In that which we are most confident often results in failure. At least, that was my fear going into the ANCC PMHNP certification exam. Despite hearing this exam was allegedly the easiest test I would take in the long series of nursing hoop jump-training, I did not want to get cavalier. Of all the boards I have taken, this was the most important and with hope, the last. As with my FNP, RN-BC, NCLEX, DOM, DilpAC, and DilpH preparation, I had a study plan, created a "cheat sheet" to write out on scratch paper before starting the test, and worried myself sick that I was a knowledge fraud who managed to graduate by luck or accident.
There is a DSM code for that.
After grabbing my usual eggs and lucky Indivisible Blend from Starbucks, I rolled into the parking lot of the testing center at 8:30am just in time to flip through every page of my review notes and psych myself up. After being ID'ed, wanded over, and searched for concealed textbooks, I was escorted to station 15 to live out the next 3.5 hours slugging through 175 questions, 25 of which were secret, experimental items that didn't count.
Just 2 questions in and I was feeling nervous. By question 50, I doubted I was going to pass. By question 100, I had a boost of confidence. By question 125 I was trying to figure out if the 30-day test window would allow me to re-take the exam before Labor Day. By question 150 I just went numb and fuzzy. With a little over an hour on the timer to go, I ran back through the 45 questions I had marked, change a few answers, said a prayer, and hit submit. Five minutes later, I received the results and was officially certified!
So, what was so hard?