I passed my ANCC Board Exam

Well today has been an exciting day! I promised myself as soon as I finished I would write a blog for all of the other Family Nurse Practitioners (FNP) in the world who have finished school and are prepping for their board exam. 

What’s on the test?

Well, I can’t tell you questions, and even if I did it would give you false hope that you would learn that one question and get that correct one out of 175 questions. You are smarter than that you don’t need that. But ANCC does give you a generic list of subjects, and the test is a mix of every single thing listed.

How did you study?

I made a plan. I work as an Emergency Room nurse so working and studying is hard to do, but I tried to make a plan and stuck to it.  I Bought three study guides: 
1. The Fitzgerald CD review Course 2011
 2.  Nurse Practitioner Certification Examination and Practice Preparation, 3rd Edition By Margret A. Fitzgerald, DNP, FNP-BC, NP-C, FAANP, CSP, FAAN, DCC 
3.  Adult and Family Nurse Practitioner Certification Examination: Review Questions and Strategies, 3rd Edition By Jill E. Winland-Brown, EdD, MSN, FNP.

1.       I listened to the review course CD’s after graduation when I had spear time: at the gym, while in the shower, on road trips, etc.

2.       I took my down time (ha ha ha) and did the free on-line tests while at work.

3.       I gave myself one full month and set a test date. I told my family, my friends and Mountain Man that I needed this time to myself to study and that I loved them for supporting me in advance.

4.       In that month (when not working) I took it one section at time. I listened to the Fitzgerald CD’s, referenced my ANCC Yellow/Black book (my friend gave me) and my Physical Exam/Bates book as needed to refresh the brain. Then I would do the practice questions for that subject/section from both books. First Fitzgerald’s book, she has questions and answers with long rationales and I thought of it as a further refresher. Then I would take one of the 100-120 question tests from the Winland-Brown book. Here is another suggestion: I googled a free bubble test worksheet and made copies so I didn’t have to look back and forth and could treat it like a test. I kept a spiral notebook and wrote out why I answered a question wrong, what I needed to know, etc.  For example if it was a prostate questions, I read the rational and wrote down the evidence based guidelines.  One section a day, then that night, I would review later once again. Only one section a day. Then repeat.

5.       The week before the test, I listened the CD’s daily. Wrote out information that I wasn’t remembering so well (Anemia it’s my Achilles heel, etc.) a dry erase pen on mirrors in my bathroom and in my guest room. Then I could review, even while brushing my teeth.

6.       Four days before I re-did the free questions from ANCC, the last two review tests in the Winland-Brown book, the questions at the back of ANCC’s black and yellow book and the questions you could purchase on line. (A little overboard yes). All the while I scanned the review spiral I made and the Fitzgerald workbook that accompanied the CD’s.

7.       The day before the exam, I reviewed my notes again. Then I took a break and got a facial and some spa time. I needed to relax. I also drove to the testing center to make sure I knew where it was. Then I went out to dinner with Mountain Man.

8.       The night before the exam I took a warm shower, used my lavender lotion, took a melatonin and went to sleep.

9.      The  Morning of the exam I ate a good breakfast, spoke to Mt Man about the random things I was having trouble with (Rubella, Rubeola, what happened, when, for who, and how many pennies?). He thought I was speaking a foreign language and that’s okay.

1.   Arrived early and took the test.

How was the test? 

Long, short, and basically a roller-coaster. Some questions I knew, so easy that I re-read them twice to make sure it wasn’t a joke. Others I was absolutely in the middle of the road. I marked the ones I spent longer than a minute on and decided to revisit them. There were times I felt over prepared, other times felt like I should have covered more of that theory stuff. The therapeutic communication and NP role questions easy, the Veracity, Transference, counter transference were a little more difficult.

I took a break at about hour and half, went to the bathroom stretched and then went back in. I went over all the questions I marked. Some I changed, most I didn’t. Then I sat back took a breath and pushed end.

And I passed. 

 Fitzgerald has a free power point on her website about advocacy, legal and ethical issues (and the info is also in her CD’s) valuable information. Don’t skip over that.

Some things to mention:

 I had a few sleepless nights and I read about people not passing. At one point I almost bought another study guide. To be honest, don’t do it, you don’t need to. I also read one great blog and she said what I am saying YOU WILL PASS.  I felt as though there needed to be more positive blogs so that’s why I’m writing today. The study course I took from Fitzgerald was great, stick to that.  Don’t read negative things and make sure to take care of yourself.  Spend time each day to review a section and review what you don’t know. You are smart. You finished your  FNP, took tests, wrote papers, even did hours upon hours off free work (Clinicals right?) and now you take one test. Prepare before hand, and tell you friends and family you’re a hermit till this hurdle is over and they will understand.

By the way: I PASSED and SO WILL YOU!