PMHNP- ANCC Exam 2019

[Bea Bea, MSN, NP]

Last minute advise for anyone who has taken the PMHNP ANCC exam?

Currently using:

1. Board Vitals

2. Purple ANA book

3. Pocket Prep

4. ANA IQ Questions

All tips are welcomed ? TIA

[ThePsychWhisperer, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP]

I used Pocket Prep and Board Vitals. Personally, I thought the questions on the prep programs were harder than the ones on the exam.

[New PMHNP-BC]

Hello Colleagues!

Good morning! I used this nursing blog to plan my study strategy for my ANCC PMHNP Boards and I am excited to say- I passed!!! I literally took it yesterday 12:30pm-5pm. I used the whole time including the 15min allotted to do the tutorial in the beginning before you start your 4hr exam. To tell you the truth, I took like 3min to go the through the tutorial and then 12 minutes to pray to God (the tutorial does not count against your 4 hour time for the test, so I highly recommend to use that time to relax and center yourself). The prayers were the most important to get my mind and heart in check!

To pay the blessings forward, here is what I did:

1. Lantern Review: I LOVED this review! Pros: relatively affordable($200) compared to other reviews, brief 3+ hrs to complete, concise, with no unnecessary jargon, easy to remember content/slides, and you can listen or watch the videos anywhere (on your phone, in the car...), and you can access the online content for 2 years! Cons: none really. This is a very basic broad review of content. For those who have a short attention span (meaning like me), this review is for you. They break content into short 5min videos. As a reminder, this is an entry level broad based scope exam. All you need is a broad based knowledge and your nursing critical thinking skills. I know I saw a couple of things on the real ANCC Board exam that was in the Lantern Review that was not covered in any other reviews (ie. developmental reflexes: “Palmer grasp”, etc.). I would highly recommend the Lantern Review!

2. Fitzgerald Review: I got this review free from my nursing program. This is a very detailed, thorough review. I think it would help you more in your actual career than that of just the Board exam. If you need more content, this review is for you 16+ hrs to complete. I heard this is a very expensive review if you purchase this on your own. Pros: most helpful was the Professional Role and Policy lectures. (Policy is 40% of the actual Board exam), you can listen to lectures in your car, etc..., there is an option to take a live course if you need. Cons: expensive, and takes days to complete). Most important tip I got from Fitzgerald: “ADPIE”, Assess, Diagnose, Plan, Implementation, Evaluate (aka: the nursing process is to ASSESS first, is the most important. I cannot stress this enough. Most of my answers on the actual board exam had to do with an assessment, which means: “ASSESS.” Whatever case scenario they through at you, please remember that you need more information before you can do any kind of intervention!).

3. Pocket Prep. Excellent app on the phone with 500+ questions. Pros: inexpensive (with free option if you want only limited questions), you can do the questions anywhere, and has references, most of which comes straight from the purple ANCC PMHNP Review and Resource Manual 4th edition. Cons: none.

4. Purple ANCC Review and Resource Manual 4th edition. 100 great questions in the back and wonderful resource manual to look up things you are unclear about. I did these questions in the back a couple of times.

5. ANA/ANCC test bank IQ. $200 and worth every penny. Questions are Most like the real ANCC Board exam. This gives you a great representation of what the real board questions look like in feel and content. It does not give you a timer to do the three tests they give you, so use your cell phone or watch to pace yourself. I did these multiple times until I memorized all rationales! If this is the only resource you can really afford, I would prioritize this one!

6. Board Vitals. 1600+ questions. I did all of these at least once. Pros: good content, you learn a lot. Cons: not representative of the actual ANCC board questions, questions on Board Vitals are a little more difficult than what is needed for the ANCC Board test. If I had to do it over, I would not prioritize this resource...

7. Mometrix. Pros: good questions with policy type questions and nursing conflict resolution questions. They also have a “Secrets tip book.” I did not read the book but did all the questions available in their test bank book and the test in the back of the Secrets tip book. If you need more practice questions, the test bank book and Secrets book are a good resource. They also have flash cards available that I did purchase but did not use. They were 500+ cards and I did not have time to read them...

8. Picmonic phone app. I used this when I needed a break from studying. It is truly a fun app to use when you need to remember concepts (aka. Erikson’s developmental stages, Trust vs. Mistrust, etc., NMS, lithium, SSRIs, etc...) Pros. It is inexpensive, fun, with 1 minute cartoon videos with stories to help you remember content and quick Q&A. I loved this app and would highly recommend). Cons: none.

9. ANA exam test taking strategies. Not worth it in my opinion, tells you what you already know about test taking.

Okay, that is what I did in a nut shell! I used all these resources above. Was I studying like crazy— yes! If you had to prioritize resources and have do not have a lot of time or money:

**Essentials**

1. ANCC 4th edition PMHNP Resource and Review Manual (the purple book) with 100 questions in the back. 2. ANA/ANCC Test Bank IQ.

Excellent Resources:

1. Lantern Review. 2. Pocket Prep.

Good luck and many blessings to you!

Yours Truly,

PMHNP-BC

God bless you!

[PsychTB]

Thank you so much this helpful information!

