Adult Nurse Practitioner Board Certification Exam Content Outline

This is a computer-based test (CBT)

There are 175 questions on this examination. Of these, 150 are scored questions and 25 are pretest questions that are not scored. Pretest questions are used to determine how well these questions will perform before they are used on the scored portion of the examination. The pretest questions cannot be distinguished from those that will be scored, so it is important for a candidate to answer all questions. A candidate's score, however, is based solely on the 150 scored questions. Performance on pretest questions does not affect a candidate's score.

This Test Content Outline identifies the areas that are included on the examination. The percentage and number of questions in each of the major categories of the scored portion of the examination are also shown.

Please note that various categories and subcategories through out this test content outline relate to the various stages throughout the life span and/or to major problem/issue areas. These life span categories and problem/issue areas are listed in the notes located at the end of this document. These notes are:

• Note 1: Life Span
• Note 2: Areas

Test Content Outline

1. Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (19%)
   1. Epidemiology/risk analysis (environmental exposures, substance use, violence, etc.) (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
   2. Genetics (See Note 2: Areas)
   3. Risk reduction (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
   4. Health behavior guidelines (nutritional recommendations, exercise, vitamin supplements, stress reduction, ultraviolet exposure, sexually transmitted diseases, etc.) (as associated with Note 1: Life Span, or Note 2: Areas)
   5. Anatomy (as associated with Note 2: Areas)
   6. Physiology (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
   7. Growth and development (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
   8. Screening tests (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
   9. Wellness assessment (neglect and abuse, substance use, nutrition, exercise, smoking, domestic violence, use of medications –over the counter, prescription, herbal, complementary therapies, etc.) (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
2. Assessment of Acute and Chronic Illness (22%)
   1. Epidemiology/disease control (infectious and communicable diseases, bioterrorism, etc.) (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
   2. Pathophysiology (correlation with clinical manifestations of disease processes) (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
   3. Psychopathology (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
   4. Diagnostic reasoning (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
   5. Comprehensive health assessment (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
3. Clinical Management (32%)
   1. Standards of practice
   2. Clinical guidelines (as associated with Note 2: Areas)
   3. Pharmacotherapeutics (drug interactions, microbiology, individualized pharmacotherapeutic interventions, physiologic/pathophysiologic basis for pharmacotherapeutic interventions, etc.) (as associated with Note 2: Areas)
   4. Clinical therapeutics (nutrition, occupational/physical therapy, complementary/alternative therapy, counseling services, etc.) (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
   5. Clinical decision-making (applied ethics –e.g., advanced directives, coordination of care, cultural competence, communication, etc.) (as associated with Note 2: Areas)
   6. Documentation (e.g., treatment plan, management plan, document pertinent negatives, document improvements in physical exam, plan of care: subjective, objective, assessment, plan (SOAP), and findings that support differential diagnosis)
   7. Safety (restraints – environment and chemical, reporting abuse/neglect, patient supervision, etc.) (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
   8. Theory application (theoretical models –e.g., provider-patient relationship, evidence-based practice, etc.) (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
4. The Nurse Practitioner and Patient Relationship (12%)
   1. Cultural and linguistic competence (perception of health, illness, death, impact of spiritual beliefs, therapeutic regimens, complimentary alternative medicines, etc.) (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
   2. Therapeutic communication (cultural sensitivity, communication theory, communication techniques –e.g., listening skills, empathy, therapeutic touch, telephonic, web-based, etc.) (as associated with Note 1: Life Span)
   3. Patient education (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
   4. Patient advocacy (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
5. Professional Role and Policy (9%)
   1. Health care/Public policy (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
      1. reimbursement
      2. laws and regulations
      3. coding
      4. HIPAA
      5. healthcare disparities
      6. autonomy
   2. Ethic
   3. Standards and scope of advanced practice nursing
   4. Access to care (treatment cost-effectiveness, drug costs, healthcare disparities, uninsured/third-party reimbursement, transportation, availability of specialized providers, cultural barriers – e.g. language-, etc.) (as associated with Note 1: Life Span)
6. Research
   1. Research utilization/Evidence-based practice (as associated with Note 1: Life Span or Note 2: Areas)
   2. Outcomes evaluation (continuous process improvement, quality improvement, quality assurance, total quality management, etc.) (as associated with Note 1: Life Span)

Note 1: Life Span

1. Adolescent (13-17 years)
2. Adult (18+ years)
3. Nonspecific

Note 2: Areas

1. Head, eyes, ears, nose, throat
2. Respiratory
3. Cardiovascular
4. Gastrointestinal
5. Urinary
6. Men's health
7. Women's health
8. Musculoskeletal
9. Neurologic
10. Endocrine
11. Hematopoietic/genetics
12. Immune
13. Integumentary
14. Lymphatic
15. Allergies
16. Psychosocial/ behavioral/cultural
17. Communicable/ infectious disease
18. Emergencies
19. Functional/ mobility issues
20. Developmental changes
21. Learning disabilities
22. Pain management

This page last revised 5/10/2007.