PMHNP Exam

atr528 · Jun 23, 2014

Great, thank you! One more question...

How do you think the ANCC practice questions correlated to what is on the actual test?

justinrn1 · Jun 23, 2014

Pretty damn close

kfitzy89 · Sep 11, 2014

Can any of you list or highly recommend the college where you completed your program? :-)

portlandnp · Jan 18, 2015

I agree with Justin. I passed the exam this morning. I have been a PMHNP for 8 years, long before the certification was a requirement for licensure. I really felt the need to take the exam though and keep up with my peers. The exam, as you sit for it, seems like it is not covering your study materials, but in a way, the studying gives you what you need when you need it, even if you don't feel that way. It is a lot about critical thinking, in my opinion, and less about memorization of facts. I suggest using the ANCC manual and practice questions, and keep it simple. I hit "end exam" and honest to goodness was 75% sure I failed, but I did not.

PMHNP to be · Jan 24, 2015

Thanks for the info guys. I definitely will be utilizing the ANCC and Barkley's review materials. How long do you think one would need to study to really be prepared to take the exam? I usually like to get these things over with quickly because the anxiety really gets to me! What would you say is reasonable? I definitely do want to make sure I'm prepared.

portlandnp · Feb 5, 2015

I studied for three months but I also work full time and have a 12 month old. I tried to get in an hour a day at work (if I had no-shows or something), and then on fri-sun (I work four 10s) I tried to study at least two of those days during the lil guy's long nap (2-3 hours). I read the ANCC book once, then I took the two practice exams. I got like a 55% on the first one and a 68% on the second one. I reviewed all rationale on everything I got wrong, plus I looked up anything that caught my eye on stuff I got right. I made notes in a notebook (about ten pages worth). I then re-read the ANCC book and took notes (another 50-60 pages worth). I then only studied my notebook. I have to be honest, the test is a lot of critical thinking. Many questions will leave you feeling like studying was pointless. But, the practice questions will help here because you will have a better understanding of what they are trying to ask. The studying WILL become useful for the other questions that are based more on concrete data. I think the combo of getting the concrete questions right will give you wiggle room to get a lot of the other "critical thinking" questions wrong, thus passing the exam. Sorry if this was long winded.

PMHNP to be · Feb 8, 2015

Thanks a lot for your detailed response!

gilsam PMHNP-BC · Jul 23, 2015

Hi everyone,

I just passed yesterday and I wanted to share my studying technique. I agree with everything that's been said in this thread, especially using the ANCC review book and buying the sets of practice questions from ANCC (because that's all I purchased to prepare). I don't know about other company's practice questions, but the style of the ANCC practice questions was great preparation. I didn't pass either of the practice sets and that worried me but I guess it was okay. What I found really helpful was reading the first few pages of the ANCC review book, the part that most people skip over because it's about study tips and test-taking tips and we all think we know that already. Well, I found those tips almost as helpful as studying the material in the book! It explains how to analyze their questions so you can almost narrow down answers, which is very helpful. The material in the test is so broad and covers so much it's impossible to know all the facts, so you have to be good at critical thinking and process of elimination. The legal, case management, and political questions were always a struggle for me. I read some textbooks specifically about those topics but I don't even feel that was enough preparation and I don't feel the ANCC review book reviews those topics enough. Basically, for everything mentioned in the ANCC review book i looked up additional information about the topic - I considered it more like an outline and then got the content from nursing and psychiatry textbooks. Good luck studying everyone!

sofia2006 · Jul 26, 2015

HI gilsam,

I been studying on and off since may, but i keep putting this off. I wanted to ask you something that someone had mentioned. is it true that there a lot of primary care questions that are not psych related on this exam? I have been wondering if I should purchase exams that are from primary care to review the parts that are relevant to our exam? This may be just a crazy idea, but I really want to pass the first time I take it.

Also if you dont mind me asking what were you getting on the sample ANCC exams before you sat for the exam?

I appreciate any advice/information you can give me.

