Nine days after completing the 2026 APEA Live Review Course & Clinical Update, Kourtney Perdue sat for her FNP certification exam. She passed.

The outcome wasn't a surprise to the NPs who interacted with the recently graduated nurse practitioner at the APEA course. But the circumstances that led Perdue to the Memphis course in January 2026 weren’t routine. You see, Perdue hadn’t traveled from Arkansas with a classmate or a study partner, as many NP students do. She came with her grandmother, Terry Hill, RNP.

Hill became an NP in 1980. Today she's the chief recruiting officer for Arcare, a nonprofit network of rural health clinics operating across four states. When her granddaughter began preparing for her FNP boards, Hill didn't just offer encouragement. She showed up.

They attended the APEA Live Review Course & Clinical Update together, Hill earning 25 contact hours and Perdue building the knowledge she needed to complete her goal of following in her grandmother’s footsteps as a nurse practitioner.

"The instructors broke my problem areas down into easy-to-understand processes," said Perdue, who now proudly uses the credentials MSN, APRN, FNP-C. "I walked out feeling well prepared."

Feeling prepared, focused, and confident is what the APEA Live Review Course & Clinical Update is designed to produce. Not just on exam day, but for the first day of clinical practice and every day afterward.

Designed by Experts Who Know How NPs Think & Practice

The nurse practitioner faculty who develop and teach the APEA course say that a core distinguishing feature is that it emphasizes critical thinking and clinical reasoning — not rote recall.

“APEA doesn’t just teach the ‘what.’ We teach the ‘why,’” said Kathy Baldridge, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP, the Lead Nurse Practitioner Education Specialist for APEA. “Learning the ‘why’ builds deeper comprehension, stronger clinical judgment, and long-term retention. When you understand the reasoning, you don’t just recognize the right answer — you can eliminate the wrong ones.”

Every presenter at an APEA Live Review Course & Clinical Update has years of clinical experience as a nurse practitioner. Their depth of practice knowledge, in combination with their expertise in teaching, helps >99% of APEA course attendees pass their certification exam.

Live, Interactive Learning Embeds Knowledge

The APEA Live Review Course and Clinical Update captures the inspiring and interactive qualities of live teaching, whether it’s delivered in person at a conference site, online during a webinar, or virtually over several learning sessions.

“We hear from attendees that they appreciate interacting with engaging instructors who have real-world clinical experience,” said Jennifer B. Smith, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, ENP-C, a Nurse Practitioner Education Specialist who develops and teaches the course.

In surveys and in conversations with APEA staff, students repeatedly comment on how live instruction and the integration of the presenters’ stories, clinical pearls, and practical mnemonics help solidify complex concepts in a way that prerecorded content alone cannot.

“Students often say to me, ‘I love all your stories,’” said Tara Bearden, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, a Nurse Practitioner Education Specialist who also develops and teaches the APEA Review Course. “Hearing what happens in actual practice is preparing them more fully for the road ahead.”

What’s New in the 2026 Live Review Course

The 2026 APEA Live Review Course expands this valuable interactivity in new ways and provides knowledge reinforcement afterward.

“We assess student understanding in real time and adjust content delivery as needed,” Dr. Smith said. “In addition, attendees now receive 6 months to access their one-time view of a recorded version of the live course content. This gives them the opportunity to reinforce learning and review material again closer to testing.”

The additional time to review course content reinforces earlier learning as students approach exam day. “Repetition always helps recall,” Dr. Baldridge noted.

The 2026 APEA Live Review Course covers the comprehensive range of topics included on national NP certification exams for family nurse practitioners, adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioners and psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners. All content reflects current evidence-based practice, current clinical guidelines, and current test blueprints from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board and the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

During each live course, participants review the most common health conditions managed in their specialty or patient population and learn how to:

• prioritize differentials
• interpret labs
• apply guidelines
• confidently answer board-style questions.

This comprehensive, practice-focused approach is so valuable that Dr. Baldridge has heard the following expression of gratitude again and again: “I’ve learned more in 2 days than in my last 2 years. This course really ties everything together.”

Course Content Updates in 2026

As they do every year, the NP educator team revised the APEA Review Course to reflect current standards of practice in 2026. These changes, which are important for safe clinical practice and for certification success, include clinical guideline updates for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, community-acquired pneumonia, complicated urinary tract infections, hypertension, and osteoporosis.

“We make updates to the course each year,” Dr. Baldridge said. “Our content is strategically aligned with certification exam blueprints and reflects current evidence, so you’re studying what actually matters for your exam and for NP practice.”

Flexible Formats That Fit Real Life

APEA recognizes that not every NP student learns in the same way or has the same availability and schedule. That’s why the 2026 Live Review Course & Clinical Update is offered in multiple formats:

• 2-day live onsite courses for immersive, distraction-free learning
• 3-day live webinar courses for a deep dive at home
• 6 Weeks to Success courses for students who prefer to space their knowledge acquisition. Attendees who choose this option receive two APEA Predictor Exams to determine certification readiness and identify any weak areas.

Which course is best for you? “It depends on your schedule, your learning style, and how close you are to your testing date,” Dr. Smith said. “Whichever course option you choose, the depth and quality of instruction remain consistent across all formats.”

For students who focus and learn best through interaction, selecting any of the three live APEA course options is beneficial. For students who prefer on-demand access to the review course, video and audio options are available.

Confidence That Extends Beyond Test Day

Although it’s unusual for a grandparent and grandchild to attend an APEA Live Review Course, Kourtney Perdue’s exam outcome is common across many thousands of APEA course attendees. But what really sets APEA’s live review apart isn’t pass rates or course details. It’s how attendees feel when they leave: Prepared. Focused. Confident.

That confidence and focus are the result of up-to-date, practice-focused clinical content and teaching techniques that make difficult concepts click. Are you ready to join the thousands of NPs in the workforce who have counted on APEA for certification exam prep?

“Walk into your exam ready. Walk into your clinic confident,” Dr. Baldridge said. “Let’s get you APEA prepared.”

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