Failed My AANP Today, I'm Very Upset

[uniqueguy34, BSN, MSN]

Hello everyone, 

I will make this post as short as possible , I really appreciate your contribution and reading .

Today December 11th 2022, I failed my AANP, first attempt, it took me about 5 months of studying an average of 2 to 4 hours per day after work, I thought I was ready, I ended up failing and I am feeling very upset and defeated.

I have read leik book entirely, I did the questions in the book and then the online practice questions twice, I took lots of notes along the way while I was studying, (50 pages). I also did the FNP mastery app, about 1500 questions and I read the rationales very carefully,

Unfortunately I did not pass, I am not surprised because I failed the NCLEX three times in the past, I am not the smartest person out there, I have a brain fog which makes it very hard for me to retrieve information I have learned, so for me it's either I know the question or I don't know, it is very hard for me to think about the materials that I have read,

What would you suggest at this point? I would really appreciate if you could add some advice or recommendations or study strategy. When I was doing the exam, I was not nervous at all, I did not waste any time, I used my time very efficiently and I had about 10 minutes left to review some of the questions that I marked.. however for me it's either I know the question or I don't know. So I would really appreciate if you could give me some recommendations on how to study moving forward....I was thinking APEA, but I'm really trying to  not to spend too much money ..unless it's worth it ..

[uniqueguy34, BSN, MSN]

I just want to add to my post , do you feel that you had to guess a lot of the questions , I mean is it normal ? Thanks again

[barcode120x, RN, NP]

You mentioned that you had questions that you knew or didn't know. Considering the test is a 150 questions, that tells me there were quite a lot of questions you did not know. Did you not know the answer because it was just completely foreign to you? If this is the case then the answer to this would be to focus more on going over content and more memorization. If you did not know the answer because you were torn between 1, 2, or 3 answers, then this would take a bit more studying to understand what the best practice is.

I'd say I had about 5-10 questions where I did not know the answer to completely when I took my AANP in August.

You mentioned that it is very hard for you to pull out information from your brain. A recommendation is doing more practice questions and going over rationales. Then, ask yourself, does the rationale makes sense and also ask yourself do you now agree why your initial answer is wrong? Remember, the point of multiple choice questions ARE to pull out the information from your brain. If you are unable to pull that information out of your brain, then you need to take another step back and go back to reading and reviewing content in books, guides, lectures, etc. If you are unable to remember what you are reading or listening to, then the next step is repetition. Although we all know nursing is part critical thinking and making the best clinical judgements, you can't make the best judgements or critically think if you don't have the foundation of that particular knowledge.

I understand everyone studies completely but this is what I did this year and it might help you. I began 1 month of reading pure content with some questions here and there from Fitzgerald text. Amelie and her staff are AMAZING lecturers from APEA and I 200% recommend paying for their online or in-person seminars. They are really good and making you understand medications, pathophys, conditions, etc with humor and stories that will not bore you at all. In my 2nd and final month before I took my exam, I used Leik's text entirely and almost all it's online questions (although if you have noticed, most of their online quizzes are the exact ones from the text).  A week before my exam, I took it easy on the studying and would briefly review notes that I took from all 3 sources I used to study.

Remember, total number of hours spent our total number of practice questions taken does not equate to how well you do on the exam. If you need 7 months to study instead of 5, then so be it. You know yourself most of all and your own study habits so also reflect what has worked for you in the past especially when you took your NCLEX. By the way, you will get a percentage scoring of the sections (diagnosis, assessment, treatment, etc) from AANP in the mail. It would be very wise to utilize this to figure out where you need to focus your studying on.

[uniqueguy34, BSN, MSN]

1 hour ago, barcode120x said:

You mentioned that you had questions that you knew or didn't know. Considering the test is a 150 questions, that tells me there were quite a lot of questions you did not know. Did you not know the answer because it was just completely foreign to you? If this is the case then the answer to this would be to focus more on going over content and more memorization. If you did not know the answer because you were torn between 1, 2, or 3 answers, then this would take a bit more studying to understand what the best practice is.

I'd say I had about 5-10 questions where I did not know the answer to completely when I took my AANP in August.

You mentioned that it is very hard for you to pull out information from your brain. A recommendation is doing more practice questions and going over rationales. Then, ask yourself, does the rationale makes sense and also ask yourself do you now agree why your initial answer is wrong? Remember, the point of multiple choice questions ARE to pull out the information from your brain. If you are unable to pull that information out of your brain, then you need to take another step back and go back to reading and reviewing content in books, guides, lectures, etc. If you are unable to remember what you are reading or listening to, then the next step is repetition. Although we all know nursing is part critical thinking and making the best clinical judgements, you can't make the best judgements or critically think if you don't have the foundation of that particular knowledge.

I understand everyone studies completely but this is what I did this year and it might help you. I began 1 month of reading pure content with some questions here and there from Fitzgerald text. Amelie and her staff are AMAZING lecturers from APEA and I 200% recommend paying for their online or in-person seminars. They are really good and making you understand medications, pathophys, conditions, etc with humor and stories that will not bore you at all. In my 2nd and final month before I took my exam, I used Leik's text entirely and almost all it's online questions (although if you have noticed, most of their online quizzes are the exact ones from the text).  A week before my exam, I took it easy on the studying and would briefly review notes that I took from all 3 sources I used to study.

