I scored in the 80's and 90's on BoardVitals and ANCC practice exams but I failed the test. I did horrible in Policy. My diagnostic information is below. Can someone guided how I can increase my Professional Role and Policy? The questions were completely different from what I was studying.
I would appreciate any help!
thanks
Sarah
Diagnostic Information
Foundations for Advanced Practice Nursing - High
Professional Role and Policy - Low
Independent Practice Competencies - Medium
The administration at our school said that the reason they are changing the exam is because they are responding to The overwhelming surveys of test takers complaining that the test did not reflect what they learned in school.
I do not doubt that this is true but the question is why? Why would’t the PMHNP exam reflect material taught in school to the same extent as the FNP and other NP exams? What forces shaped this dynamic and how does the current exam differ from material taught in school?
My understanding is it was the overweighted percentage of policy and law questions on the exam, according to the woman who spoke to us regarding the exam.
One thing that may be helpful to some is to keep a "running list" of information that would have been needed to get a question correct (that was missed) on a practice exam. In this way by reviewing the list it may be possible to focus in on "weaker areas". For example here are some examples (from hundreds) from my personal list:
a. Ebstein's anomaly is associated with Lithium use in the the first trimester of pregnancy (indeed newer studies show that it is really the first five weeks that are of greatest concern according to Dr. Cummings on the Psychotherapy podcast).
b. Eosinophihlic colitis is associated with clozapine and in studies myocarditis actually occurs more frequently than severe neutropenia.
c. The PMHNP understands that 40% of schizophrenic clients will relapse despite maintenance antipsychotic medication.
d. Delusional syndrome subtypes can include: a. Capgras where the person believes someone they know has been replaced by an imposter. b. Fregoli- Where the delusional person believes that many people have been replaced by one person. c. Cotard- Where the delusional person believes they are dead or do not exist, are decaying or have lost their blood.
e. It was Devanloo who developed 1STDP a short form of psychotherapy that confronts patients defenses directly in order to create a deep emotional process and breakthroughs.
f. Deontology developed by Kant holds that decisions are ethical based upon their intent.
g. With hepatic encephalopathy focal neurological signs are less common in males.
You get the idea, the idea is to focus on what you "don't know". Also one of the good things about Pocket Prep app is that it give page numbers (from Bupport, Stahl, and the ANCC review book) that help to facilitate focused review. It would be helpful if there was software that specifically honed in upon weaker areas and gave "in depth reviews" and then directed the student back to questions (from that subject area) that became progressively more difficult. Such "adaptive learning" software could go along ways towards making learning more efficient.
Thanks. My main problem is Policy which is 40 percent of the test. There isn't much out there to study from regarding this section. Anyone have ideas on that section?
Having not (yet) taken the exam my insight is limited. However, of the resources that I have utilized I would say that Pocket Prep, the ANCC purple book, and ANA PMHNP "practice questions" are the most relevant to policy. Also, the ANA offers a more comprehensive "course" for PMHNP (around $330 I believe that may cover policy better. Again, should I fail my first attempt I will "escalate" to adding Fitzerald and Barkley to my resources. Also, I would be taking the "new" test since my retest would be in December.
I ended up passing the exam with a time spent of around 150 minutes. Unfortunately, there is no way for me to know if I passed by one question or many since you do not get a score unless you fail. Here were some of my impressions.
a. Some of the questions were quite vague. I truly believe that you could have ten world leading experts split as to what the correct response was.
b. Some were quite basic with regard to assessment and pharmacology.
c. It is a shame that you do not get to see the correct answers with rationales as it would be a valuable learning experience. As long as the "test bank" were sufficiently large there should be little concern of the candidate seeing the same question if they take the exam again (in the event of failure).
d. I believe that a "cheapskate" approach purchasing only the "purple book", Pocket Prep app, and the "Practice IQ questions" would be more than sufficient for most people. The money saved could be better spent on getting a subscription to UpToDate, The Psychopharmacology Institute, and The Carlat Report. These educational tools will go further than most in advancing towards a goal of evidence based practice.
I passed the test today! Yeah! You can also do it! I just concentrated on BoardVitals, ANCC Practice Test Bank and the Purple book. Also, get the psych nurse practitioner guide mometrix book (https://www.mometrix.com/studyguides/ancc/).
That is freaking awesome. I am so happy you pass and it gives me hope. I have been using boardvitals and will buy the mometrix. waiting for the 60 days to be able to re-test. Do you recal getting some of the same questions or this time it looked simpler?
Congratulations on passing your boards!! I will read and re-read the purple book. I have the purple book, practice IQ and pocket prep and have been scoring high 90's. Maybe I got nervous when I failed my test. Now using boardvitals. I need a different strategy. Again, congratulations!!!!
That is freaking awesome. I am so happy you pass and it gives me hope. I have been using boardvitals and will buy the mometrix. waiting for the 60 days to be able to re-test. Do you recal getting some of the same questions or this time it looked simpler?
Congratulations!!!!!
If you use the "PocketPrep" application I felt that it was helpful to read the pages cited. That way with every question you can get a "mini review" of the subject matter (not just the specific question). Also, if you get the ANCC IQ questions do the full question bank (not just the overall practice IQ test) and read the rationales even on the questions you get correct (something like 260). In addition, although I didn't include it on my "cheapskate" approach I felt the Lantern review was a good deal at $200.00. There is an app for about $30.00 for Iphone called NP Psychiatric and Mental Health Review which has around a 1000 questions with nice explanations. Also, on the exam remember you have an "average" of 72 seconds per question. Therefore, do the "easy" questions faster so that you have more time to contemplate the difficult ones.
FruityPebble, ADN, BSN, RN
68 Posts
The administration at our school said that the reason they are changing the exam is because they are responding to The overwhelming surveys of test takers complaining that the test did not reflect what they learned in school.