I Passed!!
As of 10:45AM on March 11, 2009, I am a
Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner. I am on cloud ten and breathing a HUGE sigh of relief.
The journey to certification was a bumpy ride. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity (eight weeks) to receive the green light from ANCC, I began a long tedious studying regimen consisting of 12 hour days of studying and a Fitzgerald online review course.
By the way, the Fitzgerald online review course ROCKS!! After the review course, I was kicking myself for waiting so long to take the certification exam. The review course really pulled everything together and put me at ease.
I scheduled my exam for a Wednesday at 8:00AM. Wednesday is "hump" day, not the hectic Monday, or "TGIF". In my mind, Wednesday was a safe day. I chose 8:00AM because I am at my best in the early morning and most often need a nap after lunch. In addition, Mom's taxi had to be available by 2:45PM.
Speaking of Mom's taxi, the day before my exam, two of the three taxi riders had to be retrieved from school early (at different times) due to a stomach virus. I was worried about my riders but more worried that I would have to forfeit my certification fee, if the virus lasted the normal 24-48 hours. Fortunately, my prayers were answered. The youngest taxi rider was on the road to recovery by late evening. By bedtime, the oldest taxi rider had followed his sister's lead. This was the first sign the stars were aligned in heaven.
On the morning of the exam, I awoke at 4:30AM...couldn't sleep. I got out of bed, looked over my notes again, took a bath to relax, and donned some comfortable clothes. Make-up was not an option today because I have this bad habit of rubbing my face when I concentrate. I ate a piece of dry toast and drank a cup of cranberry juice. Stress goes straight to my stomach.
Around 6:30AM, the taxi riders were roused. The youngest complained of "stomach growling". "Stomach growling" is something I can handle...always a good sign when the appetite returns. The oldest complained of "feeling tired". After further questioning, tired feeling was a "sleepy tired" and not a "sick tired". Alrighty then, we are good to go.
Mom's taxi pulls in front of the elementary school around 7:00AM. School doors are locked until 7:15. I have to be at the testing center at 7:30AM. The testing center is about ten minutes away without traffic or accidents. School doors are unlocked early at 7:10AM. Taxi riders exit Mom's taxi. Next stop...well you already know the next stop.
I arrive at the testing center at 7:28AM. I am given rules to read regarding no tissue allowed in testing area, feeling cold, and several other rules I can't recall at the moment. After reading the do's and don'ts, I ask to use the restroom. While in the restroom, I take a few deep breaths and say another prayer. I return to the testing area and place my purse in a locker. I am given a key to the locker, two pencils, and scrap paper. I am taken into the computer testing room. My name is on the computer screen. On the scrap paper, I begin to write down mnemonics I have memorized from Margaret Fitzgerald. Did I tell you already how much I loved that review course? In addition, I write down some normal lab values I had memorized.
After taking the tutorial and prolonging the inevitable as long as I possibly could, I began the test. The first question threw me for a loop. It was a cardiology question. Cardiology is my Achilles heel. I answered it and marked it so I could go back to it later.
At this point, I am still very nervous, and my bowel sounds are hyperactive (without a stethoscope). I can only hope that others in the room either have on their earphones or too engrossed in their own test to hear my bowel sounds. I didn't look around to find out.
I move on to more questions and with each question, my anxiety decreases. After answering question #175, I glance at the time. I see that I have a little over an hour to go back to my marked questions. I revisit my marked questions until I am satisfied that I have done my best. I click on "end". A pop-up box appears to torture me just a little more by asking, "are you sure you want to end this test?" No, I am not sure but I have to end this sometime. It might as well be now. So, I click on "yes". My heart starts to pound through my chest, while I wait for the results. The results never came. Instead, I am taken to a survey. I complete the survey and wait again for results. Once again, there are no results.
I exit the testing room, give my scrap paper and pencils to the nice woman, and inquire as to why I did not receive my results. The nice woman checked the computer and printed my results. She gave me the results. I attempted to give the results back to her and asked her to read it for me. Reading the results to examinees is a "no-no."
As I was holding the paper, the weirdest thing happened. I began to read from bottom to top and missed the entire bottom line that read in part, "Your ANCC certificate will be mailed to you within 90 days of this report." Instead, my eyes went straight to my score, then to the minimum score to pass, and finally to the top of the page which read, "Congratulations! You have passed the Family Nurse Practitioner Examination." If only I had read from top to bottom, I would have saved myself a few seconds of anxiety.
My body began to shake and I began to cry. The nice woman congratulated me and suggested I sit down in the waiting area to compose myself before driving. I took her advice and sat in the waiting room until I stopped shaking.
The first person I called from my cell phone was my mother. The second person I called when I arrived home was the administrator of the OB/GYN practice, who has been holding a job for me for about a month.
Check back here next month to see how I am doing in my new role and new job.