The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program National Certification Examinations are entry-level, competency-based examinations for nurse practitioners reflective of nurse practitioner knowledge and expertise for each of three specialties; adult, gerontologic and family nurse practitioner.
The examinations have been developed in cooperation with the Professional Examination Service, a not-for-profit organization with over 60 years of experience in the development and administration of national licensing and certification examinations specializing in health related fields. The Professional Examination Service oversees the test administration conducted by Prometric Testing Centers throughout the United States.
Candidates who become certified by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program will be able to use the initials NP-C to indicate their certification status. Candidates taking these computer-based examinations will be given a preliminary result at the time of testing followed by written score notification and authorization to use NP-C credentials via U S mail.
EXAMINATION DESCRIPTION
The nurse practitioner competency-based national certification examinations are developed by the Professional Examination Service (PES) in conjunction with the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program. The Certification Program selects panels of adult, gerontologic and family nurse practitioner content experts from representative work and academic environments and geographical areas to assist in all phases of the development of the examinations. Major components of the examination development process are: (a) role delineation, (b) test specifications development, (c) test construction, (d) passing point determination.
As objective measures of the knowledge and skill required of competent nurse practitioners, these examinations are based on role delineation studies undertaken by the Certification Program and PES. Role delineation provides the foundation for defining the content domains (areas) of the competency-based examinations. This process involves the utilization of panels of subject matter experts who are adult, gerontologic, and family nurse practitioners currently engaged in practice The documents created by these expert panels are validated by representative samples of professionals selected from the adult, gerontologic and family nurse practitioner community. Test specifications derived from the role delineation studies for adult, gerontologic and family nurse practitioners serve as the blueprint for the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program national examinations.
The certification examinations each consist of 150 multiple-choice items, which include 15 pretest questions that are not counted in the candidate's score. Items have been written and developed by practicing nurse practitioners with extensive knowledge and expertise in the areas of adult, gerontologic and family practice respectively and placed in an item bank. All items, which appear on the examinations have been reviewed at least four times:
(a) nurse practitioner item writers develop and review all items for content relevance, competency level, and importance;
(b) PES staff reviews each item for psychometric quality;
(c) PES editorial staff reviews each item for grammar, spelling, and usage; and
(d) additional panels of adult, gerontologic and family nurse practitioner content experts review and validate all items prior to approving them for inclusion on an examination.
Test construction of the nurse practitioner certification examinations involves panels of adult, gerontologic and family nurse practitioner content experts who work with the staff of PES to construct and subsequently conduct a final review of each certification examination. Each examination administration includes a unique combination of items from the item bank; items are selected for inclusion in an examination on the basis of the content areas and associated weights as defined by the test blueprints. The content domains and their respective weights have been developed through the role delineation and serve to guarantee consistent emphasis on content areas from one examination to another. Passing point determination follow test construction and establish minimum passing scores using the modified-Angoff method. This method is commonly used in the credentialing industry to determine the minimum passing score for all items in the examination. The rigorousness of this examination development process guarantees quality competency based certification examinations.
NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY
The Certification Program does not discriminate against an individual with respect to age, sex, color, race, religion, national origin, sexual preference, marital status or disability.
CANDIDATES WITH DISABILITIES
Special arrangements can be made for candidates with disabilities by submitting a letter requesting special arrangements with the completed application. A current letter from a medical specialist knowledgeable of the candidate's disability stating the specific needs of the candidate must accompany the completed application and letter of request.
Address all correspondence to: The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program, Capitol Station, P.O. Box 12926, Austin, TX 78711
Questions may be directed to (512) 442-5202 Fax (512) 442-5221 or by writing to the above address, or by email to certification@aanp.org