Has Any Body Taken AANP-2014 FNP Boards?s

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I just completed my FNP and I am getting ready to prepare for boards under the AANP. Has anyone taken boards for 2014 as yet? How is it? and how did you prepare for the Certification exam? What review materials do you suggest? and How long did you study before taking boards?

Hi SuccessfullLady,

Thank you very much for your response and nice words! No, I have not taken any review course. I did Fitzgerald (Certification examination and practice preparation) theory chapters and questions, Leik (642 questions plus brief theory), and Hollier all the questions. My current preceptor gave me Fitzgerald CDs and a book that goes with CDs from 2008. I am going to find some time to do the book, at least. I had an opportunity not to work, since I started my clinicals, so I try to go above and beyond to study hard:) Also, I have noticed that it was very helpful for the exams that I had to take in University. I know that some schools don't require for students to take any tests, once they started their clinicals. Students just have to write detailed SOAP notes and make presentations. In my school we have to do both. Soon, we are going to take our HESI exam, just to see where we are at this point. Thank you very much again! Congratulations to everyone who passed or working on it!:)

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Hi Everyone!,

I passed the AANP exam on June 28, 2014 on the first try, and I wanted to let those who are preparing to take it know how I did it. I attended Apea's review and bought the CD's. I listened to the cd's every day. I purchased the q bank questions, and 25 of the aanp bundle questions. I read Leik's fast facts and answered the questions at the end of the book, and for those of you who are religious...I prayed while doing the work. I studied 8-12 hours a day for 6 weeks. I have to admit that the test was not easy, BUT it is achievable. I felt very prepared and I don't think that I would have passed it if I had not studied the way that I did.The feeling of seeing PASSED on the screen was sooo overwhelming. I broke down and cried! This is a closed chapter in my life, and I look forward to what the future holds. I have been enjoying life again, and getting all the required info for me to start my career as an FNP. Good Luck to anyone who's preparing for the exam...you can do it too!

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Congratulations!!!!! Thank you for sharing!!!! I am going to do the same, hopefully, in September.

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Hello to all! :) I just wanted to add to this site because it helped me a lot when I was studying for my AANP boards. My anxiety about passing had me searching every resource possible to see how I could best prepare for the exam! I passed my boards yesterday and wanted to give some helpful hints (:

1. I do recommend Leik's review book-it is very condensed, to the point, and gives a good overview of what types of topics are on the exam. There are some typos, but overall I think it is an excellent review for the boards.

Using the Leik book as a guide- I would also go over your assessment books from school on each body system to get used to different vocabulary and more "technical terms" for certain assessments.

3. Apea.com - I bought a diagnostic exam before I started studying to see where my weak points were. I scored a 64% starting out. I decided to buy the Q-bank-it gives you 1,500 questions- unlimited practice for 30days. I highly recommend it, gets you in practice mode and the tutorials with each question are great. I bought another diagnostic exam a week before my test and scored 80%, which helped me feel confident to take the exam. The only bummer about the quizzes is that the same questions were repeated a lot which gets annoying.

2. I looked up all of the updated guidelines for screenings from US task force etc. My understanding is that they only use guidelines for the exam from the prior year...for example this year the exam used the JNC7 not JNC8.

3. Know Rubella, Roseola, Scarlet Fever, 5ths disease, Measles- these are often seen on the exam

4. I saw a lot of urinary disorders on my exam, even a couple prioritizing questions as to what would you fix first if X Y Z was wrong with the patient with infant and elderly(multiple body systems). Couple policy questions, lots of derm and respiratory. I would not pay much attention to this though because I had heard from others about their exam- and they had completely different questions and subject matter. My one friends exam was very heavy of women's disorders and pediatrics. You just need to have a solid well rounded understanding of issues you would see in primary care as an FNP. Know what to treat, when to treat or refer, what are medical emergencies and what are not. When studying make sure you are keeping in mind what type of "plan of care"(in the perfect NP world, not your actual clinical teachings) you would give to this patient if they showed up at your office. Know safety issues such as antibiotic contraindications, abuse etc.

5. A couple days before my exam I purchased the Predictor exam from AANP official site (the one you can only purchase once, 75 questions). I highly recommend taking that because I would say the questions on this are the most similar to the actual exam. I scored 80% on this as well, which was another confidence boost and made me feel more at ease taking the real exam.

6. To sum it up- I studied for a month-using Leik and Apea.com question bank along with looking up various guidelines and recommendations for care. I studied for about 5 hours a night, and a week before around 8 hrs a day (took a couple days off from work and studied over the weekend). Was scoring in 70's and 80's on predictor exams and quizzes before taking the exam.

7. Exam gives you lab values so don't bother memorizing!

I hope this helps! Study hard and you will pass! Good luck and God bless! ;)

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Congratulations [COLOR=#003366]KKstittFNP-C! :)

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I took the ANCC this month, a lot of issues, trends, ethical, patient advocacy and professional role and little clinical practice questions. I took the Fitzgerald review and it was very informational but to extensive. Bought her review book/questions w rationales. I strongly recommend reviewing clinical guidelines from your text book, no need to spend a lot of money, as I did, to be able to pass this exam. If you are very comfortable with clinical guidelines (such as ATP III, JNC 7, Gold, Curb 65) you will be able to pass the clinical aspect of the test. If you decide to buy questions, don't spend money like I did for 3,000 questions, buy 100 so you can have an idea of how the test questions you. BY THE WAY..I did not PASS the ANCC, taking AANP soon.

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Good advice, Thank You :) KKstittFNP-C

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Specializes in FNP: Urgent Care & Primary Care; RN: Med-Surg.

I promised myself that after I passed I too would post an update. I just passed AANP 2014 boards today! What I did might seem like overkill to some people but it worked for me. I studied for 7 weeks, 3 hours a day plus a study buddy for study sessions. I did Fitzgerald and Barkley. Barkley helped the most. If I had just done Fitzgerald, I would have failed. There were questions on my exam seemingly directly from Barkley. I bought 10 tests from AANPFNP.com and passed those. I took one every week to assess my progress. I went over and over the Barkley book. I had a very strict study schedule that I stuck to. I also did Leik and the 600 questions in the back of the book. I tried to use Fitzgerald's NP study book that you buy on Amazon, but it did not help me much. There you go and good luck on your test!

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Congratulations!!! I know how you are feeling right now.....:)

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Here's a perspective, or rather an experience, that I don't see much on this subject. I found the AANP cert exam to be the hardest exam I've ever taken. Almost all of it was scenario based and many of the conditions and therapies were things that weren't covered in my masters program, and I never saw them in my clinical rotations. Out of 150 questions I felt like I absolutely knew the answers to less than 20%. I just tried to reason through the questions as best I could, but honestly felt that I had failed. To my surprise the screen said "Passed" when I submitted it. Perhaps those of you who put in weeks and weeks of arduous study time with different resources found the test to be easy and straightforward. I hope that is the case and if so, I would encourage others to follow your example. I can tell you I didn't study at all except for sitting in on the Fitzgerald review.

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KKstittFNP-C thanks for such a helpful hints!!! I took ANCC test yesterday and I felt. I was studying from Barkley and thought it is good review, review was for specific diseases and all what you mentioned above and I studied well but ANCC most of the questions are on roles rules and regulations. Can you recommend where I can purchase the book Leik which you mentioned? and how long it takes to register on AANP? Appreciate your help
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