Im taking my exam next week but I am worried because I am scoring in the 60s for the ANCC IQ review, should i be worried about the low scores?

Thanks in advance!

[New PMHNP-BC]

Hi PsychTB,

No worries! I scored in the low 60s myself! The most important part about taking those tests are to familiarize yourself with the style of “Board-like” type questions (The other resources I listed above are good for learning content, but are not exactly written in the style of questions you will see on the actual Boards). But, in all honesty, I think the ANCC IQ questions are a bit harder than the actual Boards. The Boards will throw you a mixture of questions, some really easy and straight forward, and others you just have to critically think through and use your common sense. For those “harder” type questions I just used “ADPIE” which stands for the nursing process of: assessment, diagnose, plan, implementation, evaluation and just tried to figure out what type of answer the Boards were looking for based on the question (FYI: Most of the more difficult questions I got were looking for the NP to do more assessment on the patient). Bottom line, in my experience, I think most of the review materials I used (including the ANCC IQ) I did not do so hot, but practicing the tougher questions made me much more prepared for the real thing during the Boards! Good luck, use your common “nursing” sense and I am sure you will do great ?! Please let me know how it goes next week!

[MissMemphis05]

Hello New PMHNP-BC,

If you had to pick two of the resources that you used which ones would you choose? I am kind of a single mother on a budget lol ;)

[PsychTB]

Hi missmemphis05,

I would only get the ANCC review book and ANCC IQ questions. Those were the most helpful!

How I studied...

I studied for two weeks before my exam 4-5 hours daily.
I bought all my resources used to save money and shared the ANCC Online IQ questions with a friend.

Resources:

1) Bought a used version of Barkley cds and listened to them while driving or walking with my iPhone.

2) read last years version of ANCC purple pmhnp exam prep book. Front to back, took notes.

3) ANCC IQ questions

4) PMHNP-BC phone app (This I bought new)

5) Board vitals ( my friend gave me her log in and I did only about 200 questions, waste of time, too specific and random)

I read the ANCC book front to back. 4 days before the exam I sat and took 100 question exam in back of the book. I took this to test my readiness, as if I was taking the real exam. I scored 80%.

I did the ANCC IQ questions multiple times, at first I was getting 60/70%, by the end of the two weeks I was consistently getting 90%.

I randomly did the PMHNP app questions throughout the day and completed all 600. I think my average was around 75%.

the exam is all application questions. You will get a scenario and have to choose best answer. Honestly I don’t think you can really study for the test, the questions are incredibly random and have concepts I haven’t thought about since advanced physiology. My opinion is if you passed your pmhnp program and worked as a psych RN you will pass, you don’t need to study. Chances are what you study won’t be on the test.

Barkley and board vitals were a waste of time. You don’t need these. I suggest just the ancc book and IQ questions, they were most like exam.

Exam is mostly common sense. Out of the 200 questions I only marked 25 that I was unsure of. Lots of psychopharmacology, policy and leadership questions. Hardest part about exam is answering 200 paragraph long questions with wordy answers. So take practice exams just for test endurance!

you will do great!!! Save money and buy used. You only need ANCC book and IQ questions. Focus on those and you’ll pass ?

Good Luck!

[Dominic4289]

I just passed the ANCC PMHNP exam last week! I just wanted to let everyone know what I did to pass... maybe it will help someone ? I read everything I could find here in allnurses.com and it really did help me... I studied for one month! 5-6 hours of studying time M-F.

1. 25 free sample questions from ANCC for PMHNP and the 25 free sample questions from AANP for FNP here's the link

https://www.nursingworld.org/certification/our-certifications/study-aids-ce/sample-test-questions/stq-fnp/

https://www.nursingworld.org/certification/our-certifications/study-aids-ce/sample-test-questions/stq-pmhnp/

2. board vitals all 1619 questions https://www.boardvitals.com

3. the ANA book called....psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner 4th edition review and resource manual.... I read the book once and 100 practice questions from the back.

4. another book called....Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Exam Secrets Study Guide: NP Test Review for the Nurse Practitioner Exam. I only read the test secrets and strategies for taking exams and the 50 practice question they had in the back...

5. Fitzgerald PMHNP exam review ... I went over the whole thing once... it takes a long time about 18 hours

6. Prayer to pass examination...(they have very good prayer samples in Google :)) This is the last step but the most important step!

I recommend taking several practice tests (at least 4) without open material and with time limits to increase Mental Focus and Endurance.... and then going over the tests to learn/study...

[Brar Rupinder]

Has anyone taken the new version of PMHNP exam after December 16

[i'manurse?, BSN, RN]

Yea. Good question Brar Rupinder. Also can u take it before graduating school?

[ThePsychWhisperer, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP]

I am not familiar with the new exam, but I think the second question all depends on the school. The student may be able to take the exam before his/her official graduation day, but the school has to send in the education verification form to the credentialing board before said student is eligible to sit for the exam.

[Mary Lee Beck]

For those of you who used (or are using) Board Vitals to study for ANCC PMHNP certification- how are your scores? The questions on BV seem very difficult- I am only scoring in the 50s and 60s! Yikes! Thank you :)