DNPBrookie

Hi All! I passed the AANP FNP exam yesterday. I found it very useful to read all of the tips and experiences that others have shared regarding their exam prep so I wanted to contribute while it is somewhat fresh. Firstly, I found it to be a difficult test. I share that because I feel that a lot of my classmates really downplayed the difficulty and I don't think that is helpful. If I were a person with test anxiety I might have lost it when I was on question 2 and already unsure! I had to critically think through several of the questions and use a process of elimination on the answers. I am someone who tests well and can typically retain information fairly well, but the breadth of knowledge required for this exam make it difficult to remember everything. I can honestly say that I was not 100% confident I would pass when I clicked end exam”. Again I just share this so that people can be mentally prepared to struggle with a good percentage of the questions and not freak out. Just know that you have enough knowledge to eliminate unlikely answers and then go with your gut. Make sure that you remember your test-taking skills and if you don't test well focus on that area in addition to straight knowledge. Half the battle is really understanding what the question is asking and knowing how to narrow down the options when you aren't 100% sure. The questions will often seem like an incomplete case history, but there is always enough info to answer the question so just read it again. My preparation: I would say that I did a low to average amount of prep compared to what I have read in these threads. I dedicated about 4-5 hours per day for a month, with a couple of mental health study vacation days. First, I purchased the online video version of the Fitzgerald seminar and watched all of those videos once. This comes with a practice test on which I scored a 79. As others have said she gives more information than is necessary. I would still recommend the videos because I think that her giving the details and pathophysiology contributed to my understanding certain concepts rather than just trying to memorize everything. I also think these videos are wonderful for preparing for practice and will probably watch many of them again for that reason. I also read the Leik intensive review book. This is more focused without fluff, but there were a few questions I could not have answered based just on this text. I then purchased the APEA Qbank for one month. I chose to go through all of the questions by doing new questions” and then exam mode”. This way I was seeing new questions every time I did a practice test. I read the rationale for even the questions I got correct and created an ongoing list of study areas based on my weaknesses. My first score was a 62% and my last was a 77%. I also went back after I had worked through the Qbank and repeated the missed questions” in tutor mode just to make sure I had corrected knowledge deficits. When I was done with that bank of questions I purchased the Leik app for my phone and did basically the same process with those questions, scoring high 70s to high 80s. This is just personal preference for convenience, I think you could accomplish the same thing with the questions from the book but I liked the ease of the app. Finally I did the AANP practice test and got an 88. I think the actual test was more difficult though. Clearly mine is not the cheapest study plan but I'm lazy! Any time anything came up in the question banks that I wasn't sure about, I used the Leik book and also looked the diagnosis up in Medscape or a similar brief reference to get another perspective on patient presentation, diagnostic testing and treatment plan. Leik is very strong on patient presentation and recognizing the red flag/emergent situations, but I found a little light in some areas on diagnostics and treatment. My test experience: I won't give specific examples from my test for integrity reasons but rather some general ideas and suggestions. My exam consisted of seemingly few straight knowledge or recognition type questions. They were almost entirely patient scenarios and heavy on diagnostic criteria (think what is the most important test/lab/history question) and treatment plan type questions. Some questions were on the less common variants or presentations. For instance understanding the secondary causes of things like anemia, rashes, amenorrhea, etc. I had multiple questions on rashes and they would typically only give one piece of critical information to differentiate. It's important to know how things would be described rather than the name for them, such as a herald patch or target lesion or koplik spots. In terms of pharm, I had multiple questions regarding interactions, contraindications, and side effects in addition to the typical best choice” questions. I also had several questions with pregnant patients so know this area, when tests are done, the size of the fundus, what medications can be given, typical complications, etc. I had one question that described an EKG for interpretation but no pictures for anything. Recommendations (what I might do differently): Ideally, the Fitzgerald videos would be better to watch once during your last year of clinical experience as they would be very helpful for your practice, and then repeat them in areas of weakness for test prep. I liked Leik for pure test prep and I probably could have passed just knowing this information backwards and forwards. I relied heavily on practice questions but did not find any of them to be as challenging as the exam. In retrospect I don't think the AANP practice exam did anything other than reassure me that I was prepared. I'm not sure I would recommend it as it does not give rationales so is not the best bang for your buck. There were a few topics that it prompted me to refresh, but I don't think they were repeated on my actual exam. Others have said differently, so this is just my experience or particular luck. That being said, all of the practice questions are fantastic if you use them to identify areas of weakness and to get comfortable with the question styles. Read the rationales but then also ask yourself if you would know everything about that disease/disorder from recognition (exam/history findings) to diagnostic testing to treatment/follow up, med titration, etc. This doesn't actually require a ton of reading; I usually just referred to Medscape if I wasn't sure on any of these areas. I think I had one professional/ethical question and it was obvious so I don't think this area warrants a lot of study time. Sorry for the essay but I hope this helps someone!

Hey BeeSupporter, Someone I know from my program got an offer yesterday for ICU. She also interviewed earlier this week. Were there multiple positions?

