Failed ANCC FNP certification exam

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Trying to pick myself up after failing ANCC FNP certification exam and figure what to do now. I am already planning to re-take but do not know how to better prepare myself. I took the Fitzgerald CDs review twice as well as read through it a 3rd time. Looked through an assessment book, pharm and reviewed Leik's book. I am working on test taking strategies but would really like to talk to anyone who has failed and what they did to pass. Thanks.

Hello,

Just wanted to post a little something to help those of you who may be looking for some guidance or support. I learned absolutely nothing from school since my master's program was a waste of time. Everything I learned was after graduating school and studying on my own/ review course. Below is a timeline of things I did:

1. Took the Barkley and associates review course just prior to graduating my master's program. This course is a review of the material. The instructor will tell you what to focus on as you go through the book. The thing I liked about this course is that the instructors did a thorough review and the Barkley review book is quite detailed yet straight to the point. The thing I didn't like about this course is that the ANCC greatly focuses on ethics, this course has no info on ethics and the online video was not helpful at all. Additionally, Barkley is focused on teaching the content and in my opinion it is important to know that content but it is also important to understand how to answer and interpret the questions. Even though I took the Barkley review I had to go back and memorize everything so it wasn't too helpful to pay extra and sit through the live course because it is unlikely you will retain much. If I could do it again I would get their book and just study on my own. The CDs are also just like the live course so that is an alternative.

2. I started studying at home immediately after graduating. I spent a total of about one month studying (but working full time left me with about 3 days to study each week). I used:

-The Barkley Review Book

-Lieks NP Review Book (Mainly for ethics and research portion of book- really informative)

-Kellermann's 1000 Necessary Adult/Gero NP Questions Book (Book of 1000 questions)

-Fitzgerald Audio CD's

THE EXAM: While many questions left me clueless, I walked away unsure if I passed but DID PASS ON MY FIRST TRY! Looking back, there weren't as many peds questions as the Barkley book makes you study. Overall, you have the to know the important things. My study plan was to focus on the main diseases and then study the nitty gritty things later. i didn't get to everything, but because I knew the main things I was good to go and obviously passed.

ANOTHER MUST: do the diagnostic readiness tests on the Barkley website. I did three and took the test once I was scoring a passing rate. I could see my scores increase as I studied more so it is a good indicator of where you stand.

I have all my resources if any of you are interested in them or need more information/ questions answered. Leave me your email and I can help you the best I can.

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Hello,

Just wanted to post a little something to help those of you who may be looking for some guidance or support. I learned absolutely nothing from school since my master's program was a waste of time. Everything I learned was after graduating school and studying on my own/ review course. Below is a timeline of things I did:

1. Took the Barkley and associates review course just prior to graduating my master's program. This course is a review of the material. The instructor will tell you what to focus on as you go through the book. The thing I liked about this course is that the instructors did a thorough review and the Barkley review book is quite detailed yet straight to the point. The thing I didn't like about this course is that the ANCC greatly focuses on ethics, this course has no info on ethics and the online video was not helpful at all. Additionally, Barkley is focused on teaching the content and in my opinion it is important to know that content but it is also important to understand how to answer and interpret the questions. Even though I took the Barkley review I had to go back and memorize everything so it wasn't too helpful to pay extra and sit through the live course because it is unlikely you will retain much. If I could do it again I would get their book and just study on my own. The CDs are also just like the live course so that is an alternative.

2. I started studying at home immediately after graduating. I spent a total of about one month studying (but working full time left me with about 3 days to study each week). I used:

-The Barkley Review Book

-Lieks NP Review Book (Mainly for ethics and research portion of book- really informative)

-Kellermann's 1000 Necessary Adult/Gero NP Questions Book (Book of 1000 questions)

-Fitzgerald Audio CD's

THE EXAM: While many questions left me clueless, I walked away unsure if I passed but DID PASS ON MY FIRST TRY! Looking back, there weren't as many peds questions as the Barkley book makes you study. Overall, you have the to know the important things. My study plan was to focus on the main diseases and then study the nitty gritty things later. i didn't get to everything, but because I knew the main things I was good to go and obviously passed.

ANOTHER MUST: do the diagnostic readiness tests on the Barkley website. I did three and took the test once I was scoring a passing rate. I could see my scores increase as I studied more so it is a good indicator of where you stand.

I have all my resources if any of you are interested in them or need more information/ questions answered. Leave me your email and I can help you the best I can.

Hello Congrats,

I will be grateful if you don't mind sharing your resources/study tips. Thanks

my email is [email protected]

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Straight A student, ED nurse for 8 years and I also failed AANP twice .... I am going to try the ANCC, see if that goes better. I did a Barkley review. APEA bank ( which I found useless) Leik and Fitz books... going to try to focus on 1 book ( Leik probably) as suggested by someone earlier.... there just too much.... and I felt like I was in the wrong exam for more than half the time I was in there, the questions were so random.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Labor and Delivery,.

Totally agree. Did BoardVitals for 3 weeks. Answered all 1900 or so questions. Focused on the 450 policy questions. Very helpful. Passed ANCC on 1st trial.

