CBUNA CURN study guide
CBUNA CURN · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Urology Nurse Assistant (CURN) credential, offered through the Certification Board for Urology Nurses and Associates (CBUNA), recognizes non-licensed assistive personnel who work in urology practices, clinics, and hospital units. It signals that a urology tech, medical assistant, or LPN-style support role has demonstrated a defined body of knowledge beyond general clinical orientation: genitourinary anatomy and terminology, patient assessment and documentation, aseptic technique and catheter care, urologic procedures and diagnostic testing, benign and malignant conditions, urinary diversion and continence care, medications and irrigation or instillation therapy, patient education and psychosocial support, and professional practice within scope of role. The CBUNA CURN study guide has 9 sections and about 3,505 words.
01Urologic Anatomy, Physiology, and Terminology
This domain tests whether you can connect urinary structure to function and then describe a patient's complaint using standard urologic language. Items rarely ask for an isolated definition; they embed a term in a scenario and expect you to infer the anatomy or physiology driving it.
426 words, about 2 min02Patient Assessment, Documentation, and Communication
This domain asks whether you can build a focused urologic history, choose the right objective measure, and record findings so they remain clinically and legally defensible. Characterize the complaint: onset, duration, pattern, associated fever, flank pain, weight loss, hematuria, and impact on sleep and daily life.
372 words, about 2 min03Infection Prevention, Asepsis, and Catheter Care
This domain tests catheter stewardship: knowing when a catheter is justified, inserting it aseptically, maintaining it correctly, and interpreting urine findings without overtreating. Retention or obstruction, accurate output in a critically ill patient, urologic or pelvic surgery, open sacral wounds with incontinence, and comfort in terminal illness.
402 words, about 2 min04Urologic Procedures and Diagnostic Testing
This domain tests whether you understand what each test measures, its limitations, and the nursing responsibilities before and after urologic procedures. Dipstick leukocyte esterase and nitrite is a screen only; microscopy and culture confirm.
377 words, about 2 min05Benign and Malignant Urologic Conditions
This domain tests pattern recognition: separating benign from malignant disease, identifying emergencies, and knowing the nursing priorities that follow each diagnosis. BPH with lower urinary tract symptoms: storage versus voiding symptoms, with complications including retention, bladder stones, recurrent UTI, and renal impairment.
378 words, about 2 min06Urinary Diversion, Stoma, and Continence Care
This domain tests your ability to distinguish diversion types, assess a stoma for viability, teach pouching, and anticipate the metabolic consequences of rerouting urine. Ileal conduit: incontinent, right lower quadrant stoma, continuous output with mucus, and the most common diversion.
395 words, about 2 min07Medications, Irrigation, and Instillation Therapy
This domain tests drug-specific monitoring, safe instillation practice, and irrigation decisions - areas where small errors produce serious harm. Alpha-1 blockers (tamsulosin, silodosin, alfuzosin, doxazosin, terazosin): work within days; cause orthostatic hypotension, retrograde ejaculation, and intraoperative floppy iris - tell the ophthalmologist.
374 words, about 2 min08Patient Education, Self-Care, and Psychosocial Support
This domain tests whether you can teach practical skills so a patient can actually perform them at home, and whether you recognize the emotional load of urologic disease. Plain language at roughly a 5th-6th grade level; short sentences; one idea at a time.
387 words, about 2 min09Professional Practice, Ethics, and Scope of Role
This domain tests judgment about boundaries: what a urology nurse may do, how to handle refusal and error, and where legal and ethical lines sit. Practice within the state Nurse Practice Act and facility policy.
394 words, about 2 min