Guest575949

Thank you!!

THIS makes me so happy!!

I couldn't be more excited, and I honestly still have this sick feeling in my stomach, like they're going to call me back and say, OOPs! Assuming that doesn't happen, I can proudly say that I passed the AANP FNP Certification exam today!!! A few posts here really helped guide my study, so I figured I'd pay it forward and share what worked for me. My school only offered the Barkley predictor exam upon finishing (not the review- just the exam. how kind of them ). I did it and saw that I had much work to do. However, I was tired of paying for things, so I decided not to attend a review course. Here's what I did instead. Will try and keep it brief: 1. Hollier/APEA Review CDs: purchased on Ebay. Came with a review book, and this was SO good. I was able to listen in the car, and that really helped me. Pretty much every major topic she touched on was on my exam. 2. APEA Predictor Exam and practice questions I found on Quizlet: 2 of the Hollier questions were word for word on my exam. I remember which ones verbatim, but I think it's illegal for me to share, so I won't. 3. AANP's own predictor exam: I purchased this ridiculous-priced $50 practice exam, just to get a feel for how the questions were worded. Helpful for knowing what depth to study. (PS. you can also find many of these questions on Quizlet). 4. FNP Mastery iPad app: THIS was great!! I love this app, and it was one of my main sources. I think it would be more helpful for the ANCC exam though because it has a ton of non-clinical questions too. I had 1 question total on non-clinical topics on my AANP exam. 5. Leik's FNP app: Another super helpful app! I got a question word-for-word from this app as well, and a few really similar ones. The question style is similar to the exam, as is the depth which is really important. 4. Free sample questions from Board Vitals: Eh. I think these are a bit harder than the actual exam was. 5. Free sample questions from Exam Edge: Can't rate them because I barely remember them lol. 6. Someone gifted me a bundle of 5, 75-question practice exams from Fitzgerald: I did 3 of these, 2 days before my exam, and they had me feeling DOWN! I scored 67%, 76% and 78%! The second time around, I got 94-96% on all of them, but that's mainly because I remembered the answers. Rationales were AWESOME. Funny enough, I also got one question that was nearly word for word from one of my tests. In general though, her questions were super in depth, perhaps a bit more than the actual exam. Because I couldn't bear to read another textbook, my strategy mainly centered around doing practice questions and understanding rationales for the right and wrong answers. Hope this helps someone!

Nodding in agreement, especially to the bolded portion.

Thank you so much!

This is so true. From the lax admission standards (especially of those direct admit, no RN experience needed programs) and significant variation in clinical hours (my school required 650; a colleague's school required 500), to the terrible preceptor situation for many students, the NP programs could use some major improvement and standardization across the board in order to prevent a reduction in the perceived integrity of the profession.

I just completed my program and basically did the same as you- worked mainly weekends and was generally unhappy haha

I always love your insights! And, in fact, a comment you made years ago encouraged me to negotiate my pay in a previous RN position

Sounds like NPs where you are are grossly underpaid. I'm a new NP and was just offered a job making 6 figures- no call.

She didn't "antagonize" them. They have misplaced anger and that's their own fault.

EXACTLY THIS, OP.

I guess it's a good thing she doesn't need you to believe her? Lol. I've never experienced bullying/problems in nursing, but seeing how some people respond on here, I can see why some experience the whole "nurses eat their young" issue.

Sounds like we have a similar program! We had faculty-supervised labs AND that Shadow Health online assessment lab. I actually liked it though. "Tina Jones is here today for..." haha

I don't blame you at all! I am attending a hybrid program and completed a clinical last semester with an awesome preceptor. One day of clinical, she allowed another student to come with us because he arrived but the physician he was going to work with had an emergency and couldn't come in. The guy came from a program that required no RN experience prior to clinicals (my school allows you to complete some didactic classes with just your BSN, but requires 3 years of nursing experience before you can participate in clinicals). Although it was early on his in clinical, I was still shocked that he had no idea how to perform a full physical assessment! He said he had not yet started his physical assessment class. How does a school allow a student to participate in clinicals with no assessment experience??

I'm aware. That's why I said I was NOT referring to soldiers. The comment I was replying to basically paralleled Nina Pham's case with soldiers. The person said "you don't see soldiers suing..." I thought it was silly parallel to attempt and draw- not only because soldiers can't sue, but also because not fighting for yourself (if you are able to) isn't something deserving of any type of prize.