Best,

Sofia

gilsam PMHNP-BC · Jul 28, 2015

Yes there are questions from advanced pathophysiology and advanced health assessment and advanced pharmacology. They probably aren't as hard as the questions on the FNP exam but they can definitely still be tricky for a psych person. I didn't study extra for that because the test is mostly psych. I didn't pass either of the ANCC practice tests. I think I got a 67% on the first one and a 66% on the second one. They are good practice for the real thing though. Good luck!

illcleff · Jul 29, 2015

@gilsam PMHNP-BC. Thanks a lot. I'm very nervous about the exam. Have used the ANCC book alongside questions. I have made index cards and going over main concepts. Sometimes I feel as though I am over studying as I have heard most questions are critical thinking based. Are the questions similar to those on the practice test?? Easier or harder. I'm trying to stay positive and hoping for the best ðŸ™ðŸ¾ðŸ™ðŸ¾

DustinTimmons · Sep 16, 2015

Hey guys, I just took the PMHNP Exam this Monday and passed!! It feels wonderful to have the behind me. I had read some of the comments on this board before I took the exam so I thought I'd come back to it now and share a few tips that I wish I would have had before I took the boards. First, I didn't do a live review course. Nobody that I know personally that I graduated with did a live review. What I did do was get the Barkley Book and CDs, the ANCC book, the ANCC review questions, the Mometrix Cards, and 5 review tests on Familynpprep.com. These study materials all helped me in different ways and certainly to different degrees. I'll break each one down and try to give my experience with it. So I studied for about 3 months. I tried to study around 4 hours a day if possible, but that wasn't always possible. Some things that I recommend having on your desk while you study are: your health assessment text from school, a pharmacology book, and a patho book. When you actually see the test, you're going to think that none of this stuff looks like what you studied, but the test is somewhat vague and focuses more on critically thinking and actually applying that knowledge that you learned.

Barkley Book and CDs

I didn't find the Barkley books and CDs to be very helpful AT ALL. This surprised me because I had read so many glowing reviews of how good it is, but it really didn't help much at all. A colleague that I graduated with told me she really didn't feel like it did her much good either. The CDs are essentially recorded from a live course and they are good for a refresher, but I just didn't find that this material in the books and CDs correlated with what was on the exam very well.

ANCC Book

I really liked the ANCC book. I actually waited to order it for a while so it's sort of ironic I guess that the first one I went for was the Barkley instead of the ANCC book since they are the ones that are actually making the exam. The book is a good outline of psych nursing as it applies to advanced practice. I looked through the book and if there was an area that I felt like I needed more help with, I further researched that online or in a text from school. Don't forget to really pay attention to that first chapter in the book on test taking tips, they really help and get you in the right frame of mind!

ANCC Practice Questions

What I love about these is that they give you an opportunity to practice taking questions that are similar to those on the actually exam. I made a 65% and 68% on them so don't get too discouraged if you don't do so well. Be sure and make some notecards on the rationale (especially the rationale for the ones you missed). I practiced these questions several times because you can use them as many times as you want for 90 days. They are $125, but well worth it in my opinion.

Mometrix Flashcards

These cards are good for when you are just sitting around and want to easily flip through a few cards when you have a spare minute or two. You can throw them in your backpack when you go to work and flip through them if you have some downtime at work. They are good to go over with if you have a person you're studying with too. Some of the cards seemed a little far out to me and they are far from being comprehensive, but they are good for what they are.

FamilyNPPrep Questions

These questions are fairly simple and some of the questions can get a little far out there, but they are good if you need a good confidence boost. They also may give you an idea of something that you missed when studying so you can go back and look at it again. I wouldn't personally recommend buying more than 5 tests because I was already getting repeat questions in some of my tests.

So, if you're a little low on funds and can only buy one or two of these, which ones should you get? For my money, I would say get the ANCC Book and Questions. I feel that these two helped me more than anything else. Along with reviewing my Health Assessment Book and Pharm books. The ANCC gives a reference list of the books that they use to make the exam, you can find it by googling it. I found that I actually owed several of the books from school. Anyway, good luck to anybody that is going to take the exam and I hope this helped! If anybody has any questions, you can email me at [email protected].