ACNP exam

Specialties NP

Published

Specializes in ICU, Med-Surg.

I just recently took the ACNP exam and failed by 3 points :angryfire. Just wondering if any of you had a semilar experience and which resource you thought was most helpful in being successful at passing the exam?

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I just recently took the ACNP exam and failed by 3 points :angryfire. Just wondering if any of you had a semilar experience and which resource you thought was most helpful in being successful at passing the exam?

Have you looked at the other exam? That may be easier/more to your learning style.

David Carpenter, PA-C

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First, I am sorry to hear about your results. I took the ancc exam last week. I used fitzgerald, ancc also offers a review that is good. I also answered a lot of questions from different review books. But I believe that fitzgerald was the best. Good luck.

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Specializes in ICU, Med-Surg.

Which other exam are you refering to? I thought the ACNP exam is only offered through the ANCC; the Academy doesn't offer it.

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Which other exam are you refering to? I thought the ACNP exam is only offered through the ANCC; the Academy doesn't offer it.

http://www.certcorp.org/certcorp/certcorp.nsf/vwdoc/ACNPC

Looking at the website I am not sure they are operational yet. They were supposed to be administering this in Fall 2007. Another opportunity as long as your state accepts it.

David Carpenter, PA-C

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Specializes in ICU, Med-Surg.
Have you looked at the other exam? That may be easier/more to your learning style.

David Carpenter, PA-C

Which other exam are you referring to? The ACNP is only offered through the ANCC at this point ( AS far as I know)

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Which other exam are you referring to? The ACNP is only offered through the ANCC at this point ( AS far as I know)

Follow the link above. The AANC (the people that do the CCRN) have developed a ACNP exam and will be administering it separately from ANCC. Like I said, may be another option.

David Carpenter, PA-C

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Specializes in ICU, Med-Surg.
http://www.certcorp.org/certcorp/certcorp.nsf/vwdoc/ACNPC

Looking at the website I am not sure they are operational yet. They were supposed to be administering this in Fall 2007. Another opportunity as long as your state accepts it.

David Carpenter, PA-C

I was noticing this few months ago, the AACN has not started testing yet. I think they are in the pilot phase at this point. Thanks

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I was noticing this few months ago, the AACN has not started testing yet. I think they are in the pilot phase at this point. Thanks

They did the pilot phase in April. I know someone who did the exam. I am not sure where they are at now. I have a feeling that state approval is not coming as rapidly as they thought. There is supposed to be news on the whats new section, but that is missing. It may be worth dropping them a line to see where they are at.

David Carpenter, PA-C

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

you need to verify which certification body is the correct one, mossyoak. right now, there are two:

american nurses credentialing center (ancc)

american academy of nurse practitioners (aanp)

the one to which core0 refers, i don't think is recognized by the state bon.

if you did not use fitzgeralds to study for your acnp, please get this. very helpful. and, don't despair, you will pass.

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you need to verify which certification body is the correct one, mossyoak. right now, there are two:

american nurses credentialing center (ancc)

american academy of nurse practitioners (aanp)

the one to which core0 refers, i don't think is recognized by the state bon.

if you did not use fitzgeralds to study for your acnp, please get this. very helpful. and, don't despair, you will pass.

i don't think that aanp does certification exams for acnp. my understanding is that ancc had an agreement with aacn to develop the acnp course that expired in 2007. prior to that aacn stated that they would develop their own acnp certification exam. from what i hear the politics behind this are rather byzantine. they did the pilot phase last spring and it was well received by the testors. the person that i spoke to thought it was more germane than the ancc test (although she is a big ccrn fan so their may be some bias).

as far as recognition, the way that it was explained to me, was that since the aacn is already recognized to certify cns that in those states that don't differentiate or that already have aacn in statue your acnp from them would be recognized. i would definitely check with your state board to see.

with a small n (2) these were suggested:

http://www.amazon.com/practitioner-certification-examination-practice-preparation/dp/0803611595/ref=pd_sim_b_4_img/102-7727272-5964133

this is the fitzgerald book that siri described. the other suggestion was the todd book:

http://www.amazon.com/acute-nurse-practitioner-certification-examination/dp/0803609574

the person that suggested this thought that the layout was better. the caveat here is that it doesn't seem to have been updated in a while, although her acnp secrets book is newer.

with the same small n the other suggestion was this one:

http://www.mo-media.com/np/

one person loved it and one thought it was kind of sleazy. the person that loved it has a lot of test anxiety and this addresses test taking among other subjects.

just a few thoughts.

david carpenter, pa-c

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

True, the AANP does not offer the ACNP cert, but other NP disciplines can challenge to sit for certification.

As of now, the only one recognized, is ANCC. I would err on the side of caution with any other exam until we know the (other) exam is status quo.

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