Passing AANP boards

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I too read all of these comments that were listed about ways to pass boards. So, I vowed to come back and hopefully help someone else who had the intense anxiety I felt for this test. First of all, I graduated December 10, 2014 and I took the AANP exam today 1/21/2014. I PASSED on my first try!! I went to a decent school is Houston, Texas and got pretty decent grades and worked as a RN for 10 years.

To throw it out there, I have three kids, worked a full time job, and also balance family obligations and problems. I took the Hollier review back in November which I thought was great!! However, I don't feel that I retained much of this class since it was months ago. When I decided to start studying, I looked at this site and got ideas. So, with that information I decided to purchase the AUDIO CDs from Fitzgerald. I feel like they were very clear, provided a good explanation of the information BUT can be VERY boring! Hollier is much more animated and to the point! I listened to those CDs (Fitzgerald) twice and I purchased the APEA exams online and got an average of 69-72%. I also purchased the AANP practice exam(got a 77%) and the review questions from Exam Edge (for a 10 test bundle averaged 510-575) and felt the questions helped SOME.

In conclusion, I feel that a review course that you can listen to over and over ( in my case Fitzgerald), the AANP practice questions, the APEA predictor exam, and just a belief that your going to do fine will help you pull through!!

When I took the exam, I honestly felt like I wasn't prepared and had no idea how I was going to do! I felt like half way through that I totally guessed at most of the questions and wondered if ANYTHING really helped?!?!?!? I think, that by at least reviewing the information and how to critically think through the questions helped me to use my critical thinking skills and got me through exam! I had a lot of geriatric, HIV, and cardiovascular questions.

I wish you luck!! Pls contact me if you have ANY questions!! ( I was up many nights reading this site stressing about my outcome) You are NOT ALONE!! :)

Karen

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Congrats!..:)

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Congratulations Karen. That is beautiful. We have such similar backgrounds. Were all of your questions multiple choice? I plan on going for my second attempt for AANP at the end of February.

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Specializes in Adult Nurse Practitioner.

Like Karegem143, I graduated on December 10th. Took my AANP exam today and PASSED on first try. I did Hollier and Fitzgerald reviews online and the APEA practice exams and test bank. It was pretty straight forward and I did not find any questions to "trip you up".

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Congrats Karen. Thanks for sharing!!!

Congrats to Lhflnurse too!!!

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Congratulations Karegem143! Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Did you take the FNP AANP exam? I am taking mine in 3 weeks and I am terrified. Did you feel the APEA questions were better than Exam Edge? I bought a bundle of tests from Exam Edge and feel like there is a lot of repetition of questions, non-clinical questions, etc. So I'm considering the APEA Q-bank questions and the AANP practice test.

So far, I have listened to the Barkley review CDs, Hollier's CD's, attended a live Fitzgerald review, and using the Leik book to study and answer questions, in conjunction with Exam Edge; however, I still don't feel confident. You mentioned you had quite a bit covered on Geriatrics, HIV and Cardiac, do you recall if the exam covered JNC 8 guidelines?

Thanks so much for any feedback or suggestions. It's greatly appreciated. Congrats again!

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Congratulations, I also graduated in December and took AANP FNP exam 1/29/15 and passed first try. I attended APEA live review last April so I decided to purchase the CD'S to hear it again because there are so many key points I had forgotten. I also purchased the Q bank where I answered questions each day after studying certain sections. I was scoring low 60s first couple of day on q bank and noticed my score improving each day after studying and listening to APEA CD's. I also bought Leiks fast facts and I RECOMMENDED this book as well. I would read the exam tips and clinical tips in each chapter and review sections from exam tips as needed. Leiks book also has 600 questions with rationales in the back of the book. After 3 weeks of studying I completed the AANP practice exam and scored 80%. I was very nervous about the test until test day. I was very calm on test day and felt very prepared during the test. Good luck everyone.

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Specializes in Adult Nurse Practitioner.
Did you feel the APEA questions were better than Exam Edge? I bought a bundle of tests from Exam Edge and feel like there is a lot of repetition of questions, non-clinical questions, etc. So I'm considering the APEA Q-bank questions and the AANP practice test.

So far, I have listened to the Barkley review CDs, Hollier's CD's, attended a live Fitzgerald review, and using the Leik book to study and answer questions, in conjunction with Exam Edge; however, I still don't feel confident. You mentioned you had quite a bit covered on Geriatrics, HIV and Cardiac, do you recall if the exam covered JNC 8 guidelines?

Thanks so much for any feedback or suggestions. It's greatly appreciated. Congrats again!

I found the Exam Edge questions to be frustratingly full of questions not at all related to a NP. The APEA Q-bank and predictor tests are FANTASTIC. As FNPapp recommends, Leik's book is a GREAT resource.

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I found the Exam Edge questions to be frustratingly full of questions not at all related to a NP. The APEA Q-bank and predictor tests are FANTASTIC. As FNPapp recommends, Leik's book is a GREAT resource.

Thank you so much for your feedback! It's reassuring to hear that I am not alone in feeling this way about the Exam Edge questions. I will definitely give the APEA questions a try and continue using Leik as a resource.

Thanks again :)

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Yes, all the questions were multiple choice. Good luck! You can do it!!

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Congratulations Karegem143! Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Did you take the FNP AANP exam? I am taking mine in 3 weeks and I am terrified. Did you feel the APEA questions were better than Exam Edge? I bought a bundle of tests from Exam Edge and feel like there is a lot of repetition of questions, non-clinical questions, etc. So I'm considering the APEA Q-bank questions and the AANP practice test.

So far, I have listened to the Barkley review CDs, Hollier's CD's, attended a live Fitzgerald review, and using the Leik book to study and answer questions, in conjunction with Exam Edge; however, I still don't feel confident. You mentioned you had quite a bit covered on Geriatrics, HIV and Cardiac, do you recall if the exam covered JNC 8 guidelines?

Thanks so much for any feedback or suggestions. It's greatly appreciated. Congrats again!

Yes, I took the FNP-AANP exam. I found the APEA questions better and more like the exam then Exam EDGE. I took the practice test off the AANP site and that was pretty much like the real exam except with not as many questions. I don't recall getting specific questions about JNC 8. It sounds like with all your preparation you will be more than ready!! Good luck to you!!!

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Thank you so much Karegem143 for your feedback, encouragement, and taking the time to answer my questions. Very helpful! I will definitely buy the APEA questions and the AANP practice test. Thanks again and congrats!

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