AANP FNP (Failed -> Passed!)

[zebrapants1]

So...I just failed my exam. I stumbled across your post in my emotional upheaval. Like you, I took the Hollier review and have been studying the Liek book. Like you, I felt so confident going into the exam. Now I'm not even sure this is the right path for me. Your post did get me to giggle a bit through my tears when I got to the part about getting over my negative mindset. I'm in the same place you were, as far as being burnt out studying, and frankly, I want to take it again as soon as possible. I could quite possibly be thinking illogically since I'm an emotional wreck and my brain is fried. You mention a a better, in depth strategy that you'd be willing to share. I just signed up for this web-site so I could contact you, and it won't allow me to message you. Is there an email contact you'd recommend, or are you able to message me in some way?

[A-FNP]

I am supposed to take my exam on Friday but I think I am going to re-schedule. I did the Hollier review as well and have been studying from Leik but I am not feeling prepared!!! Do you have any tips for the exam?

[zebrapants1]

Honestly...not a one. I felt so confident walking into that exam...maybe that was my problem? Maybe I was overconfident. I think the first few questions threw me off completely. I felt out of my element, so in hindsight, I felt like I was rushing through the questions. I just wanted it to be over. Hollier boasts a 99% pass rate...it's sad to think I was the 1/100 that didn't pass. Best of luck, I genuinely hope you pass the first time, because this is awful!

[A-FNP]

zebrapants1 said:

Honestly...not a one. I felt so confident walking into that exam...maybe that was my problem? Maybe I was overconfident. I think the first few questions threw me off completely. I felt out of my element, so in hindsight, I felt like I was rushing through the questions. I just wanted it to be over. Hollier boasts a 99% pass rate...it's sad to think I was the 1/100 that didn't pass. Best of luck, I genuinely hope you pass the first time, because this is awful!

I am so sorry! I truly think there is more than a 1% fail rate for these review courses. The last time I looked there was only an 80% pass rate for the AANP. I'm sure you will do great with just a little more studying. If you did not purchase the Q bank, then maybe try that??

[zebrapants1]

Maybe...but between Hollier and Liek, I did almost 1000 questions.

[Aviance09]

I failed as well. I am looking to retake this month. Any help is appreciated?

[aliboy22675]

I would like further information regarding some study guides on quizlet! May I have your email address?

[malenurse122879, MSN, RN]

Thanks for the writeup. Did you take the APEA review online or in seat? I graduate on 12/14 - I take Fitzgerald's live review on 11/7-11/9 followed by APEA on 11/12-11/14. I figure Fitzgerald will dig in too deep, Amelie will reinforce the main ideas, and I will test about two weeks after that.

[applerac1]

I just took the AANP FNP certification and did not pass. I'm frustrated and appreciate your post because I really want to be negative/hard on myself right now, but reading your post helps to not beat myself up so bad. I'm so sick of studying and have been studying a lot for months. I graduated from Chamberlain on 8/27/17 and the last 7 wks prior to graduation consisted of Hollier's APEA course online, which I followed along with the syllabus for each section. I did two practice APEA predictor exams that are 150 questions / 3 hrs each and scored a 73% and 72% on both. The first predictor exam was the exit exam from school and required a 70% or better to graduate. The second one I paid for and took last week to see if I was ready to take the AANP FNP exam. I paid $50 and took the 75 question test available on the AANP web site via PSI and did not do very well on it, like a 62%, so I was concerned. In preparation for the AANP exam I did so many practice questions between APEA and FNP Mastery app on my phone with decent feedback I felt I was doing well. I also made note cards and reviewed some of Leik's FNP Cert Intensive Review book 2nd ed. but didn't have time to review the whole book. So now I'm frustrated and don't know what to do differently.

I feel like the AANP FNP exam was just on another level of difficulty than any other prep exam, except for the AANP FNP 75 question prep exam they offer on their website. I thought I'd have some straightforward questions and some complex questions, but felt that the majority were extremely complex/difficult. I don't see how I can keep so much vast information in my head to pass the exam. I've learned a lot over my course of studying and feel like I have a good amount of information in my head, but I feel like that exam found all the random details I don't know, along with making me doubt a lot of what I do know. The questions were just ridiculously complex and it's annoying to prepare so hard and feel like it was a waste. I literally don't know I can keep the vast amount of information in my head that I need to know to pass the exam. I wouldn't be as frustrated if I knew I didn't study enough, but I was very diligent in my studies, every day! I'm hoping I just got the "hard version" but my guess is that they are all ridiculously hard. I just figured there would more straightforward questions that if I studied, I'd get them right, but those questions just seemed to have another level of difficulty to them. Oh well, I guess I'll keep studying and do the CMEs and use the pointers suggested and hope the recall information in my head is enough for the questions I get on the next exam. What's most frustrating is that anytime in my past that I've studied that hard for any exam, I passed. It was definitely the hardest exam I've ever taken in my life!! Well, first time for everything and I'm not liking the fact that I did not pass the exam. I'll take the preparatory hints posted on this board to heart and give it another go and hope I'm more successful with the next exam. Thanks for you post.

[FNP-SA, BSN, RN, NP]

Til now, the day still haunts me! Speaking from true experience, not even 1 month ago... I know saying you'll do better next time is easier said than done, but from here on out, literally just tell yourself... "Okay fine, I didn't pass. So be it. It happens. But this next one...it's done, going to slap it in the face and own it."

