Hi there fellow APNs!

I just graduated from Neonatal Nurse Practitioner school 2 weeks ago and am studying for my Board Certification. I have been studying Cloherty, Gomella, Tappero, and the powerpoint slides from the FANNP conference, along with doing the NCC & Pediatrix questions online. I was wondering if anyone can help direct me in the right direction while I'm studying! There's just soooo much to cover and I hope the resources that I am using will help me when I take my test.

Also, please let me know what helped you when you took Boards, I'm super nervous!

Thank so much in advance!

Casey

Hey congrats! There aren't really many regular NNP posters on AN, so I'll answer. I just took my boards a couple of months ago and actually used the same resources that you did.

1. Did the FANNP thing (bought the previous year's cds) and it was an excellent overview

2. Pediatrix questions seemed harder than the NCC exam, but definitely worth doing and I learned quite a bit looking things up (I've never heard of the apt test, for example, since I didn't work at a delivery hospital)

3. There is a review work book that uses Cloherty and I did maybe 1/3 of it, found it helpful for some of it, but not as helpful as I thought it would be (it's from the CCPR company)

But all in all, I really felt like my program prepared me well and I had extensive NICU experience (6 years in a Level 4) with mostly good clinical sites. I ended up studying for about 1.5 months (full-time, not working), although I probably could have taken it sooner. Make sure you visit the place you're going to take the test at prior to and if no one is testing, they may let you see the test room itself. This is a big deal. I initially chose one place that was close to my house, but visited it and it was right next to a busy street with the testing room in the very front. They said they offered ear plugs- no thanks! I also took my test in the morning because I felt that I had better mental faculties then and if I took it in the afternoon, I'd be worried all morning.

They tell you immediately after you're done if you've passed or not, it prints out. Of course, mine printed out on the opposite side of the room, so the lady had to walk about 50 feet away, holding this paper in her hand, while I looked at the floor waiting for her, and she got closer and said, "Don't worry, you passed!" haha.

The NCC also has some great stats on passing rates and it was comforting to me to know that in 2013, 83% of people who took the test passed (https://www.nccwebsite.org/Certification/Statistics.aspx).

During the test, I felt fairly okay on most of the questions, but you never know...there were a few that I had no idea. Be sure to know all your nutrition calculations.

Let me know if you have any other questions and best of luck!! Have you got a job yet?

babyNP,

I do have a job line up already and I am excited to get started as an APN! Like you, I have worked in a level 4 NICU for about 7 years now, and I have no delivery experience so the whole L&D/DR resuscitation is new to me, therefore, I'm focusing more of my time on that. I did spend 2 semester doing clinicals in a level 3 and 2 semester doing clinicals in a level 4, so hopefully this will come handy! Thank you so much for your reply! I didn't think about visiting the exam site, but I definitely will now!

Casey

I passed!!!!! I passed!!!! I can now officially sign "NNP-BC"!!! :) Those LONG days and nights of studying, substituting cat naps for sleeps, drinking coffee like its water has finally paid off! Special thanks to the man above!!!:)

congratulations!

Congratulations!

Hi all,

I am a recent grad as well and am facing boards next week. I am, of course, very nervous, and just wanted to know if you felt like the Pediatrix questions were a good gauge; meaning, if I can pass those, then I should be able to pass the real test questions? Or were they too easy?

Some of the questions seem way too easy, and some seem completely out of left field for me. I just wanted the opinions of people that have recently taken the test!

Thanks!

How do you gain access to the Pediatrix questions?

Do a search on google for "pediatrix neonatal nurse practitioner questions" and then you create an account. It's a bit wonky, doesn't play well with a couple of browsers (like Safari). I felt like some of the questions were harder than those on the exam.

Hi Everyone,

It seems like the pediatrix questions were helpful but the module is down right now because they're redoing it. Does anyone happen to have the questions saved that they'd be willing to share? It would be so appreciated!!