Which review course is the best????

allnurses Guide · Oct 16, 2010

I took the Fitzgerald review for FNP about 2 weeks after graduation and tested about 6 weeks after that. I thought it prepared me well for the ANCC exam, which I passed. I still use the review book as a quick reference.

buster4 · Oct 16, 2010

Thank you BCgradnurse, anyone else have any thoughts or opinions on the review classes??

amberfnp · Oct 17, 2010

I have Fitz CDs and APEA (Hollier) CDs. I like them both. I think they complement each other. Some topics I think are covered better (or in ways I comprehend better) by one and then vice versa for others. They each have "hints" and pneumonics to help you recall information.

I have my final exam on Nov 29 and graduate in Dec. I am going to a Fitz review in Nov to hopefully help hit the highlights to review for the final. Depending on how that goes, I may do Hollier in Jan as she is coming local to me. In the meantime, I'm trying to do 10-20 review book questions/day.

carachel2 · Oct 17, 2010

I have Fitz CDs and APEA (Hollier) CDs. I like them both. I think they complement each other. Some topics I think are covered better (or in ways I comprehend better) by one and then vice versa for others. They each have "hints" and pneumonics to help you recall information.
I have my final exam on Nov 29 and graduate in Dec. I am going to a Fitz review in Nov to hopefully help hit the highlights to review for the final. Depending on how that goes, I may do Hollier in Jan as she is coming local to me. In the meantime, I'm trying to do 10-20 review book questions/day.

I totally see that you hven't graduated yet and I'm sure you have additional study plans, but wanted to reinforce that Fitzgerald warns *specifically* against studying by review questions. In my opinion they just mess with your brain! I think going to more than one review session is a waste of brain space and $$. Out of our class who took the Fitz class, all of them passed except 1 and I have no doubt that since he considered himself "almost as good as a doctor" that he just didn't study :uhoh3: .

Fitzgerald is good, but by no means all inclusive. I bought at least two other review books and woud sit daily for about 4 hours. I worked through a section in Fitz, another one in Lehne (forgot the exact spelling!) , make digital flashcards of things I had trouble focusing on, etc. and then would do some review questions. The next day I would do a quick review of what I had learned the previous day and then would add on a new section.

Blessedx3 · Oct 17, 2010

I have attended Fitz-and have the life Hollier review on CD. They do compliment each other-but Fitz is much more in depth than Hollier.

As the above poster noted--Fitz does warn against studying review questions. Leik is also a very good review book.

So to answer your question-I felt Fitz had a stronger review... If someone would have advised getting he CD's early on in school, it would have helped so much.

nursetim, NP · Oct 17, 2010

I really liked and did well with Marye Kellerman's review.

Necessary Workshops Schedule

Very interactive. I liked her style of teaching. It is not for everyone.

buster4 · Oct 18, 2010

has anyone taken the Barkley Review??

Christen, ANP · Oct 18, 2010

I took the live Fitzgerald Review Course in Atlanta in April, graduated in May, took boards in....SEPTEMBER! Gah, it takes forever to actually test, but anyway. The review course was great. It offered concise, to the point, practical information on all the common stuff that we have all learned over the years in NP school. Going over pretty much everything we learned in NP school in 2 days really helped me realize that I knew a lot more than I thought I did, and helped me focus down on the areas I needed to work on. However, if you take the ANCC test (the adult one anyway), most of the test is the non-clinical, "fluff nursing" class stuff like ethics, scope of practice, etc.

buster4 · Oct 18, 2010

That brings up another ball of wax, which test to take AANP, or AANC.. (think I got those initials right).. ?????

Blessedx3 · Oct 19, 2010

AANP is about 95 percent "exam room" type questions. ANCC is 50 percent theory, ethics, policy. (UGHH)

Christen, ANP · Oct 19, 2010

What Blessed said. I took the ANCC cuz you can count other thinks like precepted hours, studies, etc into account for your mandated 175 or whatever hours, and not just CME's like the AANP requires. Plus I'm better at answering fluf / scope of practice / ethical questions.