Failed ANCC FNP certification exam

Nursing Students NP Students

Published

Trying to pick myself up after failing ANCC FNP certification exam and figure what to do now. I am already planning to re-take but do not know how to better prepare myself. I took the Fitzgerald CDs review twice as well as read through it a 3rd time. Looked through an assessment book, pharm and reviewed Leik's book. I am working on test taking strategies but would really like to talk to anyone who has failed and what they did to pass. Thanks.

Specializes in Neurosurgery, critical care.

Moody JB. Congratulations. I am glad that you passed it is such a relief to know that you are now a board certified family nurse practitioner. What are your plans from here?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Received official results today from AANP. Scored 487 & they say 500 is passing. OMG SOOO close!!! I just want to cry! Sucks to be so close but have to go through the pain & misery again for studying & retesting!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I took the FNP Mosby review with National Healthcare Institute and I passed both the ANCC and AANP exams. Found a couple of errors but after taking Barkleys review I realized that I rather have a couple of rational errors than pay for a course that fall short in general like Barkley. Based on my experience, I will recommend this course over other reviews out there...good luck...you can do it!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I most say that after failing the ANCC FNP exam once I passed yesterday! Yeyyyyyyy I can't believe it! Unlike other people that forget about those staying behind, I believe telling you guys my story you can learn from my experience and pass this exam too...I study using the FNP review at http://www.NHInstitute.com, after reading several positive reviews about this course, I registered and oh God am I happy I did. The information is very complete and the practice questions were almost exactly like those on the exam. I used Leik and Fitzgerald before and I can tell you that this review is far superior. I got a little depressed at first and kept emailing the instructor for reassurance at the beginning (yes, this sold me too it. They actually have an NP instructor assigned to you to answer all your questions. Not even my 40k tuition at XXX University did that for me). Anyway I am very excited I passed and wanted to share with you...I got several picture identification questions and all that apply, so make sure you pay attention to those. Best of luck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Kate_NP

Congrats on passing. I have failed the 1st attempt and it has been difficult emotionally...ughh but I want to know if you had the same exam both testing times? completely different exam? or did you see some of the same questions?

I am preparing to retest and I am looking for some incite.

Thanks in advance

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hi, has anyone sat for the ANCC FNP for 2015. I know it's only the 12 th of January, but I was curious and I have questions

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care>Family Practice.

@johnether,

I just sat for and passed the ANCC exam 7/2015. I will agree with others on this forum that it is an odd exam, however, I felt very prepared for it. Here is a synopsis of what I did: Fitzgerald Review course (online version). I then read front to back Fitzgerald Certification Examination and Practice Preparation book (separate book @ about $80). I then purchased the ANCC practice tests (x 2 tests and $80) as well as some other practice tests from http://www.anccprep.com/ (25 tests and & $80 though I only completed about 7 and passed all). I primarily used the exams as a way to identify my areas of weaknesses. After the Fitz review course, reading the Fitz book, and taking the practice tests, I made an outline of what I didn't really understand and my significant weaknesses. I made notecards and I studied them. For this exam, in totale, I probably spent 4 full weeks (8 hours a day, everyday) preparing for the exam. In retrospect, I feel this was entirely TOO much and I stressed myself entirely TOO much.

The ANCC examination is very general and broad based. You need to focus on the common issues encountered in practice. Everyone will have different sets of questions. I can't remember everything but I can tell you what I do remember: I had several derm questions/images (completely not on vaccine preventable disease)--most of the derm was "which image would you prescribe and antibiotic for", "which would you refer", "which image would make you concerned". I had quite a bit on Asthma guidelines, one on COPD regarding treatment priorities (put these treatments in order from 1st line to last), and irritatingly there was a JNC 7 (not JNC 8)guideline question on the test (which I just happened to know from school). There were no algorithms for ATP 4 or JNC 8 which was surprising since those guidelines are the newest from circa 2013 & 2014. I had NO questions about pregnant women or labor/delivery other than those focusing on teratogenic medications. There were no pediatric immunization schedule questions other than those that are obvious. I did have drug interaction questions but they were obvious and learned in pharmacology class. There were really no "sneaky" questions.

Non-Clinical: This is almost impossible to study for. There were some specific research/epidemiology questions like relative risk, validity, primary/secondary/tertiary, evidence hierarchies, evidence based practice change, types of epidemiological studies (hierarchies). There were also billing/coding, HIPPA, HITECH Act, Medicaid, and other things like that that I cannot remember but knew from school and work. There were also cultural questions on Mexican American, Asian American and other cultures but most of the questions could be answered by just being culturally competent. There was also a question on knowing the difference between cultural knowledge, sensitivity, and competence. There were NO specific nursing theory questions so I wouldn't even waste my time on those at all.

I personally felt that the clinical questions were very easy as LONG as you analyze specifically what they are asking you and answer based on that. The non-clinical questions are difficult to study for. My very BEST advice for ALL questions on the test: READ the question carefully and determine what they are specifically asking you for. You can answer most questions that you don't know if you employ good logic.

I did not think that the ANCC examination was nearly as difficult as I was led to believe by Fitz or others. I am not sure if it truly required the amount of dedicated study that I gave it. However, I would NOT advise going into the examination without any review at all.

Hope this helps some of you!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

@dnp_fnp,

Thank you so much for the info and congratulations! I'm in the process of studying for the ANCC FNP exam scheduled for the end of August and I'm overwhelmed by the amount of the information. I'm also freaked out by the posts of people who failed the exam. I was looking for a confirmation that the current exam is using the JNC 7 guidelines. It is great to see that you found the exam to be fair and straightforward. I'm looking to pass mine on the first try as well! :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care>Family Practice.

@kat2020. I wanted to give a more positive spin on the examination. If I were you, I would be familiar with both JNC 7 and JNC 8 just in case. I find it a bit irritating that you have to know both BUT hey...what can you do. I would also know both ATP 3 and ATP 4 guidelines. I know for sure that there were several questions regarding compelling indications for the selection of the right antihypertensive medications.

While I recognize that everyone's knowledge base and critical thinking is a little different, all of my classmates passed the ANCC on the 1st try. The least amount of studying within the group was simply the Fitzgerald online review. Another classmate only did the Fitz Certification Examination and Practice Preparation Book (4th edition) and the ANCC practice examinations. I put entirely too much study into passing BUT I gained a wealth of valuable information for my practice. Everyone is different but I can tell you that I felt VERY prepared when I walked in the door. So in effect, you will know when you are ready.

I wish you the very best! And I wanted to say that the ANCC examination is just an exam. It is NOT tricky. They do not write the questions to make you fail. They want you to succeed. So just calm down, read the questions fully, analyze, and answer. I, and my classmates, are proof that lots of people pass!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

@dnp_fnp,

Thank you so much for your response. I have a question though. Do the questions about choosing the appropriate antihypertensive medication specify which guideline to use? Or are they not that specific as for you to make the mistake simply because you rely on the newest JNC 8 and not the JNC 7?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care>Family Practice.

I did have one questions that gave a scenario and asked specifically: "according to the Joint National Committee 7 Guidelines" which anti-hypertensive. The rest of them were more common sense approach to anti-hypertensive management. I was a little upset that we are to know both JNC 7 and JNC 8 for testing when we will be expected to practice with JNC 8 specific guidelines. In short, I would look at both.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Are there any study group out there for the FNP exam! Please let me know, I am interested in joining one. I will be taking my exam later this year.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment