The American Association of Nurse Practitioners is abbreviated as AANP. It is the largest and only full-service national professional membership organisation for all species of nurse practitioners.
It was formed in 2013 due to a merger of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, established in 1985, and the American College of Nurse Practitioners, established in 1995. The goal was to provide a consistent method for nurse practitioners to network and advocate for their issues.
The AANP only represents nurses who are licensed to practice in the United States. It advocates for these nurses to be recognised as providers of personalised, high-quality, and cost-effective healthcare at the local, state, and federal levels.
In 2019, 86% of those who took the AANP FNP board exam passed on their first attempt. You can, too!
After completing their education, nurse practitioners select the appropriate national certification exam to earn their credentials to practice in their chosen specialisation. The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) exam and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) exam are two of the most popular certification exams for nurse practitioners. Understanding what these two exams are and what the certifications cover may assist you in selecting the program that best fits your career objectives.
In this article, we’ll review what the AANP and ANCC exams entail, compare the two certification processes, and offer advice on which certification is best for you.
What Exactly is the AANP Exam?
The AANP exam is a certification exam that provides nurse practitioners who pass it with certification in a specific nursing speciality. The AANP exam consists primarily of questions assessing a candidate’s understanding of nursing topics and their application in a clinical setting.
The exam’s content varies depending on the specialisation you’re pursuing, but it generally assesses your ability to evaluate patients, diagnose conditions, and develop treatment plans. Some specialisations may also address patient communication, ethical decision-making, and legal compliance concerns. Candidates for some paths may only need to complete the clinical portions of the exam.
8 Tips to Pass AANP Exam
Now is the time to give it everything you’ve got to pass the 2022 FNP exam.
1. Plan your FNP exam preparation
Prepare to begin studying six months before your FNP exam. This allows you to plan a timetable for different areas of the ANCC FNP Exam or the AANP FNP Exam and schedule time for areas that require additional review. Don’t worry if your exam is in less than six months; keep reading for helpful hints, and we’ll get you there! The important thing is to take whatever time you have and plan your studies carefully and realistically.
2. There is the correct way to study
How you learn, as long as it helps you learn, retain, and apply the information, doesn’t matter. There are numerous study methods available for the FNP exam:
Elaborative interrogation entails asking follow-up questions about the information, such as “Why?” “How can I be sure this is true?” “What causes this to happen?”
Self-explanation entails explaining or teaching information to others.
Studying before bed – Studies have shown that your brain does some of its best work while you sleep, so studying before bed can help.
Rather than reading, visual or auditory learning involves seeing or hearing information to comprehend better and retain it.
Whatever method you use for FNP study, it is critical to forgive and learn from your mistakes. You will learn so much from your mistakes and missteps, and learning how to work through them now will be a tremendous asset in your practice later on.
You’re probably a hybrid of several styles. On some days, you may have great success studying one way; on others, that method simply does not work. Change it up! Picmonic’s Nurse Practitioner videos and spaced repetition quizzes can help you prepare regardless of your study method. A research-proven mnemonic learning system uses auditory and visual reinforcement techniques to help you retain important course information. And you can study whenever you want, day or night, on your computer, tablet, or phone.
Consider the Quiz if you want a more specific plan for studying for your FNP. Learn → The Family Nurse Practitioner Question Bank powered by TrueLearn is combined with Picmonic to provide a repeat study model. Turn your weaknesses into strengths and quickly identify what needs to be reviewed.
Using this method, you’ll plan your time to answer the 1,800+ FNP-style questions in TrueLearn’s FNP question bank. When you correct the questions you answered incorrectly — or correctly — you’ll get detailed explanations that will lead you to the most critical Picmonics to master. These in-depth explanations reinforce key learning points to ensure your comprehension. Don’t forget to repeat this process daily!
3. Practice, practice, and more practice!
Practice exams take time and money, but there’s a reason you hear about them on every advice blog offering tips and techniques for successfully studying for the FNP (including this one); they work!
Practice exams give you the knowledge and confidence to approach each question effectively. It will also assist you in developing the stamina required to complete the three- or four-hour exams. Full practice tests, we’ve heard, may contain some of the same questions as the exam.
The most important thing is to answer as many practice questions as possible (see above for a method for incorporating a highly-effective question bank with Picmonic).
Doing practice questions and exams will help you set expectations for the ANCC or AANP FNP exams and determine which areas you should spend more time studying.
Bonus tip: Exam content is mapped to practice questions and exams, so you know what to expect. Furthermore, each organisation provides an FNP blueprint, so you’ll know which areas to focus on.
4. Do not delay taking the boards after graduation
This is, without a doubt, the most crucial tip our instructor gave us students, and I agree. The longer you wait, the more school information you will forget. It’s best to act quickly while the information is still fresh! I decided to take mine about a month after graduation, after taking a one-week “vacation.” It is strongly advised that you take the examinations.
