Understanding the AANP Blueprint: Your 2025 FNP Exam Guide
Good News First!
The 2025 exam follows the 2024 FNP Exam Blueprint. That means no major changes, no surprises—just the same reliable framework to guide your study plan.
What Is the AANP Exam Blueprint?
The FNP exam evaluates your ability to assess, diagnose, plan, and evaluate patient care, with domain weights reflecting NP scope of practice:
- Domain I: Assess (32%)
- Gather patient history and review of systems
- Perform focused or comprehensive physical exams
- Order and interpret screening and diagnostic tests
- Domain II: Diagnose (26.5%)
- Analyze data to develop differential diagnoses
- Prioritize and establish primary diagnoses
- Domain III: Plan (26.5%)
- Develop evidence-based, patient-centered care plans
- Initiate referrals, prescribe treatments, and educate patients
- Domain IV: Evaluate (15%)
- Assess care plan effectiveness and modify as needed
Expect 135 questions. Focus on recognizing key findings, conducting exams, and knowing which labs to order.
Patient Age Distribution
As you know, this exam covers patients across the lifespan, but here is the breakdown:
- Newborns: 2%
- Infants: 3%
- Toddlers: 4%
- Children: 4%
- Adolescents: 9%
- Young Adults: 22%
- Middle Adults: 26%
- Older Adults: 30%
Older adults make up the largest portion (30%), while pediatrics accounts for 22%. You may notice that women’s health isn’t a separate category—those topics are integrated into age-based care.
What do you think you should focus on?
Health Assessment:
- Identify key findings (e.g., a cherry-red epiglottis suggests acute epiglottitis—recognize that this is a medical emergency).
- Master specialized exams (e.g., the Lachman test is a specialized test to assess for ACL injuries).
- Differentiate diagnostic tests (e.g., when to order an exercise stress test vs. coronary catheterization).
Pathophysiology and Therapeutics
- Understand comorbidities (e.g., in a diabetic client, diabetic retinopathy is asymptomatic, so screening is essential).
- Be confident in pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments (e.g., allopurinol is prescribed for chronic gout prevention, but lifestyle changes for mild gout attacks that resolve with NSAIDS).
Evidence-Informed Practice
- Hone diagnostic reasoning (e.g., distinguishing hyperthyroidism vs. Addison’s disease).
- Prioritize prevention (e.g., mammograms, blood pressure screenings, tobacco use).
- Address social drivers of health and cultural responsiveness (e.g., language barriers in care)
Procedures and Transitions of Care
- Manage pain effectively (acute vs. chronic).
- Triage emergencies (e.g., acute MI vs. non-cardiac chest pain).
Summary
Feeling more confident? You should! As you prepare, practice questions are essential for reinforcing knowledge and sharpening diagnostic reasoning. At PractitionerExam.com, we craft realistic questions aligned with the exact AANP blueprint to help you confidently pass. Our team considers that most commonly tests subject matter and creates questions that follow the exact blueprint to ensure you successfully obtain your FNP certification. You got this!