ANCC and AANP Certification

I am happy to say I passed the AANP-Adult-Gero exam on 12/17/16. Like many of you, I often came here to find guidance and any advice I could to prepare me for the exam. Nursing Students NP Students Article

ANCC and AANP Certification

Now I would like to share my experience in hopes it will help someone.

I have taken both ANCC and AANP. The ANCC was taken on 10/30/16 and I failed, my score was 340 and I needed at least 350. I was very disappointed to say the least. On 12/17/16- I took the AANP and passed, Praise god. I had studied consistently for about 7 weeks for the ANCC. After about a week, I started to study again this time I decided to take the AANP. On my results from the ANCC it stated I scored High on the clinical but low on the non-clinical, so I figured AANP would be a better test for me. So ensure you pick the right test according to your strengths.

The ANCC - this test had a lot of non-clinical content, things such as leadership, research content and research studies, hospice, ethics, licensing, HIPAA, things like if the NP wanted to do a research study what would she/he do first, and therapeutic communication. Many questions for the non-clinical gave a scenario and would ask you to decide next step or how would you handle it. Also questions on reliable research studies. The clinical content was straightforward, no tricks with those at all. However, there were photos on dermatology and eye disorders. Most questions were multiple choice; there were a few "all that apply" type questions. There also were a couple matching questions. The clinical questions were on almost all the body systems. Also, important to know labs and diagnostics test for each diagnosis as well as first line and second line medications. For the ANCC please allow time to study the non-clinical as well as the clinical. After taking the ANCC, I went back to my school textbooks and found some good information in those, so it may be a good idea to revisit some of your old textbooks.

The AANP- this text was mainly clinical, I did have two to three non-clinical questions but they were easy like therapeutic communication and privacy. The majority were clinical; questions were straight forward, no tricks. All my questions were multiple choice. All body systems were on my test, I did not have any contraceptive or OB questions. This test was very much like its blueprint, a lot on assessments, knowing signs and symptoms, diagnostic testing, first and second line medications, and side effects of medications. On this test there was a great deal of questions on the elderly and frail elderly, knowing the changes in the body system, medications, and difference in some of the presenting symptoms for this population. I seem to like this test better because I am more clinical.

TIP: Please allow yourself enough time to study. It is very important to master the materials not memorize. Please get plenty of rest the few days leading up to the test date. Eat good nutrition meals.

For the test, please take your time reading the questions and read them more than once. Try your best to keep your anxiety at a low; I was constantly calming myself down. Do not spend too much time on a question, select your best answer then mark it and come back to it, if possible. Also, this time I took a break, something I did not do the first time, and I honestly felt it made a difference. My mind was racing, I was getting all confused and just feeling lost, so I took a 5 minute break, went to the restroom. When I returned, I felt rejuvenated. I looked back at the questions I had marked and it seemed as if the right answer just came to me, my mind was much clearer from that 5-minute break. So if possible, take a break.

Study Materials

1st - Maria Leik - Her book was very good, the content and the questions in the back of the book were very similar to the test questions, especially the questions on the AANP.

2nd - Barkley - I ordered Barkley Home Review Package with book, CD's and readiness test- his materials are good as well, I love his CD's very helpful and you can listen to them anywhere. The Barkley test was good as well and I did well on that test.

3rd - Fitzgerald - Her book was very detailed, not really geared toward the test, more for practice but it did have useful information. I also purchased the pocket prep (FNP exam prep), it was useful, detailed like Fitzgerald book, downloads to your phone, you can answer questions anywhere. Most useful app. To me is the FNP mastery study guide, very informative with great rationales.

So sorry for the long post, I tried to remember everything and if I think of anything else, I will post again.

Good luck to everyone!

We made it through school and we will make it through this! I hope everyone is able to pass the first time but if not remember many people have had to test more than once and made it. Personally, the positive of taking it twice is that I am much more confident and ready to practice the material. We know much more than we think we know! Moreover, I know you can do this; we have come too far, we have to do it!

God bless you! Feel free to ask me any questions, will help anyway I can.

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KJ NP

About KJ NP

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Congratulations on passing your exam!! I have a few questions for you if you will give me your time. I've gone through Fitzgerald and Leik, I'm going through a testing app pocket prep. I took the APEA test today with a low passing score. My question is this the AANP board exam is like it was in nursing school where the practice questions are harder than the actual test? The APEA predictive test it all made sense to me but the pocket preps app is very obscure in it's questions. Thank you for your time and again congratulations.

Happy new year,

Tim

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

I passed both as well and interviewers were impressed by that. I read Leik cover to cover, took notes, and answered every single question. Answers that I had wrong I looked up the rationale. I also read the Mometrix book cover to cover. I took both practice tests through the AANP. I used APEA's question bank. Good Luck!

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Hi, Shwtpe

Thank you!

Many have said APEA help them a lot and it was pretty head on if they would pass or not. Study the areas you scored low on for sure. For the most part the practice questions are harder than the board questions. The pocket app. appears to reference Fitzgerald which is harder and more detailed than the exam. It is great for clinical practice but not really geared towards the test. Although reading her rationales are helpful. FNP Mastery app. I felt was better. Also please go over the questions in the back of Leik book, very helpful and more like the exam.

Also, please keep your anxiety at a low...I know its hard but it will help you think better.

Good luck!

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Palliative Care, DNP

Congratulations! Great Job!

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Thank you. How long did it take to get your license? I've heard it takes up to three weeks for AANP to send the test results over to the state board.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
Thank you. How long did it take to get your license? I've heard it takes up to three weeks for AANP to send the test results over to the state board.

Part of it depends on your state BON. My state's website indicates that it will take 30-45 days. It took every bit of 45 days then another month for prescriptive authority as that was a separate application. DEA's website shows 6-8 weeks. I received my DEA in 4.

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KJ,

How long did it take for AAPN to tell your state BON that you'd passed the test?

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Honestly I'm not sure how long it took them to notify my BON but they had me a printable wallet certification ready in two days and here in Michigan I was able to use that with my application and get my license number and that process was almost two weeks, I don't actually have my license in hand. The hold up was it was time for my RN renewal and I had to renew that first even though it didn't expire till 3/31/17 it was still up for renewal. So my actual license should come in mail this week, they said 7-10 days and that was last week. Had I known they were waiting for me to renew I would have had it by now. So if you RN license is up for renewal go ahead and renew so that won't hold up your NP license.

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Congratulations to everyone who passed!!!!!

I passed my ANCC Adult-Gero exam this afternoon and passed my AANP Adult-Gero exam on January 28, 2017.

I graduated from South University (online) on November 16, 2016 and they provided us access to Hollier's live review (recorded) and APEA question bank for free which was really nice of them.

I signed up for both exams because I wasn't sure which exam I would do better in and thought I would fail. I honestly thought the AANP was much harder than the ANCC (just my opinion). For the AANP exam, I kept on second guessing myself on some of my answers and changed them last minute. For the ANCC exam, I liked the highlight and strike out features because it helped me narrow down my answers and I didn't have to change any of my answers at the end of the exam. I had a lot of non clinical questions, pictures, and matching which were straight forward.

The resources that I found VERY helpful were: Leik and Hollier. Some of the practice questions in Leik's review book and Hollier's APEA question bank were similar to the questions on the AANP. What helped me out on non-clinical questions for the ANCC were from Leik.

For those who are planning to take or retake either exams, Leik and Hollier are the BEST!! Just make sure when you sign up for your exam, just do a lot of time management on studying each systems and try to spend most of your time on the areas you find yourself weak on. Good luck!!!!!

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