AANP Certfication Exam ( I failed it)

[ERandAestheticFNP]

Hello,

My name is Jamie and I have been an ER nurse for 7 years. I took the AANP exam yesterday April 3 and failed it. I am extremely sick to my stomach about this. How can I fail this exam? I was a 4.0 GPA student during my MSN/FNP program. I took Fitzgerald review update course 3 days long. I have her CDS and her review book. I have Hollier, many guideline books and so many quiz books as well. My weakness has always been test taking. I know the material. I have to say this exam I took yesterday was like NO OTHER! There were questions on the exam I have never seen before. I guessed on more than half of the questions. There was maybe a handful of questions I said WOW I know this one.

So I need help! Where do I begin now? I need 15 Ce's I guess and then I need to re take the test. Anybody who has failed this exam I would love to talk to you. Also anyone who has taken it and passed I would love to talk to you. I am just so depressed. The sad part is my job in the ER as an FNP has been waiting for me for months. I hope that they do not pass me by because of this.

I am just so depressed! I cant believe it... I studied so much that I have not spent much time with family or my friends. I was really looking forward to being me again.

[Jabez65]

Hi everyone,

I took the FNP AANP boards three weeks ago and failed. Upset, frustrated and depressed. I attended Barkely live review, answered thousands of practice questions with rationales and still failed. Please help. What do I need to do? I need to pass this test or I will go crazy. I am considerring to take both AANP and ANCC boards next time around . Thank you.

jabez65

[Big John]

First, don't panic. I failed too and posted just a little over a month ago. Here is what I did..I trashed that barkley review and bought the mp3 apea review. I also bought the fitzgerald review online. I know it is pricey for both, but the results were perfect for the ANCC which I took last Saturday and passed! The fitzgerald review will give you study material for the non clinical part of the ANCC as well as clinical stuff. The APEA review is just so well presented and will give you MANY clinical items. I also bought the Leik book and studied it because it doesn't have too much fluff, just straight to the point. I bought two reviews because I am lazy and lose interest if I don't have someone talking to keep me engaged. I can only speak for myself. If you do not have that problem, I would purchase just the APEA review, and read the leik book completely. Let me be the first to tell you practice questions are NOT going to be the reason you pass this exam. If you feel they help you, then buy a month access to APEA questions. They were the best in my opinion. Board vitals questions were good but WAY above what kind of questions I had on my exams. I failed the AANP first and was miserable. I had done the APEA review only at this point. Then, used the fitzgerald review and leik book to study. Make sure you really look hard at the non clinical stuff because the ANCC will have about 60 questions out of the 200 and this can really help you on the exam. I found the ANCC questions to be straight forward and no BS. They didn't try to trick me at all, but I believe the AANP was all about the trickery. I hated that exam. Trust me when I tell you this..take the ANCC, just prepare for the non clinical, brush up on the clinical part and you will pass the exam. If I passed it, you can pass it. I have written down about 15 or twenty items I remember from the ANCC exam. Not exact questions because for one that would be illegal. But I can guide you in what subjects to be proficient. Shoot me over an email and I will attach a word doc and get it back to you that will help guide you a bit. Don't panic, you got this.

[Big John]

I actually put a post up explaining what I did, however it seems to have mysteriously disappeared. I would like to help you, however it appears we cannot even private message because of the ridiculous policy of must post 15 quality topics in order to prove we are not "abusing" the system. Really? How many professional nurses are going to abuse anything? I would like to help you and have some information that would likely benefit you. You may try me at immusicman and g mail. I don't know if this will work or not. I am trying my best to help you and it appears this website is geared to prevent you from getting any help other than what we can post openly.

Jabez65 said:

Hi everyone,

I took the FNP AANP boards three weeks ago and failed. Upset, frustrated and depressed. I attended Barkely live review, answered thousands of practice questions with rationales and still failed. Please help. What do I need to do? I need to pass this test or I will go crazy. I am considerring to take both AANP and ANCC boards next time around . Thank you.

jabez65

[homegirl75025104]

where do we go to do the CE

[bgudorf]

Ok, so I took the AANP exam for the first time a week ago and passed. During preparation I visited these posts like a mad man to see if I was ready or not based on other peoples experience.