Now reading your post, I honestly believe you DID put in enough effort, in fact i'm POSITIVE you did. And on any other regular practice question(s), you would have done fine. However, it seems it's not the lack of sufficient knowledge, but an area of improvement regarding test taking strategies... I know myself, and I've always known that I am a HORRIBLE test taker... until this exam, I not only did 1000s of questions, i trained myself to approach a question a different way. At one point, I didn't need to know the answer to the specific question each time, but I at least had a rationale to determine/rule out why other answer choices were NOT or less likely correct. Additionally, continuing to train myself to identify patterns helped ALOT.

More additional strategies:

Example pattern question, of course I made this up and will be easy, but I am emphasizing the PATTERN strategy, not addressing the difficulty of this question... When assessing a patient with Cushings syndrome, what would be a potential complication expected from the APRN...

A) Hypotension, B) Hypertension, C) Television, D) Chair....

So, I put "Television, and chair" in the answer choices to throw you off, but just pretend like it was "terminology" you had no idea what they mean or heard about. DON"T fall into the trap, downgrade yourself, and think it has to be one of those unknown words because you aren't familiar with them...BUT Realize that choice (A) hypotension and (B)hypertension are complete opposites of each other, thus for the exam, it would most likely be one of those 2.

Another pattern like question: When 2 answer choices are basically the same thing (synonyms) and/or both correct, but this is a multiple choice test with only 1 right answer... so if 2 choices are the same AND even though they make sense, it CANNOT be what the test is looking.... Example (again, going to be easy, but focus on the strategy)...

60 y/o male complains of tightness in his chest. What would be the initial assessment of the APRN?

A) Hypertension, B) EKG, C) High blood pressure, D) Cardiac laboratory values...... So, Choice A and C are essentialy the same thing (disregard technicality), and although they may be just as high of importance to assess concurrently with EKG and lab values...only 1 answer can be correct. Therefore, rule out (A), and © because if 1 of them is right, the other has to be right, and that can't happen due to confusion. Looking at the stem of the question, I asked "Initial" ... thus, doing the least expensive, least invasive, important of present objective status takes priority over cardiac labs.

SOAP test taking strategy...Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan, Evaluation? This one was abit harder for me to actually master/apply Naturally, but the format of the question itself can hint/guide what the answer is looking for, especially if all the answers appear right....

Pretend I just gave you a Detailed patient scenario about an 80 year old with urinary issues, infrequency, hesitancy, complains of no pain with bowel movements, etc...What would be the next step for the APRN to make... A) Ask if it runs in the family B) Digital Rectal Exam C) PSA D) Prescribe 0.4 mg PO Daily....Tricky question because 1) your thinking well I need to gather ALL assessment before doing any next step, but realize what you need to actually ask yourself is "Do I have ENOUGH information to come up with a diagnoses... in this case, yes... Probably DX BPH..... B) Now I need to do a DRE before C) invasively drawing blood (also may/may not help knowing PSA after DRE will rise but is insignificant in numerical value meaning it won't really jump up high enough secondary to DRE). D) I did give you a BPH medication and correct initial starting dose, but still not the "Next step" in plan of care... So I literally just made up this question, so if you find any technical/faulty/questionable rationales I provide, remember I am emphasizing Test Taking strategy.

Hope some of these help anyone reading. Again, I could probably discuss even further strategies, but do send me an email and we can always go from there. To those who have already emailed me, sorry for any delays in response and/or time. It's an email I am not used to regularly checking, but created merely for this site. Everyone who was unsuccessful thus far and possibly still subconsciously beating yourself up....

Stop...Now...

Keep your head up, literally tell yourself it is what it is, and now at this time, do what you gotta do to get ur sh** done now! (Really not trying to use inappropriate language, but sometimes an empathetic soft speech isn't enough, just smile at my attempt and do work)

[FNP-SA, BSN, RN, NP]

zebrapants1 said:

Honestly...not a one. I felt so confident walking into that exam...maybe that was my problem? Maybe I was overconfident. I think the first few questions threw me off completely. I felt out of my element, so in hindsight, I felt like I was rushing through the questions. I just wanted it to be over. Hollier boasts a 99% pass rate...it's sad to think I was the 1/100 that didn't pass. Best of luck, I genuinely hope you pass the first time, because this is awful!

Disregard overconfident, that can be a good thing. Yes the first few questions could have initiated a downward spiral of confidence altering your train of thought. That is definitely a strategy/mind set I actually went into the exam with... "If I don't understand what the answer is for the first 3-5 questions, so be it, not going to let them 1) alter my pace, 2)alter my train of thought for future questions..." Instead, mark and choose whatever "kinda-sorta-ish first instinct, move on, icome back later to them... but seriously, don't alter your pace because you start reading the first couple questions slow, which in turn causes you to read the easier questions at the same slow pace.

Exam was created so the first couple ones were harder anyways. Realistically, you still have alot more room/leniency to miss before failing.

Looks like you had nerve/anxious issues like I did... which typically doesn't happen too often until AANP. umm, try to AM walk/gym like I did, or... the restful break prior to test day, or... schedule a massage an hr before the exam? Seems silly, but who knows, if it works it works.

Good luck!

[Atezyk04]

How were you able to reschedule so quickly? AANP informed me that I cannot reschedule until my scores have been released and they only release them on tuesdays... I tested and failed last Thursday... took the day to sulk and Friday I began the CEUs and necessary steps to be eligible to retest... what am I doing wrong? How can I apply to retest without the results?