The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) are thegoverning boardsthat administer tests to examinees seeking to become certified as a nurse practitioner. There are multiple testareas including Family, Adult-Gerontology, Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Midwifery, and Psychiatric. Depending on your degree, testscan eitherbe acute or primary care.
We offer board review for both the ANCC andAANP Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP). Because of this, we’re often asked how the tests (and our products) differ from one another and if one is better than the other. Hopefully we can provide you the answers you’re seeking below:
What content is covered in the ANCC and AANP FNP exams?
ANCCOutline:
Foundations forAdvanced Practice (37%):
A. Advanced Physiology/Pathophysiology Across the Life-Span
B. Advanced Pharmacology For Treating Patients Across the Life-Span
C. Advanced Health/Physical Assessment Across the Life-Span
D. Clinical Prevention and Population Health for Improvement of Outcomes
E. Research methodology
F. Informatics
Professional Practice (17%):
A. Leadership, Advocacy, and Inter-professional Collaboration
B. Quality Improvement and Safety
C. Healthcare Economics, Policy, and Organizational Practices
D. Scope and Standards of Practice
Independent Practice (46%):
A. Health Promotion and Maintenance Across the Life-Span
B. Illness and Disease Management
C. Care of Diverse Populations
D. Translational Science/Evidence-based Practice
E. Advanced Diagnostic Reasoning/Critical Thinking
AANP Outline:
Assessment (36%):
A. Obtain subjective patient information including but not limited to relevant medical history (including biopsychosocial, economic, environmental, family, military, travel, occupational, preventive components), chief complaint, history of present illness, and review of systems to determine health needs
B.Obtain objective information based on patient age/developmental level, health history, and comorbidities to further define and evaluate health needs and problems
Diagnosis (24%):
A. Formulate differential diagnoses
B.Establish definitive diagnoses
Plan (23%):
A.Establish a safe plan of patient-centered treatment and care that is individualized, cost-effective, consistent with best evidence, age-appropriate, and culturally-sensitive in order to address the diagnoses
Evaluation (17%):
A.Determine the effectiveness of the plan of treatment and care based on outcomes
B.Modify the plan of treatment and care as appropriate based on outcomes
Key Takeaway: In comparison to theAANP exam, the ANCC usuallyhas morequestions focused on professional issueslikehealthcare policy and ethics.
How long is the test and how many questions doesit contain?
ANCC: There arebetween 175 or 200 questions. It will take around4 hours to finishthe test depending on the number of questions.
AANP: There are150 questions and the exam lasts3 hours in length. You’ll have around50 seconds to answer each question.
How do Iget my ANCC or AANP FNP exam results?
ANCC: You’ll receive notification of whether you passed or failed the examimmediately upon completion. If you fail the exam (don’tworry you won’t) the ANCC will send a score report to your address including information regarding performance on each content areas of the test.
AANP: Don’t stress out, exam results are available immediately upon completion of the exam ina pass/fail format. Examineeswho fail the exam (it won’t be you) will receive an official letter articulatingstrengths and weaknesses pertaining toknowledge areas covered on the test.
What is the pass rate?
ANCC: In 2015, the average pass rate for the FNP exam was75%.
AANP:In 2015, the averagepass rate for theFNP exam was81.4%.
Key Takeaway: Many examinees make the mistake of not adequately preparing for the difficulty foundin these exams as demonstratedby the pass rates. This is not the NCLEX. Understand that and prepare effectively.
What happens if Ifail the exam?
ANCC: If you failthe ANCC FNP exam you will have the abilityto retake the test after 60 days of the last testing date; however, you cannot take the exam more than three times in any 12 month period.
AANP:If you fail the AANP FNPexamthen youmust complete 15 hours of continuing education credit in the area or areas of weakness identified on the score report. A greatbenefit of using our AANP FNP question bank is that you can easily fulfill those 15 required hours of continuing education credits while simultaneously studying to re-take the exam!
Whatshould Istudy?
For both exams youneed to use more than one resource.
First: masteryour material from school and clinicals.
Second: choose a highly vetted question bank to complement your other study materials.
Conveniently, if you’re seeking to become a Family Nurse Practitioner, we offer an exceptional board reviewfor the ANCC and AANP FNPcertification exams.
Note: The questionformats found within our ANCC and AANP board review are reflective of the board exam they represent. For instance, the AANP is notorious for usingtricky wording whereas the ANCC exam is known for usinguniquequestion formatting. Sinceboth of ourANCC and AANPquestion banks are written by certified Family Nurse Practitioners that have passed the exams, our board review is expertlytailoredto the specific board examyou choose.
You can accessmore information anda free trial by following one of these links below.
BoardVitalsANCC FNP Board Review
BoardVitalsAANP FNP Board Review
FYI:You do not need to purchase both board reviews to adequately prepare. Choose one!
Is the AANP easier than the ANCC exam?
The AANP is rumored to bethe easier of the two exams, specifically for those seeking their FNP certification since it has a 5% higher pass rate than that of the ANCCFNP exam.Using the pass rate as a basis for difficulty then you can reasonably say that the AANP exam is easier than the ANCC.
Bottom line, does it really matter which test Itake?
No.
Well, to be clear, it shouldn’t.There is a stigmathat theANCC is more widely accepted at hospitals nationwide. Therewas a time when organizations such asthe Veterans Administration only recognized the ANCC; however, today, the ANCC and the AANP are both certifying boards so companies cannot discriminate against one or the other.
This article is originally from the BoardVitals Blog:https://www.boardvitals.com/blog/ancc-aanp-fnp-exam/
