How to Become a Nurse Practitioner | USAHS (2023)

FAQs

Is the nurse practitioner exam hard? ›

Are Nurse Practitioner Exams Difficult? Yes. Both of the examinations to become a Certified Nurse Practitioner (NP) are very challenging.

Example: “I chose to pursue a career as a nurse practitioner because I am invested in the care and treatment of those whom I can serve. During my education, I found that nursing was of particular interest to me, so I chose to continue to earn my nurse practitioner license.

Some people may find that mastering the initial concepts in Nursing school is much harder than building upon those concepts in Nurse practitioner school. On the other hand, some students find that nurse practitioner school and its advanced concepts are harder to grasp and apply in practice.

Your chances of being accepted are higher with extensive nursing experience in the NP specialty that you are seeking. It is best to use personal nursing experiences to explain why you are passionate about your selected NP specialty area.

Apply to Retest

If you do not pass a certification exam, you may retest after 60 days. Candidates may not test more than 3 times in any 12 months.

Being a nurse practitioner is worth it because most NPs are highly satisfied with their career and job. In fact, U.S. News and World Report ranks nurse practitioners as the best health care job in 2022! So, if you are planning to go to school to become an NP, you can expect a pleasurable and engaging career.

Reflect on your weaknesses

Spending too much time on paperwork. Paying too much attention to detail. Attempting to complete too many tasks at once. A lack of clinical experience, which may apply to recent graduates or new nurses.

Who makes more money a RN or NP? ›

NPs tend to earn more than RNs, mostly because their positions require a higher level of education, additional clinical hours and certifications, and often work in private settings.

When deciding on a school nurse to fill the needs of a school health office there are many qualities to look for to know the nurse will be able to handle the position: Caring nature. Empathetic. Keep detailed records.

The AANP is rumored to be the easier of the two exams, specifically for those seeking their FNP certification since it has a 5% higher pass rate than that of the ANCC FNP exam. Using the pass rate as a basis for difficulty then you can reasonably say that the AANP exam is easier than the ANCC.

If your blood pressure is normal, you will pass with no conditions. If your blood pressure is high, between 140-159 systolic and/or 90-99 mm Hg diastolic, it is described as “Stage 1” high blood pressure. If your blood pressure is in this range, you will pass but you will be required to take the DOT physical annually.

NP in family practice is way more stressful than RN in telemetry, cath lab recovery, PACU, or CICU where I worked for years. An NP is expected to generate profit, which means seeing patients. More patients = more profit, and to the business owner there is no such thing as enough.

Is there anything higher than a NP? ›

The Doctor of Nursing Practice is a terminal nursing degree, meaning that it is the highest possible practice-based degree in nursing.

Conclusions: Key points to consider upon searching or taking a first NP job include patient, colleague, and clinic factors. Patient factors include mix of patient presentations, complexity of patient presentations, insurance status, and population.

As you can see from the chart below, nurse practitioners are rich compared to non-advanced practice nurses such as RNs and nurse instructors. With an average annual salary of $114,510, a nurse practitioner makes substantially more than a registered nurse who makes $80,010 on average per year.

A nurse practitioner will give the same quality of care as a general physician. Most nurse practitioners spend many years working as registered nurses. In their capacity as nurses, they take care of patients, performing tasks like administering medication and monitoring patients.

Do PAs make more than nurse practitioners? According to the BLS, NPs earned a median salary of $120,680 and PAs earned a median salary of $121,530 in 2021. Outpatient care centers are the highest-paying workplaces for both roles.

When answering, mention what your top strengths are, provide examples on how you've used them in the past, and finally, describe the results you've gotten. Be super specific with your answers. Don't just say “I'm good at X” - really dive deep and give the interviewer a comprehensive answer.

Show that you have skills and experience to do the job and deliver great results. You never know what other candidates offer to the company. But you know you: emphasize your key skills, strengths, talents, work experience, and professional achievements that are fundamental to getting great things done on this position.

Who are the happiest nurses? ›

Even those compensated at the lowest end of the salary range for nurse practitioners are paid $79,870, at least $40,000 more than the average national income, while those being paid at the highest level of $200,540 are earning more than $80,000 more than the average national income.

