I failed the PNP-AC exam again!

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I have taken the PNP-AC exam twice and was unsuccessful. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong when it comes to my studying. I read all of Lipincott and did ALL of the questions, bought the PNCB questions, statPearls, notes. Does anyone have any suggestions or words of wisdom? I passed my PNP-PC boards but this Acute care has made be lose every bit of confidence I had. 

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I just took the PNP-AC exam and passed on the first try. I did the Lippincott book/questions and the PNCB questions multiple times. I also took the NAPNAP acute care review course. The review course was provided by our school but you can also purchase the recorded review course on the NAPNAP CE website. I took my time and studied over 5-6 weeks. Not sure how helpful this is, but everyone I know who has passed pretty much followed the same route you did when it came to study materials. I'd invest in the review course since it was the only thing you haven't done thus far. 

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I did do the NapNap review course the first time I took it and I did decide to purchase it again the most recent one. I'm hoping the more recent review course will be helpful. Thank you for responding. 

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It is a tough exam. If they gave you any type of feedback on how you scored in the different sections, maybe focus on that. Test taking is also huge for this exam, I found that several questions had fluff in them that wasn't necessarily important to the answer but could definitely throw you off if you put too much weight in it. I do think the NAPNAP review focused on important diagnoses to know, how to identify them, and treatment strategies. 

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Specializes in Occupational Health Nursing.

I've seen suggestions about NAPNAP Acute Care PNP Certification Review Course

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Update:

I took my boards again and passed woohoo!!! I wanted to tell people what I did this time and maybe it will help others. I did listen to the suggestions of others from this post as well as doing other things. I made a ton of flash cards on disorders and topics Detailing management, treatment, labs, symptoms and specifics that made the disorders stand out from others. I did NapNap which I thought was helpful especially for the top 5 categories (pncb outline) on the test. I rewatched the napnap videos for modules I wasn't comfortable with. I redid the questions as well. I did the pncb questions and wrote note cards for explanations I needed to review. I typed up all my notes from NapNap and pncb explanations with questions. I did all 400 practice questions online from the Lipincott review book. I had already did the questions from the actual book on my previous attempts. Thank you everyone for the words of wisdom ?

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First of all, congrats! Any notes or study materials you are willing to share? I take my exam in 3 weeks and am so anxious! So far I did the NAPNAP review, have made tons of flashcards, read the Lippincott review book and all have done all of those questions (back of book and online), I have done statpearls questions, and plan to do the PNCB questions the week of (I am taking acute care, but was told by co-workers to get the acute and primary care questions from PNCB). I wish I had compiled a common diagnosis list with main things that make them stand out like you mentioned, I do have this on most of my flashcards. I will take any and all advice!

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is anyone finding the STAT pearls questions useful? I am also taking PNP-AC and unfortunately there aren't that many practice questions. I took PNCB's test and did the Lipincott and now have moved on to STAT pearls but these seem to cover a lot of information we haven't covered in the other reviews. Trying to find out if its worth while or not... 

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Hi! Congrats on passing your exam. I just failed my CPNP AC yesterday and feeling defeated... would you say the retake is similar or completely different from the 1st test? I am taking your advice but not feeling confident on where to focus on. Thank you

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RNpeds123 said:

Hi! Congrats on passing your exam. I just failed my CPNP AC yesterday and feeling defeated... would you say the retake is similar or completely different from the 1st test? I am taking your advice but not feeling confident on where to focus on. Thank you

I'm sorry that you did not have success with your first attempt. It was a very a difficult exam. I will be completely be honest with you, I did not remember my 1st exam attempt. I feel like I completely blacked out and was not prepared at all. After taking it the first time, I could not remember a single question or topic that was covered on the exam. Even though It took me 3 attempts, mentally I do not count the 1st attempt. I was not prepared at all. My friend told me that she thought her second attempt of the exam and what it covered was easier than the first, and I thought my 3rd was easier than my second. I think it just all depends on which version of the exam you get. I wish I could be more helpful

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Thank you so much for responding. I guess I should have some kind of hope.. I just can't get over this sadness. ? 

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I was reading the responses and I am still not sure how will pass this test. I failed and did all Lippincott, PNCB, and the NAPNAP review.  I just new I was ready for the test but guess I wasn't. I have no drive to study and don't even know where to begin. Anyone has any suggestions

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