[NPInfo] Re: Family NP Exam

[Margaret Allen]

Thanks for sharing the process and references.  I see that the references you were required to use are listed as a reference for those studying for the exam, but not as an all inclusive list.  Were you allowed to use more current references?  What happens when research changes standards for clinical decisions?  The most recent listed was 2005; web page updated early 2007.  Also, how did you work with need to sometimes adapt standards to individual patients with complex needs/co-morbidities?

As librarians we often work with faculty/staff educators to teach evidence based practice concepts.  I teach other librarians about EBNP and sometimes have advanced practice nurses in the class.  They've question of how EBP guidelines work for all patients.  The EBP process requires consideration of patient preferences and differing needs, but guidelines/standards can be too restrictive.

I look forward to learning more, and hope it's OK to share with librarians who try to have the best resources available for all staff.

Thanks - Peg

 Margaret (Peg) Allen, MLS-AHIP 
P.O. Box 2, Stratford, WI, 54484u
715-687-4976  Mobile 715-212-3635
Peg Allen, Library Consultant
www.pegallen.net pegallen67 @ yahoo.com





----- Original Message ----
From: "suernfnp at iwon.com" <suernfnp at iwon.com>
To: npinfo at nurse.net
Sent: Saturday, April 5, 2008 4:38:39 PM
Subject: Re: [NPInfo] Re: [ACC-Circle] Fwd: Wall Street Journal DNP article


To those who think the NP boards were easy, this is what it takes to write the exams. I wrote 75 of the ANCC FNP board certification questions in 2006 & 2007. I was restricted to using certain references as support for my questions. See the list at http://www.nursecredentialing.org/cert/testrefs/FNP22refs.html

I was given a list of what type and how many questions they needed to add to existing questions. They were very specific about what types of questions were needed from me. Besides the clinical areas, some of the topics included ethics; teaching/coaching; advocacy. I wonder how many docs would answer those types of questions correctly? I found the clinical based questions easy to write and support with a reference source. The ethical and nursing standard type questions were more difficult to write. Here is the breakdown of questions per topic.

Category Domains of Practice & Questions Percent 
I Clinical Management 53 34.00% 
II Professional Role and Policy 7 6.00% 
III Nurse Practitioner and Patient Relationship 16 11.00% 
IV Assessment of Acute and Chronic Illness 39 26.00% 
V Research 4 2.00% 
VI Health Promotion and Disease Prevention 31 21.00% 
  Total 150 100 

A greater breakdown of these topics is found at:
http://www.nursecredentialing.org/cert/TCOs/FNP22TCO.html

I was required to ask questions in a straightforward manner. "Negative" type or "except" type questions are not allowed. I had a 3 day training session at ANCC headquarters, and it was tough! I learned a lot about the correct way to write exam questions. I don't know how the physician exams are written, but I was instructed to write entry level type questions. 

If anyone else in interested in writing exam questions for their  specialty, you can apply for this volunteer postition at the ANCC site: http://www.nursecredentialing.org/cert/testdev.html You get CEU credit for this work.

There are other NPs who volunteer as Content Experts, and these are the people who ultimately decide which questions are used on the board exams. There are openings for this type of volunteer.

Currently there are no openings for writers for the FNP board questions. Maybe I did such a great job, no more questions are needed!

Sue D in MI