jwhite491

Ranswife I did my program online. There are way to many options to sift through, but the one I chose was South University's online MSN - FNP. Liked it well enough, though it was a little pricey. Ease of communication with the clinical coordinating staff could have been much better than it was.

You're not alone evolvingrn, I think I'm the only person to not like Barkley. A lot of my ER friends took Barkley reviews when they finished and enjoyed them. I think it probably doesn't help not having an actual person to look at with the CDs. That said, I really can't sing Holliers praises enough, she was an incredible teacher.

Hello everybody! I read a lot of these posts myself in the months leading up to taking the exam, and figured I'd pay it forward by contributing one as well. Yesterday afternoon I took the AANP FNP exam and passed on my first try. It was a tough test, but it can be done! I used all of the main 3 (Fitzgerald, Barkley, APEA) for study purposes and here is my limited assessment of their merit. I went to a live Fitzgerald review back in October. While somewhat helpful, it was too far in advance, and I didn't maintain a good study regimen in the interim. I found the lecture to be somewhat dry and not particularly engaging. The review questions during the program were helpful, but nothing that can't be found elsewhere in much greater quantity. My instructor for this course was Tombasco. For the hefty price tag associated with it, I wouldn't recommend attending. I don't feel it contributed much. I purchased a 2015 review book and CDs from Barkley as well. Much like fitzgerald I found the lectures difficult to listen to. I would follow along in the book and notice that essentially all the speaker was doing was reading aloud to the audience. I did not care for this tool at all, and it is currently for sale on eBay. The golden nugget of study materials however, came from APEA. My school had purchased an online review course done by Amelie Hollier. There were video lecture/modules for every body system in preparation for the boards. This woman is gifted! The lectures were incredibly engaging and informative. She makes the material easy to learn and remember. She didn't dryly present the material, she made it enjoyable. The pneumonic for remembering systolic vs. diastolic murmurs saved me several times on the test. In addition to this, I purchased a 1 month access to MyQBank, also owned by APEA. 4 weeks prior to my test I began watching one full set of modules a day during the week, and immediately after would do 30-50 review questions on that system, followed by another 30-50 random questions. The rationales provided by MyQbank in tutor mode are invaluable. Too, these questions are considerably more difficult than any you are likely to have on the exam, but they give you an unparalleled understanding of the process behind the question. The week of the exam I purchased a predictor test from APEA and scored in the mid 70s, which was passing. The next day I purchased the practice test directly from the AANP and scored in the 80s. I highly recommend buying this ($50), as several questions from it turned up on the actual exam. Regardless of your study method, just put the time and effort into it that it deserves and you'll do fine. Hope this helps some of you, and best of luck! - jwhite491, NP-C

Well alright then. I have 2 11 week blocks remaining, both of which are clinical courses. I'm going to go ahead and get on this towards the end of my upcoming course block. You've been a tremendous help. Thank you so much!

Thank you so much for that feedback, that was exactly the type of information I was looking for. I was worried this was a stupid question. I'm approaching the exam with a pretty high amount of trepidation, so I think keeping myself in study mode won't be too difficult. As I've thought about this more, I think it would be pretty valuable to have the live recording of the seminar to just repeatedly listed to over the 3 months in addition to actual studying, even just listening to it in the car while driving. What steps did you take that allowed you to take the AANP exam so quickly after graduation? I was under the assumption they wouldn't provide you with a letter to test until final transcripts could be forwarded to them. 2 days seems incredibly fast (certainly well past the speed and efficiency level of my own school haha).

Hi all. Hopefully you can point me in the right direction for this. I'm on the home stretch of FNP school right now. I have my peds clinical (11 weeks) and a second primary care clinical (11 weeks) to go. Graduation date is Jan 13, and I want to take my exam as soon as possible after that. I've been looking into the live Fitzgerald courses and there's one that's pretty close and convenient to my home in Oct. What I want to know, is if this is too soon to think about taking a review course? They're very expensive and I can't afford to take another one closer to when I take the test. How far out did you all take prep courses? Hopefully this isn't a dumb question. Thanks!

I agree with you that there are certain places in the hospital that really sound awful to work in. That'd be any med surg for me, I just hate it. Long term, I would never consider working in a unit I knew I would be unhappy in. That being said, sometimes the only way into the department you DO want is to get a foot in the door elsewhere in the hospital. I knew I wanted to work in the emergency department, but fresh out of school this wasn't an option. I settled for an awful job in the resource pool for a few months while I waited for an opening in my dream department to come up. It may have been a sucky job for a while, but I still learned from it and it made me that much better when I did get a job in the ED a few months later. Take the job. Getting the experience in better than sitting stagnant while you wait.

I start in the Nov 2013 group for FNP as well so I can't speak for the quality of the actual classes yet, but as far as the admission and advisory process has been, they're phenomenal. My admission advisor was a wealth of information and was always incredibly prompt to respond at any time of day. And as far as having the clinical sites prior to admission, they DO NOT have to be definite locked down sites, just general ideas. The major hospital in my area has a resource for visiting students where you tell them the specialty you need and they'll get you set up, so check for resources like that locally. I'm looking forward to starting in 2 weeks, hopefully I'll be in class with some of you!

Thanks. That breaks it down very well.

For a person who has gone to school for FNP is there some sort of bridge for these folks to become ACNP certified if they so desire? I ask this because I've been accepted at South University's FNP program but would enjoy working in the hospital setting (ER, Cardiology) since this is where my experience has always been. An instructor from my bachelor's program told me FNP was the way to go because it opened up more opportunities, including working in the hospital. Sadly everything I'm reading now is saying the opposite. Can anyone shed some more light on the subject. Currently practicing as a RN in Southwest Virginia.