@ready2nurse5
Hi there, I’ve been wanting to respond to your post since you posted but I was getting ready for exam. I wanted to wait till after my exam to see how I did so I can give you my study tools and habits . Thank God I passed as of last sat, so here I am giving you a hug and letting u know you can do it too.
I too also failed the AANP last May. It was my first time! But I know the feeling all too well. All the self doubt, all the negativity, and the constant self blame! I know it hard not blame yourself, but u gotta take a step back and think how far you have come along! And that you’re not going to give up until you PASSED and you will! I looked at areas of weakness and focused on that. Well I overkilled it with all my studying and spent so much on all kind of studying material because like you I lived in self doubt since I failed the exam.
when I first took the exam, I studied Maria Leik FNP review book, downloaded the app and did 700 questions.. and I also studied the FNP mastery. These are good resources however, it didn’t help me see the big picture. My weak areas were assessment and diagnose.
So here the second time around. This is what I did.
Kaplan FNP review book ($80)
Maria Leik FNP review course ($450)
Exam Edge - 25 exams of 100 questions ($175)
APEA book ($68)
APEA QBank questions - patho, assessment, prescribing, and management ($260)
APEA predictor (4 exams) -$120
Here are my thoughts on all these. I liked the Kaplan review book as the way it presented the disease and management made it easier to understand and remember like it had a box of OA, RA, and Gout next to each other. It listed the Signs symptoms, Treatment, and the difference between each other. Which made it easier to understand and remember. Also has questions for each chapter and section. It was a good study material. Kaplan also has review questions online too. Great resources jus to take all kind of different questions to review the materials you just learned or read about.
Maria Leik live review Course - was great! Her review book she sent home was concise and to the point. Her review is amazing but it just gets so boring as she just reads out everything in her book. If I had to do it again, I would buy the audio version or something that I can listen to and relisten Or watch again.
Exam Edge - I learned it from another passing student. She used exam edge as one of her study tools! I did 100 questions a day on and off for 2 months on my phone. So it was a good study material that I can use anywhere especially at night next to my sleeping babies. The questions were kind of similar to the boards, only problem is that sometime it has random questions like what is the ICD code for asthma or example of what constitutes a nursing diagnosis of failure to thrive? I felt like those kind of questions were unnecessary and didn’t gear toward AANP questions. either way this was a good resource to use on my phone daily and I get to reset and retake the exam as many as 4 times. So I really found exam edge helpful toward my study.
APEA QBank questions were very thorough, but it helped me focus on my weak area which is assessment and management. Overall I think this is the best study tool. QBank questions have 4 sections - pathophysiology, assessment, prescribing, and management (roughly 800 questions each section).
I originally just bought assessment and management - and felt the questions were on point and really helpful in helping me combined everything that I studied together. To critical think about each choices of the answer and why it is the correct answer. Rationale were also very detailed explaining why one answer was superior to another. I liked it so much I also bought the patho & prescribing, well it was a definitely overkill but you see at the time I have no self confidence so I kept buying more things. Don’t do that! Don’t be like me because I end up didn’t finished all the study questions And it was a waste. The patho was good to make sure I understood each disease it and how I relate to the each system. However, it was just too much information at this point. The prescribe was good section to review all the meds but it went into too much depth of pharmacokinetics of each drug when you really jus need the know the class and the indications. I also didn’t finished reviewing all the study questions in this section.
I study roughly sat down and study 2 hours each night for 2.5 months... I did at least 150 questions every day just to get the feel for the exam. The last 2 weeks before the exam I did 150 questions x2 times throughout the day through QBank questions and reviewed all the questions in Kaplan book, APEA book, and reread all the materials in the Maria Leik review folders. I made flash cards and notes along the way between all these materials and just reread it thorough out the day. But I mostly studied on my phone through APEA QBank Questions and exam edge. I liked APEA questions format the most, it was very similar to boards and it gave me the confident I needed to pass boards. I just studied randomly all day through my phone and take breaks when I’m done with one section or what not. I didn’t actually sit down and study until night time when my kids are asleep.
My recommendations would be to get a review course (either Maria Leik or APEA) it can either be live or audio. Get exam edge Exams and APEA QBank questions (management & assessment) or what your weak on, And Kaplan book if you still feel uncomfortable but if not you don’t have to.
APEA predictor exam was also good study tool as it tells me in detail what I should review on.. I took 4 exams which result from 64, 68, 68, and the last 77% from the time I started to study to the night before the exam. So stop beating yourself up and let’s jus refocus your thoughts! Sorry if this reply was so long, but I wanted to give you a detailed explanation of my study tools so you can Pass jus like me! And you will! Believe in yourself! YOU GOT THIS!! Good luck!! 🍀
