification Corporation, and they look alike on paper: the same length, the same time limit, the same fee and the same practice-hour options. The difference is the patient. The CCRN is for nurses caring for critically ill, unstable patients. The PCCN is for progressive care: patients who are acutely ill and moderately stable but could become unstable.

This page is independent practice information, not official AACN material. Check aacn.org for current details before you apply.

Side by side

	CCRN (Adult)	PCCN (Adult)
Focus	Critical care	Progressive care
Patients, as AACN describes them	Critically ill and unstable	Acutely ill, moderately stable, with potential to become unstable
Typical assignment	1 to 2 patients	3 to 4 patients
Typical settings	Intensive care units	Step-down, telemetry, intermediate care, emergency
Questions	150 (125 scored)	150 (125 scored)
Time	3 hours	3 hours
Passing score	83 of 125	82 of 125
2025 first-time pass rate	72.02%	70.10%
Fee (member / nonmember)	\(260 / \)375	\(260 / \)375
Practice hours	1,750 in 2 years (875 in the last year), or 2,000 in 5 years (144 in the last year)	The same two options
Whose care counts	Acutely or critically ill patients, mostly critically ill	Acutely ill patients

How the test plans differ

Both exams split 80% Clinical Judgment and 20% Professional Caring and Ethical Practice, based on the AACN Synergy Model. Inside Clinical Judgment the weights are quite different.

Area	CCRN (Adult), 2025 plan	PCCN, 2024 plan
Cardiovascular	13%	20%
Respiratory	12%	14%
Endocrine, hematology, GI, renal, skin	21% combined	Endocrine 6%, hematology, immunology and oncology 3%, GI 7%, renal 4%
Neuro, musculoskeletal, behavioral	18% combined	Neurology 7%, musculoskeletal 2%, behavioral 3%
Multisystem	16%	15%
Professional Caring and Ethical Practice	20%	20%

The PCCN leans hardest on cardiovascular care, a fifth of the exam. The CCRN spreads its questions more widely, and its test plan names ICU-level care such as invasive hemodynamic monitoring, mechanical ventilation, mechanical circulatory support, CRRT, ECMO, intracranial pressure monitoring, organ donation and brain death.

Which one should you take?

Match the exam to the patients you care for, because your eligibility hours have to come from that population.

• You work in an ICU and most of your patients are critically ill: the CCRN fits, and your hours count toward it.
• You work step-down, telemetry or intermediate care: the PCCN fits, and its content matches what you see every day.
• Your hours are mixed, for example an ICU float who also covers step-down: check how your hours divide. For the CCRN, most of your hours, including those in the most recent year, must be with critically ill patients.

The exams are about equally hard by pass rate: in 2025, 72.02% of first-time CCRN (Adult) candidates passed and 70.10% of first-time PCCN candidates did.

Getting ready for the CCRN

If the CCRN is your exam, the CCRN exam guide covers eligibility, fees, retakes and study plans, and how CCRN scoring works explains the 83 of 125 cut. Practice by area with the cardiovascular, respiratory and multisystem questions, and take a full practice exam from the home page.