Remember, total number of hours spent our total number of practice questions taken does not equate to how well you do on the exam. If you need 7 months to study instead of 5, then so be it. You know yourself most of all and your own study habits so also reflect what has worked for you in the past especially when you took your NCLEX. By the way, you will get a percentage scoring of the sections (diagnosis, assessment, treatment, etc) from AANP in the mail. It would be very wise to utilize this to figure out where you need to focus your studying on.

I appreciate your detailed response . I did feel that some questions were straight forward , even some were exact same from LIEK. Some were foreign and others I had difficulty picking the right answer , but I felt that I was able to kinda guess the "correct answer" by elimination,  I kinda feel at this point that I need to practice more questions and read more rationals . The FNP mastery had great rationals . I was reading them entirely . Do you recommend that I try Fitzgerald review at this point , being that I did liek ( read the book, and did all the 700 questions) . Does it work where two people can share the cost of the APEA ?  . I also want to add, I was always feeling anxious. I have to admit. I am not a smart man here. I struggled with NCLEX too, so that is why I replied on doing a lot of questions and repetition .. and didn't care how long it takes.. oh well. I guess I wasn't ready ...  Again. Thank you for your advice . 

[barcode120x, RN, NP]

I only recommend Fitzgerald if you need a textbook for content and it is more detailed compared to Leik's. I don't know if there are online supplement questions included since I borrowed Fitzgerald from a friend but the questions in each book after each chapter are limited to around 5 or so. There is a lot of repetition throughout the entire text which can be a good or bad thing depending on the reader. I don't know about what you can do about the pricing with APEA. You can always shoot them an email and ask for some sort of discount.

[uniqueguy34, BSN, MSN]

I do agree that the Liek book contents are not very detailed , I'm not sure if the issue with me is that I need to read more contents . That is where I am at this moment , trying to assess where I am lacking .. sometimes I feel that doing more questions and reading rationals will be beneficial.  I don't mind APEA if I know it will be beneficial . Some people discouraged me from it, saying that it's more confusing .. 

Again. Thanks for your help and advice 

[beachynurse, ASN, BSN]

I am not an AAPN, but I just wanted to give you some encouragement. DON'T GIVE UP!! You can do it. I know it's hard, but try and consider this a practice exam, and now you know what the real test is like rather than the real practice ones. You can be better prepared, and be ready to take the next one head on. Think positive and not negative. I know you can do it, you got through the schooling, right? Then you can pass this test!!

[uniqueguy34, BSN, MSN]

Thank you so much . I appreciate it .I feel much better today . I am in the process of starting to plan for my next study strategy and I really want to prepare more without spending too much money on a course. Nowadays these study courses can be very pricey and they may not be good for everyone. Again I really appreciate your kind words and encouragement

[BostonFNP, APRN]

On 12/11/2022 at 8:26 PM, uniqueguy34 said:

Some were foreign and others I had difficulty picking the right answer

This is the part that you need to focus on. You've completed school and clinicals and are about to enter practice and you have been studying and doing review questions for five months. 

Why are you bumping into questions that are completely foreign to you? 

Do they have something in common? Are they problems with clinical scenarios, or normal/abnormal values, or definitions of concepts, or something else?

[Crystal-Wings, LVN]

Friend, you are human. Don’t beat yourself up over this. I’m sure you’ve heard this before and it won’t make you feel any better but I’m sure lots of people fail the exam you took the first time. 

[vintagegal, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

Let me first start out by saying I am so sorry you didn’t make it on the first attempt but there is hope…

I am a DNP student for AGNP. I took my exam on December 9th. I took it in one hour and I am happy to report that I passed. 
All through my program I struggled with testing anxiety. The only tried and true method I use that works for me is the speed dating sort of test taking. What I mean by that is I read the question, look at the answers, make my selection. I either know it or I don’t. I don’t go back I do not change answers and if I don’t know it I guess. Re reading the questions or taking a long time causes me great distress and more brain fog. 
My study plan included Leik, the Sarah Michelle quiz bank, and APEA video review. I highly, highly recommend the APEA videos. HOWEVER, I am an audio visual learner. I do not retain much from reading, whereas I always remember a good lecture. I suggest going online and taking a free test to see which way you learn best in order to reframe your study plan. Also, with AANP you can print off their reference list, to know where they are getting the test questions. And take as many quiz questions as you can to get used to the format and what they are asking. Take a break! There is such a thing as over studying. Enjoy your Winter break, and re take when you are comfortable. 
All in all, I studied for two solid weeks prior to the exam, 8-9 hour days. The day before and the morning of, I didn’t look at anything. I created a 2 inch binder with sections (cardiac, GI, etc). I filled it with notes. Do not try to study while working, you need to be able to focus solely on the information you need to retain. After a 12 hour shift there is no way you can adequately do that. Clear your schedule prior to your next exam, focus, exercise, and continue to focus on self care. Take a deep breath, you got this!

[YANCHY]

no need to worry , I can help .