Certification: AANP or ANCC?

[PhillyFNP, DNP]

Hello all. I would like to know what the difference is for the certifications for FNP from AANP or ANCC. Which one should I take and does it matter?

Thanks!

[anh06005, MSN, APRN, NP]

I'm about to start my final semester and have read these message boards a lot. From what I have gathered (which isn't worth much) is that either you choose you get certified and employers rarely (if ever) care which you go with.

I wanna say the ANCC is more about strictly certifying nurses (sorry if I'm wrong!) whereas the AANP is an organization that work with and represents NPs on a national level.

The main difference in the tests seems to be that the ANCC has clinical as well as theory and legal issues. They also have "choose all that apply" and picture questions. The AANP is strictly clinical with A B C and D answer choices. There are some smaller differences (number of questions, scoring, etc.) but I don't think those matter as much.

There's also different recert requirements but I don't know enough about them to know (except that the AANP has so many CEU's with so many in pharm I believe).

I have heard/read that some seem to think ANCC is more "prestigious" but I have had preceptors from both bodies with no discernible difference.

If you search the site there's others who got better responses to this question.

[olvr00]

I think it doesn't matter. I did mine with AANP because it's the organization specific for nurse practitioners. The ANCC is under the ANA or a subsidiary of the ANA.