5. Do complete the PSI Practice test 75 Questions
It’s true what they say about practice makes perfect! Set aside 1-2 hours each day to answer practice questions and read the explanations for those you get wrong. I am trying to remember which questions came from where, but a few were familiar from one or more practice tests. When it comes to ExamEdge, only buy up to five tests. I found their questions to be different from the actual exam, but they help learn the content and get used to the exam format. I scored 85% on the PSI practice exams, 71% on the APEA predictor exam, and 70-77% on the ExamEdge tests.
6. Do make a study schedule
I printed out a calendar and planned which subjects I would study on which days, then spent 3-5 hours studying. Set aside 1-2 days for paediatrics and another day for geriatrics only. My exam contained numerous questions about the elderly and the frail elderly. This appears to be the norm for the 2017 exams! So be aware of both benign and abnormal elderly conditions!
7. Remember to relax the night before
You just need that relaxation after a month of studying to help settle all the information you’ve packed into your poor brain by that point.
I wish everyone who is about to take (or retake) the exam luck, and I hope some of my tips help you as much as reading others helped me! Remember! Only overthink questions or change answers if you’re sure they’re correct. I know it’s cliche, but trust your instincts! Is it true that it works?
8. Take charge on exam day
When the big day arrives, it’s natural to feel nervous, excited, anxious, or experience an adrenaline rush. Maintain as much calm as possible. Take your time reading through everything. If you’re one of those who get overly excited and rush through things (we’re all “one of those people,” it’s okay), remind yourself to relax! You are in command, prepared for this day, and will succeed.
You increased your retention by more than 300% if you used Picmonic, and you also joined the ranks of thousands of NP professionals who used Picmonic on their way to a successful career.
The exam results are available immediately after the exam is completed. So, following the celebration, you can get started on improving the health and wellness of countless people.
Is the AANP Exam Difficult?
The exam consists of 150 questions. 15 of the 150 questions are pretest questions that have no bearing on the candidate’s final score.
Candidates can familiarise themselves with the format of test questions by taking practice tests at PSI Exams online. If you want to get some good PowerPoint presentation ideas you can check this article.
How Long does to Study for AANP Exam?
The AANP exam is relatively tricky, with an 84% 2021 FNP pass rate. After years of preparation, having approximately 19% of test takers fail is a reasonably high bar. Taking AANP practice questions is the most effective way to prepare for the exam. Questions prepare you for the format of the 150 MCQ questions on the exam, and Nurse Practitioners who complete more questions have a higher pass rate.
The FNP AANP exam feedback is to prepare thoroughly for female disorders, thyroid disorders, and various skin conditions and disorders. While the ANCC is more concerned with ethics and general knowledge, the AANP is more concerned with medical issues. The BoardVitals AANP FNP question bank reflects this content distribution well and focuses on the AANP outline.
While the exam is difficult, preparing with the Fitzgerald textbook and BoardVitals question banks is an excellent way to succeed. Studying ahead of time is worthwhile given the cost and time involved in retaking the exam. While the AANP generally sticks to mainstream topics, there are a few esoteric concepts you have yet to review in the last few years.
How Should I Prepare for the AANP Exam?
If you follow the steps below, studying for an AANP exam will be a breeze.
Understand the Exam’s Structure
The first step in preparing for this exam is understanding the material covered on the AANP exam.
A blueprint always shows the material represented in the examination along with the percentage assigned based on the content category. Keeping this in mind will help you concentrate and guide your study sections.
Assessment, diagnosis, plan, and evaluation account for 36%, 24%, 23%, and 17% of the AANP test.
Create a Study Strategy
After you’ve determined the scope of the material you’ll need to cover, devote your time solely to the topics you’ve chosen to focus on. Setting a study schedule will not only help you manage your time but will also help you avoid stress and attack the work from the start.
As a result, all pertinent material that must be studied is studied. Starting with familiar topics will boost your morale and help you cement what you already know.
Locate a Question Bank
After you have covered the material, practising the questions on the AANP exam is a good idea. You can assess your strengths and weaknesses, identifying where you need to improve.
These questions should always be in the question-and-answer format of the AANP exams. Because questions can be easily repeated or slightly changed, previous grades can help boost the grade you will receive.
Determine and Attack Weak Points
If you notice that you need to answer questions on specific topics correctly, it is a good idea to brush up on your knowledge.
This can be accomplished by devoting more study time to those topics and answering more questions about them.
Rehearse and Practice
If you come across a question bank and get to answer some of the questions, don’t give up whether you succeed or fail. Continue to practice to gain expertise. This increases your confidence and decreases your anxiety as you approach the test.
If you do not perform well on the first test, keep going because you will improve with more practice. Furthermore, you are more likely to recall something you did not get wrong and revisit it than you got right directly.
Bottom Line
It may appear simple, but its importance cannot be overstated. Make the same effort in your AANP exam preparation as you did in the program.
“My advice to other students is that you only get what you put into the program and studying,” Jaime said. “You can’t expect to pass unless you put in the effort!”