Hi Skier, Congrats on getting an interview! My interview was in the new building. I parked in the structure next to is on Children's Way off of Thomas. There are arrows and signs pointing you to the lobby from that structure. When you walk in there is a info desk. You will sign in there as a visitor and they should be able to tell you where to go from that point. I just had to wait and the HR rep came to fetch me. Of course they were moving around at the time but I don't think you can go wrong by checking in at the desk in the main lobby. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Also, this is just a side note, but once you apply, answer every phone call! I know of at least two people from my program who missed the call from the recruiter and by the time they returned it I think all of the interviews had been scheduled. Now they have been leaving messages for the recruiter and aren't getting a call back and it seems as the positions have been filled. It I usually don't answer unknown numbers but something told me to answer this one and I'm so glad I did. Once they move on this I think they move to fill positions FAST. As for being notified. I had created a search on the job search engine indeed for "new grad RN" and had them emailing daily with alerts. Unfortunately this gets you a ton of job listings that are not really new grad jobs, but I looked at them every day anyway just in case and that is how I was notified that the GAPP program had opened up. I think Cindy's advice is sound though, I was also manually checking each hospital system's employment sites every second or third day starting about two months prior to graduation. I feel like the stars were truly aligned for me to get this position as I have amazing classmates who missed out for various reasons.

Hey all, I just wanted to say that they've been talking about this program since before I started at ASU! Not that it won't happen, but I would just get in where you can. I had a previous degree in business and was advised of this program and they were also waiting for funding then (way back in 2008-2009). I ended up just doing the traditional BSN through ASU and just graduated last month. So I'm glad I didn't wait! Just my two cents!

I was also offered a position in the PICU. So exciting! I bet we'll all be in class together. I'm so happy to hear the good news starting to come in!

Hi all, I wanted to check in regarding my interview. The interviewers were such nice ladies it was difficult to tell how I did! I think I could have said anything and they would have still been great... so who knows!? They put me at ease and it was very conversational. So no need to stress for anyone who still has to interview. They did say they will let us know within about two weeks. Good luck to everyone!

I wasn't offered an interview for med/surg but I believe I specified ICU and ED when I applied if I remember correctly so that may have been why. I honestly answered the call thinking it was someone else so I was not mentally prepared to ask questions and just agreed to everything! She did say Friday was her soonest available so I'm thinking there will be more conducted next week. I will try to ask these questions Friday and post back any info!

Perfect I will do that! Thanks so much! And then I guess I will be in the waiting game with everyone else. Hopefully this is the last round and they don't keep us suffering too long!

Hello all! I am a new grad. Was just offered an interview for the ICU/ED position on Friday. So now I am super nervous because I have never interviewed in this field before. Any advice? I'm just worried about situational questions because in clinical sometimes these made my brains fall right out of my head!

I just need to vent! I am graduating in May and therefore have started my quest for that unicorn of the nursing world: The New Grad Job. In my search I am using engines such as Indeed, Monster, etc. One would think that by using terms such as "New Grad" or "graduate" RN you might be able to quickly identify the jobs for which we are actually WANTED. Unfortunately, the people who are writing the job postings all seem to think it necessary to state "Not appropriate for new grads" or "unable to accommodate new grads at this time". WHY do they do this to us? If they simply left it to something like "only accepting applications from RNs with a minimum of 1-2 years experience" or something to that effect it would never come up in my search. If it did somehow come up, I am an intelligent person and I could read the description and quickly rule this position out! As they are all written I end up getting multiple alerts in my inbox stating "20 New Grad Job LIstings!" only to read them and find out that in reality they specifically DO NOT WANT ME! Talk about disheartening. GRRRR. Ok. I feel better now. Thank you for listening.

So that confirms my feeling that there should be something I can do to start the process prior to actually graduating. Hmmm. I guess I'll wait until the new fiscal year and but him again. Maybe then he'll want to help lol. Scuba, I want to go to San Diego too. Was that your first choice?

Can I just ask if you all entered via direct accession or the NCP? I'm going to graduate May 2011 and I'm very interested in the Navy. Because I want to do direct accession rather than NCP my recruiter is basically telling me I'll have a slim chance as a new grad. I've also heard there is a complete freeze. I'm worried!

Well I am in my first semester of the ASU program. It is definitely intense, there is no sugercoating that. I am also a Mom but my son is older so less demanding on my time than small children. However we do have some Mom's with small ones and they are making it work. I would hate for anyone to pass up the opportunity. I've been so impressed with the professionalism, caring, experience and knowledge of our instructors. This semester we spend about half days in class Mon, Wed, Fri. Tuesdays and Thursdays are a full day. I usually spend afternoons on those short days and some weekend time studying. Next semester is looking like we will have only one short day so the schedule with study time definitely amounts to more than a full time job. Hopefully this info helps, let me know if you have any more questions I might be able to answer with my limited experience. Oh one thought on the commuting. We do have lots of people who carpool and ride the light rail. This may be an option to either shorten your commute or at least make it so you can use it as reading time. Just a thought.

Congrats to you! I was considering the LPN route if I didn't get in this time so I agree that any program is great right now. The plus of the associates program is that you'll probably be able to get your employer to pay for your BSN bridge program. Good luck and take care.