First, I did the Fitzgerald live review. At the time I thought it was great, but it actually gave me a false sense of preparedness. Once I started taking the practice exams I was scoring in the low 60's. It did, however, help me understand some key concepts such as anemia, murmurs, and antibiotics.

Second, I went through the Leik book. The questions in the back were great, I went through all of them. they also have an app that makes it easier.

Third, I downloaded 4 of the 150 question APEA preparednes tests. I scored a 67 on the first one. After not being satisfied with a 67 I purchased the APEA question bank and just started going through the questions. I would do 15 at a time while at work, to a total of 150-200 per day. I was initially scoring in the 60's on these 15 question quizzes.

After a week, i was in the mid 70s. I took another APEA 150 test and scored a 74, starting to feeling better. I finished all of the 1500 some APEA question bank and by the end I was in the mid to high 90's on average. At this point I had a strong understanding of the content and felt ready. Not only could I answer questions correctly, I could explain why it was correct.

I started with the Fitzgerald in May, and took my test June 20. I spent approximately 3 weeks on the APEA Qbank.

So, my advice is:

Use different resources, they teach you in different ways (Leik, fitz, Apea)

Be careful of some of the apps, the questions on some were super easy and not like the test.

Get the APEA Q bank and do all of it, even if you get through all of the questions keep going until you're scoring at least in the 80's.

Once you feel ready, take it, stop freaking out and get it done.

The test was challenging, but I felt prepared. Part of me feels like I learned more in the 6 weeks of studying than in the two years of school

[Pragmatic3333]

Jamie, it is unfortunate to fail anything you have worked so hard for. A few comments however to warn others who may get the wrong idea from your post. First off, starting as an ER FNP is going against your scope of practice, so you likely were not testing on a level involving primary care. Critical care and ER nurses have some of the highest first-time failure rates. Also, the board exam does a wonderful job at keeping those unsafe to practice out of practice, so building your knowledge in primary care prior to the exam is critical. This exam isn't something you can take a three-day course and go right into and expect to pass. I recommend 3-4 weeks of continuous knowledge building, then 1 week of nothing but practice questions followed by going back over weak areas assessed during the practice question time frame. I think the best advice is to not blame the exam itself but appreciate the need to expand your knowledge base so that you can be a safe provider.

[Pragmatic3333]

Jamie, it is unfortunate to fail anything you have worked so hard for. A few comments however to warn others who may get the wrong idea from your post. First off, starting as an ER FNP is going against your scope of practice, so you likely were not testing on a level involving primary care. Critical care and ER nurses have some of the highest first-time failure rates. Also, the board exam does a wonderful job at keeping those unsafe to practice out of practice, so building your knowledge in primary care prior to the exam is critical. This exam isn't something you can take a three-day course and go right into and expect to pass. I recommend 3-4 weeks of continuous knowledge building, then 1 week of nothing but practice questions followed by going back over weak areas assessed during the practice question time frame. I think the best advice is to not blame the exam itself but appreciate the need to expand your knowledge base so that you can be a safe provider.

[lwsoccjs]

"Part of me feels like I learned more in the 6 weeks of studying than in the two years of school"

What a scary thing to think about and even worse to see written down. As a graduated NP you should be ashamed of yourself and the school you went to if this is your true feelings. Wow. 6 weeks is all it takes huh.

[legoo21, DNP, NP]

Hi my dear you are not alone. I just registered into this website to get insight as to how to pass either the ANCC or AANP exam. I have taken both and failed. The most recent being the AANP exam. Straight A student, currently pursuing her DNP almost complete hopefully by July this year. I still have not passed my boards. The good thing about it all is that my hospital decided to give me a chance to practice as an outpatient FNP which i like very much. I still have to pass this board exams. I am very grateful for all the tips colleagues have given you, and i am learining from it all. If you want to study together either through face time or any social media device, count me in. I picked up my slack and i am going through my weak areas like Images on eyes, skin etc.

[Bobbi2006]

I'm lost, I studied like a mad person. I just know I was going to pass and I didn't. So now I need to get the 15 ceu's and I don't know what course to take any suggestions?? I can't believe this I feel like such a failure everyone in my class has passed and is working.

[Bobbi2006]

Count me in for studying. I'm ready when you are.

[Bobbi2006]

I need a study partner