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Writer's pictureNurse Nat

PNP Exam: Part 5/5 EXAM DAY

Updated: Jan 21, 2022

Finishing up my last post in the series about Studying for, taking and PASSING my Primary Care PNP National Certification Exam.

My goal has been to give you study tips, resources, study schedules, and set you up for success to take and pass the exam! This post will be tips on the day before the exam, the day of the exam, and the day after the exam!


The Day Before The Exam

1. Wake up early, work out, get those jitters out

2. Eat healthy and make a plan for the day

3. Review your notes of the subjects you have the most trouble memorizing or remembering and

-For me, those things were:

*The most common organisms for diseases and first line treatments.

*Developmental milestones

*Dermatology & Musculoskeletal

(Yours might be the same or different, you know yourself best!)

4. Take some long quizzes/practice exams to help you focus on your test taking strategies and get you in the zone

5. Give yourself a cut off for when you will stop studying- by this time, there is no use in cramming. You know everything you need to know.

6. Sometime before the exam, either the week before or day before, drive to the testing center, figure out the parking situation and walk up to the testing center to see where it’s at. This will allow you to have one less thing to worry about on the day of and it will all look familiar.

7. Look over the policies of your testing center about what you can or cannot bring

The Day of the Exam

1. Get up early and have a healthy breakfast- don’t do anything crazy the morning before the exam that you wouldn’t normally do.

2. Get to the testing center EARLY and bring two forms of ID.

3. Use the bathroom before the exam, look in the mirror, take a deep breath and tell yourself “I GOT THIS!” (I actually did this!)

4. You get 3hrs to take the test- 175 questions total. Personally, I had time to take the entire test AND go back and check my answers and check out the ones I flagged.

5. Preliminary results: I was able to get preliminary results of if I passed/failed right after the exam. I PASSED!

The Day After the Exam

1. Celebrate, relax and let it all sink in! You did it!

2. Wait for your official email from PNCB in a few days that sends your certification

3. In CA, we can get our NP license/furnishing number before we get certified, but if that is different in your state, then go through the next steps in order to get your license

4. Make sure you remember to review the certification renewal process on the PNCB & keep on top of that so you don’t get behind


And that is it! If you read all of these and studied and passed your exam... congrats! I am so proud of you!


PNP and FNP students and new grad NPs LOVE my clinical cheat sheets! Check them out here


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