This FNP cheat sheet compresses the family nurse practitioner certification exam into a fast, printable review of the facts examiners lean on most — for both the ANCC FNP-BC and the AANP route. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Reinforce it with the rest of your free FNP toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
FNP exam at a glance
- Certifying bodies: ANCC (FNP-BC) or AANPCB (FNP-C)
- Questions: ANCC 175 (150 scored); AANP 150 (135 scored)
- Time: ANCC 3.5 hours; AANP 3 hours
- Passing score: ANCC scaled 350 of 100–500; AANP criterion-referenced
- Cost: ANCC $395 standard ($295 ANA member); recertify every 5 years
What’s on the FNP cheat sheet
- Implementation (29%) — chronic and acute disease management, health promotion, plus the professional role, ethics, and healthcare-systems content unique to ANCC — the largest domain.
- Assessment (19%) — lifespan history and physical, classic exam findings, and the USPSTF screening ages you are expected to offer.
- Planning (19%) — first-line drugs and cautions, guideline-based management targets, and the CDC/ACIP immunization schedule.
- Diagnosis (17%) — differential reasoning, high-yield lab patterns, and the ADA and ACC/AHA diagnostic cutoffs for diabetes and hypertension.
- Evaluation (15%) — judging treatment response, follow-up and monitoring intervals, and quality-and-safety appraisal.
How to use it in your final week
- Drill the number facts until they are automatic — A1c 6.5% for diabetes, 350 scaled to pass the ANCC FNP-BC, colorectal screening at 45, and mammography starting at 40.
- Front-load Implementation (29% of the ANCC exam) and the professional-role, ethics, and healthcare-systems content that separates ANCC from AANP — it is the biggest score-mover.
- Read the first-line-drug row the morning of the test: metformin, thiazide/ACEi/ARB/CCB, statins, levothyroxine, plus the pregnancy and eGFR cautions that trigger a wrong answer.
- Pair each review pass with a short timed practice set so 175 questions in 3.5 hours (about 72 seconds each) feels routine on exam day.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your FNP practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
FNP cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the FNP cheat sheet downloads as a PDF with no sign-up and no account. It sits alongside Career Employer's free FNP practice test, study guide, and flashcards, so your whole review stack costs nothing.
It does. The sheet front-loads the shared primary-care clinical facts both boards test, then flags where the ANCC FNP-BC (175 items, 5 nursing-process domains, professional-role content) differs from the AANP FNP exam (150 items, 4 clinical domains). One sheet preps you for either route.
The ANCC FNP-BC uses a scaled score from 100 to 500 and you must reach 350 to pass; only the 150 scored items count. The cheat sheet itself is a static review layer — your live exam-readiness ring is driven by the free FNP practice test on this hub.
The number-driven ones: diabetes cutoffs (A1c 6.5%, fasting glucose 126, OGTT 200), the 2017 ACC/AHA blood-pressure stages, USPSTF screening ages, and the first-line drugs with their key cautions. Those recur across every FNP form and are the fastest points to lock in.
Click the download button or the preview card at the top of this page and the PDF opens instantly. Bookmark the page so you can pull it up for a final pass the morning of your exam.
References
- 1.American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). “Family Nurse Practitioner Certification (FNP-BC).” nursingworld.org, 2026. ↑
- 2.American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB). “Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Certification.” aanpcert.org, 2026. ↑
- 3.American Diabetes Association (ADA). “Standards of Care in Diabetes.” diabetesjournals.org, 2026. ↑
- 4.American College of Cardiology / American Heart Association (ACC/AHA). “2017 Guideline for High Blood Pressure in Adults.” acc.org, 2026. ↑
- 5.U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). “Published Recommendations — screening & prevention.” uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org, 2026. ↑
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