Passed ANCC & AANP...and these are the resources that I would recommend

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So excited that this chapter of my life is officially OVER and I wanted to share my resources with you all. I can honestly say that I started studying in May and passed both test in September. I did plenty of questions (approximately 100-200) a day and review rationales like crazy. Thank you everyone who posted their resources which I used to accomplish this task. My study resources included:

1) FamilyNpPrep.com: I absolutely loved this website because you can pick which question data base that you want to study from ANCC or AANP and it felt like the real thing. Most of my questions on the real exam were on this websites mock exams. They had plenty of Ethical, Theoretical foundation, NP role, Healthcare policy/delivery. So if you're taking the ANCC then this is for you. It is also a timed test so you can set the clock to help you mimic the real exam. I can honestly say that it was worth every single dime...I used a discount code that doesn't expire that a friend/classmate gave me (SAVE-SLLT) that saved me 10% on the exams you can buy them in bundles of 5, 10 or all 20. I bought both the ANCC & AANP and I tell you what, I felt totally over prepared using this site because it simulated the actual exam.

2) Fitzgerald's NP Cert Exam & Practice Prep: This book is awesome, but goes into great detail. I also did her live course and I felt like the book followed the course hand-in-hand. Lots of great questions and tips after each subject. Her audio recording is great as well, but if you have them then there's no need to go to the live course because its EXACTLY the same. Save some money and buy the cds. I played these everyday, every where...her voice is permanently engraved in my head.

3) Kellerman's Necessary NP 1000 Questions: This is another great resource. Questions that I came across in this book was not found in any other book or resource that I used. It can only be ordered on her website which is necessaryworkshops.com it is pricey (approx $80), but worth all the money. I sat and did question after question and felt that this truly assisted in my success. The questions are in random subject order and it does also include NP role & theory questions as well.

4) Hollier's Adult & FNP Cert Practice Questions: I liked this book as well only thing is I felt that the questions were repetitive, but helpful because the more you saw the same questions the more familiar you were with the answers. It has 3 Adult exams, 3 FNP exams, 1 Peds exam along with specialty exams in Geriatrics, Men's Health and Women's Health. Good resource overall and she does have live courses as well. I've heard her speak at AANP national conference and she's pretty good.

5) Leik's FNP Cert: Intensive Review: I used this book towards the end of my studying. It really is an intense review because it reviews systems and their disorders and really helped with terminology. The end of the book has 500 questions, but no rationales to the answers. Also some of the information was out dated and I did find some mistakes in the book, but the fundamentals were there and it helped greatly.

My advice is to give your self time to study the material. Although school gave the foundation for our critical thinking we have to practice the questions and understand why we're doing what we're doing. And I truly felt that these resouces helped with that. I failed the ANCC exam the first time in June because I didn't give myself enough time and I didn't utilize all the resources available to me, but after visiting this site and reading bits and pieces of everyone elses advice on how to pass the test, I went into the testing center and both exams felt like a piece of cake. I was so suprised to see questions that I have done at home on the exam...it blew my mind. But then I remembered that I spent time, energy and money preparing so it should feel easy. I also wrote my rationales for questions that I got wrong in a notebook so that I can review whereever I was. That really helped me when I'm studying on the go. And some experts say that you are more likely to remember something that you wrote vs. something that you read. Anyway I hope this helps some of you out there studying for the exams. I really hoped that this review of resources helped.

Were any of your resources helpful for the legal/ethical/policy questions on ANCC? So few resources have any info or questions about those topics. Fitzgerald has a handout and a CD, but I need some more practice questions on those topics. Thank you for letting us ask you so many questions!

So sorry that it took me a while to answer your post. The website had something going on. Anyways, I didn't feel like Fitzgerald or Hollier covered legal/ethical/policy enough and I decided to do the online questions on familynpprep.com ANCC test data bank and used the kellerman book. Read my original post for more infornmation on the website. It is a great tool and covers the subject areas very well. Everyone is free to ask me as many questions as they like...we NPs stick together:)

Specializes in women's health, NICU.

As well as theory and some research based stuff. I thought this was only gonna be on the ANCC exam, not the AANP. Did you find those type of questions on the AANP exam as well? Thanks for all the info, you have been such a big help!

Just passed my ANCC ANP exam. :) I found the Fitzgerald CDs and the Hollier book and website extremely helpful. I also want to recommend spending some time with your physical assessment textbook, whichever one you used. Skimming through it again, I picked up a lot of pearls that slipped by me when I took the course before beginning clinicals. Also, it was great for reviewing normal age-related changes, as I had several questions about that on my exam. Your mileage may vary, of course! Good luck to all who are studying to take the exam!

Specializes in women's health, NICU.
As well as theory and some research based stuff. I thought this was only gonna be on the ANCC exam, not the AANP. Did you find those type of questions on the AANP exam as well? Thanks for all the info, you have been such a big help!

What I meant to say was: did you notice a lot of health policy as well as theory and research based questions on your exam? (Sorry for the half written post above, my iPad wasn't co-operating with me today). I noted quite a few on the family np prep website and I'm not quite sure where else to review that material.

As well as theory and some research based stuff. I thought this was only gonna be on the ANCC exam, not the AANP. Did you find those type of questions on the AANP exam as well? Thanks for all the info, you have been such a big help!

AANP is purely diagnosis, evaluation, planning & implemenation. Keep those in mind with every question that you come across. You don't have to worry too much about theory & research. They may come but it will mostly be about np role and certification/licensure.

Just passed my ANCC ANP exam. :) I found the Fitzgerald CDs and the Hollier book and website extremely helpful. I also want to recommend spending some time with your physical assessment textbook, whichever one you used. Skimming through it again, I picked up a lot of pearls that slipped by me when I took the course before beginning clinicals. Also, it was great for reviewing normal age-related changes, as I had several questions about that on my exam. Your mileage may vary, of course! Good luck to all who are studying to take the exam!

Congratulations AtomicWoman!!!!! I know that you are relieved that this chapter of your life is FINALLY closed. So happy for you...

Congratulations AtomicWoman!!!!! I know that you are relieved that this chapter of your life is FINALLY closed. So happy for you...

Thank you. :) I sure am glad to be done. Now on to the next scary thing... seeing and treating patients! :wideyed:

Thanks so much for your guidance!! I've been scoring only a 500 on the FamilyNPPrep AANP-FNP practice tests, but I have a few weeks left to study. How predictive do you think they were to the real thing as far as score and content to the AANP? It seems like these practice exams have so many questions on nursing theories, research design, etc that I thought was not heavy or at all an area on the AANP. Am I wrong?

Do you know what you were scoring on these before you took the AANP exam?

thanks again!,

natasha

If you are taking the AANP exam, don't waste your time studying research design and all that "fun" stuff. Study that if you are taking the ANCC exam.

If you are taking the AANP exam, don't waste your time studying research design and all that "fun" stuff. Study that if you are taking the ANCC exam.

Thanks!! I didn't see it in their content blueprint but didn't want to miss anything!!!!!! :-)

I have yet a while to go before finishing myself, but this is helpful information to keep in mind.

Thanks

Congrats on passing both your AANP and ANCC FNP exams! I am planning on taking the exam again in June....long story short, I graduated 7 years ago and is not taking the test, did not pass it the first time. I used Fitzgerald mainly.

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