AANP PASSED 2018

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Specializes in FNP- psych, internal med, pediatric.

Hi everyone! Just wanted to give my two cents about passing the AANP boards Jan 2018. Study wise I took the online Fitzgerald review as required by my program. I also used Maria Leik's book and Hollier's book, answering everything in all of them. I think Fitzgerald is really good, interesting to listen to, and her content is relevant, but for testing, it's overload. As a prior educator, I think the more you know the better and cram sessions are not going to help.

I thought Liek's end of chapter knowledge points are totally on-point. I did not have one diagram on my test and my test covered lots of gero, peds, women's health, urology, pharmacology, and well....family practice in general. No surprise there. Question wise, I was really excited about the "mark" button to come back to questions as there were 8 I needed to re-visit at the end. I'm a fast test-taker and completed some predictor exams from FHEA, HESI, and APEA finishing in 65-73 minutes. Predictor wise- I scored above 73% on half. First predictor I scored 68% and remediated for 4 weeks before taking the other predictors. My last predictor, the day prior to testing, I had a horrific head cold and scored "at-risk." My brains were fuzzy and although I wanted to push the test back until I was well, it was too close to test time and they won't let you reschedule if there's less than 48 hrs to test taking. The AANP took me 143 minutes total. The head cold kicked in around question 86 when I decided to break to splash water on my face and do jumping jacks in the restroom. Worked wonders!

The questions on the exam are how Fitzgerald explains. Meaning, when I got a question, you need to read each one thoroughly because as an educator, I actually saw the distractors and first picked the wrong answers. When I would re-read the question and answer choices, my whole opinion about approaching the question changed. Another author described thinking about the questions as, okay chronic vs acute prostatitis....what are the differences in presentation, in treatment, with penicillin-allergies, etc. After you know these things specifically, then answering the question is completely rational with the choices presented. Question-wise, my questions were closely worded to Hollier's book. After reading all these books and answering all the questions, I can say there were 3 questions that were word-for-word out of the books, while probably three more were similar in content. Not one book was better for answering my questions in all honesty.

Just wanted to say that waiting for the test results was the very longest 2 minutes of my life. Hell, giving birth seemed faster and easier. LOL! Take your time and read carefully to one self. I didn't think it was that bad looking back a few days later. I do plan to also sit for ANCC. I think it's weird how some nurses say "Don't even waste your time with the AANP, because ANCC is more relevant." I think it's all relative and I just happened to get a test-date for AANP first and this is allowing me to obtain my license, so that is why I took AANP first. It's just another test...take predictor exams, if you believe in them, at the same time you are scheduled for the real test. EBP says testing prior to 10 am produces better test scores. To each his own and be the practitioner you always dreamed about! :up:

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This is comforting to hear as I am in the same boat. I've been getting 65-75% on questions which is giving me anxiety. Not to mention my 7 month old is now sick and I'm coming down with something which is really giving me a hard time to focus. My AANP exam is next week and I too am debating if I should postpone, but then I'm thinking is another week or two really going to make a difference??i did all the Leik questions plus again the first 300 problem with me is I can't really redo questions I've already done because I remember the answer vs really focusing on what the question is asking. I did Fitz that was ok I guess. I'm trying to focus on women's health, gero urology etc as I know a lot of people said to focus on that. So will see all I can do is pray and hope for the best

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Hello Mookyjoe - I had a similar experience only I did not pass and am awaiting my official results. I have regrouped and already have a week of studying I'm very differently. Any suggestions. Would you mind chatting through email or text?? If so, that would be great! Post your email and I will check back periodically today and tomorrow. Thanks so much!!

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Specializes in FNP- psych, internal med, pediatric.

Hi LeeDe. If you PM me here then I can get back with you. I think passing was really a matter of reading the questions and all the choices. I usually scored over 73% after my first predictor (68%) and remediating for 4 weeks. Until you were scoring above 72% on predictors like APEA or ANCC, I would not test if it were me. I liked the predictors because it really showed my weak points and after remediating those areas, those were the areas I saw on the exam itself so I felt really happy with my studying

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If you can send me any info or tips I would greatly appreciate it as well. My test is on Monday so I'm freaking out a little bit. I tried to pM you but I couldn't figure out how to do that.

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Hi guys, I took the aanp today and didn't pass. First test I ever failed :(. My head was spinning. It was a ton of derm so please know skin conditions as well as std treatment and elderly Pharm pregnancy related changes. Gonna retake soon. I love my Leik book and I did all the Leik questions and quizlet helps too. If you have any questions or helpful tips let me know! Also if I haven taken and retaken the aanp let me know if the exam is similar or not so much? Thanks!!

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Hello! I graduated on May 18, applied to AANP on May 19, and passed my boards on June 15. It is June 29 and I still do not have my certification letter from AANP. I spoke with them today and they said the letter will not be mailed until next week. That's almost a month!!!

If you are between the two - take ANCC!!! All of my friends who passed ANCC got their certification letters within 48 hrs. So if you're pressed (i.e. have a firm offer/signed contract) and cannot wait around for your certification letter to submit to your board of nursing - take ANCC instead!

Good Luck!

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Thanks Hopinkrn,

I'm scheduled to retake AANP next week. Fingers & toes crossed!!

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Specializes in FNP- psych, internal med, pediatric.

Finger crossed!!!How bad do you want it? Let that resound in your mind when you're sitting in front of that screen saying, "WTF kind of question is this!" Slow down and read carefully. It's all up there. :coollook:

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Specializes in ER.

Im glad you think fitzgerald is overload because I try to read her book and do the questions and feel like there is just too much detail so I ditched that and am only doing the LEIK book and some of the collier questions

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Thank you for your input! I passed the AANP exam today. Like most of you I did a bunch of research and read a lot of forums on how to prep for the exam. I didnt have hundreds and hundreds of dollars to be spending on CDs and prep courses for information I should have learned through school and clinicals!! So I bought the Fitzgerald and Leik prep books (together under $100) and read them through. I then bough Holliers question book which is solely practice questions. Lastly I purchased the 2 practice exams on the AANP PSI website. With this prep I felt more than ready for the exam and had no issue with the exam itself!! There were a few questions that were tough but could be figured out with some thought.

Just thought I would put in my two cents for those that aren't looking to spend a ton of money especially after all the money we spent on our programs!!

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Specializes in new grad NP.

Hello everyone, someone.

Registered for AANP in 2 wks. Prepping with Leik questions, Barkley book & CDs and online comprehensive review questions.

I heard abt practice exams but not predictors. is it same? if not, do u recommend predictor? any other suggestions for prep? thanks all.

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