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Ok, so I took the AANC exam this week and passed. It was my first attempt at passing either exam. My plan was to take the AANC as practice to see where I stood and to take the AANP after strengthening my weak areas, and hopefully passing. Let me give you a little background and maybe it will help some of you. I graduated from my FNP program in May 2012. I was working in an area where certification was not necessary and I kept putting it off. Not the smartest thing any of us can do, but where would any of us be without a couple of really good rationalizations in our lives? I am north of 50 years old and I hope that is helpful for some of my colleagues considering this path.

The exam. I cannot tell you anything that has not already been posted on several of the exam blogs here….. It has all been covered. What I can tell you is be careful with practice questions. I looked up the correct information on peer reviewed sites like UpToDate. I found a many arbitrary or flat our wrong answers in the 600+ questions in the back of the Leik 2nd Ed as well as Fitzgerald's 4th. I still highly recommend both, but verify the information. Do not take any source as correct if you think it might be incorrect, look it up. I took Fitzgerald's course upon graduating because it was required in my program in 2009. She is very knowledgeable and some really good information (more geared toward practice than passing). I did not like her course because every topic and ever sentence began with I”, In my practice”, etc. There is so much wasted time on what she picked up”, what she did”. It might be ok for others, but with my ADD I found it distracting. Three years ago I was able to take Barkley as CE's paid for by my job. I believe they all are about equal and they did not really reflect the exam, at least the ANCC.

What I found valuable was questions, lots of questions and looking up the correct answers if I got them wrong. I also found Paul Bolin's CRASH videos invaluable. (crash usmle step 2 and 3 paul bolin - YouTube)

Lastly, there was a lot of leadership, management, nursing theory. My program was big on leadership and management and a lot came back enough for a good educated guess. There are very few knowledge based questions, they are mostly analysis, application and synthesis questions.

How I approached the questions. I crossed out the two distracters immediately (most of the time they were obvious). If I knew the answer (or was pretty sure) I selected my answer and moved on. On the questions I was queasy on I marked” them for review. On the questions I did not know, I kept comparing the 2 answers left with the stem (past/present/future tense, etc) and finally went with my gut (first instinct). I guess what I'm saying is work the question and not the content when you do not know the answer and give your best guess.

So take a review course, use one or more of the books recommended on this blog, and search out the correct rational on our own. Paul Bolin gives a complete medical review online for free and you can access as much or as little as you need. Lastly… Lots and lots of questions. Search out allnurses for the best places for exam questions. The best resource I found was the FNP Exam Blogs on Allnurses. Thank all of you who have posted here for the confidence to take the exam and the excellent study advice. Good luck to all. If I can pass so can you.

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Did you end up passing? Please advise. I'm in the same boat and your post is old. Thanks!

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Yes I did.... I stated I passed in the opening sentence.... "Ok, so I took the AANC exam this week and passed". So stay positive. I honestly many people are defeated by the "exam" not the content. Good Luck Cardiomegaly214... You can d it too......

FNPinNY

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Are you my twin? I just wasted $ on APEA as well. Wish me luck. I'm taking ANCC.

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I am in desperate need of help! I have failed the AANP cert exam twice now and the ANCC exam once. I have had the Ms. Hollier prep classes twice or maybe three times now as well as other books and study materials. In my everyday life I work as a nurse with three PAs and a Dr., they all say that I know what I am doing because they let me help them as if I were a FNP. I know I know it but, GOD HELP ME, I cannot pass the cert. exam!!!

Please, any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Pleas hlep ASAP!!!

I have been offered a wonderful FNP job if I can pass my test! Please help and please pray!

Did you end up passing? I see this is an old post.

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https://allnurses.com/online-nursing-schools/aanp-fnp-2016-1031848-page6.html

(Best Advice I've Seen On The Subject:)

Hello everyone,

I just took the AANP FNP and the ANCC FNP exam and passed both. The AANP exam is a very straightforward entry level exam. The test questions are just like the ones on the PSI site where you register to take the exam. Out of 150 questions, I marked 2 that I was unsure of. The exam I thought was much easier than the NCLEX for the RN. The ANCC test was different as I had numerous questions on Medicaid, Medicare, HIPPA, ethical questions, Hospice, and various research studies. Also, on the ANCC I had questions on which drug would be the most cost effective to prescribe for a certain diagnosis, which they do not teach in the review courses. I took both Hollier's and Fitzgerald's review courses. Good luck to everyone out there preparing for the exams, and if you have any questions just let me know and I will be gladly to offer you more information.

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Hello!

I have been an RN for 6 years, and I have taken both the ANCC and the AANP FNP exam, once each, and failed by just a few points each time. I have the Leik book, and have done the Fitzgerald on-line review, however am not able to focus on Leik to complete it and schedule a retest date! I feel like I am drowning with anxiety. I want to schedule my next ANCC exam for mid December, but again would like some feed back regarding personal study habits and methods that helped. Thanks everyone!

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Google Play

Fitzgerald's New 5th Edition of her certification book (first 90+ pages)... Read it before it they pull it off google play....

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