Can you go from NP to MD? An NP could become an MD by applying to medical school and going through all the requirements.

A primary difference between physicians and NPs is the fact that all doctors can prescribe medication to patients as a part of their duties. Nurse practitioners also prescribe medicine, but in some states they must be directly overseen by a doctor or physician in order to do so.

Registered nurse (RN)

BSN-prepared nurses are the most sought-after RNs in the job market and can advance to leadership and management roles more quickly than the ASN nurse.

This summary is followed by sample practice questions to help you hone your clinical decision-making and test-taking skills. Allow a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks of planned study after you complete the review course to maximize your likelihood of success on this important high-stakes exam.

Nurse Practitioners have advanced training.

Because of this advanced training, NPs have more responsibility than RNs and can write prescriptions, order and interpret tests and perform exams. NPs also are required to take training courses throughout their career to help keep their skills up to date.

Summary: The role of nurse practitioner is to provide acute and primary care to patients across the healthcare continuum, from assessing, diagnosing and treating illnesses to educating communities on disease prevention.

What is the main job of a nurse practitioner? ›

Ordering, performing and interpreting diagnostic tests such as lab work and x-rays. Diagnosing and treating acute and chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, infections and injuries. Prescribing medications and other treatments. Managing patients' overall care.

The key to being a successful nurse is communication.

Communication skills are one of the most important requirements of a nurse's job—both following directions and communicating with patients and families. Patients who are sick or suffering often are not in a position of strength to speak up for themselves.

Nurses with a positive attitude are expected to provide altruistic service, compassionate care for health customers, to be proud of their profession and able to hold intra and extra professional factors.

Yes, you have to achieve various levels of education and pass exams and clinical competencies during your journey to becoming a nurse practitioner, but remember that your role is much more than how smart you are. Clinical judgment comes with time.

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, California is the highest paying state for nurse practitioners. Entry-level nurse practitioners in the state earn over $50 hourly and average about $107,310 yearly. NPs with ten to nineteen years can earn up to $165,140 yearly.

Psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner

This role takes the cake for the highest nurse practitioner salary on our list. Psychiatric nurse practitioners work with mental health patients experiencing conditions like depression and anxiety.

To pass the ANCC examination, an examinee must achieve a scale score of 350 or higher.

What happens if you fail NP boards? ›

What happens if I fail the exam? ANCC: If you fail the ANCC FNP exam you will have the ability to 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.

How many questions can you miss on the AANP exam and pass? AANP Family Nurse Practitioner certification exam consists of 150 questions. Scoring works on a scale of 200 to 800 points with a minimum passing score of 500.

The ANCC has a pass rate of 86% and the AANP has a pass rate of 85%. A fail rate of 14-21% represents that these exams are indeed difficult. Each exam has specific rules to retake them. The ANCC can be taken a maximum of 3 times in a year with at least 60 days in between testing dates.

If they fail, they'll need to wait 45 days before retesting. After failing three times, though, they'll need to complete a board-approved remediation program before the next retake. Candidates have six attempts to pass in total.

Respected

In general, providers are respected by both their patients and those that hire them. This may be because doctors and nurse practitioners are at the top of the medical hierarchy and are hard to replace if they leave.

3-6 months before graduation

Depending on your practice exam performance, the amount of material you determine you need to master, and other time commitments, start studying 3-6 months prior to graduation from your NP program.

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the job outlook for NPs between 2020 and 2030 is expected to increase by 52%! Becoming a nurse practitioner is worth it due to this high demand! Jobs are aplenty, so you should have no trouble finding new grad NP jobs or switching to your ultimate dream job.

NCLEX Pass Rates

The second-attempt pass rate for domestically-educated students taking the test was 45.56%. These results demonstrate that it is a pretty difficult test. The questions are designed to test your critical thinking, knowledge of the nursing process, and assessment skills.

Apply for Certification

The exam allows 3.5 hours to answer 175 questions (150 scored plus 25 pretest questions that are not scored).

What strengths do you need to be a nurse practitioner? ›

Passing the NCLEX-RN examination is required for certification as a registered nurse. Working one to two years before applying for a nurse practitioner program is highly recommended.