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The National Certification Examination
for School Nurses is offered twice a year, with two week windows
scheduled for each examination period. The exam is given in a
computer based format at testing centers across the United States.
In order to take the Certification
Examination for School Nurses, you must file an application within the
time frame designated for each exam. The Handbook for
Candidates includes the application and provides more comprehensive
information about the examination. If you are
unable to download the file, contact the
Professional Testing Corporation
to request that a handbook and application be mailed to you.
 Click
here to Download the Handbook and Application
(note:
In order to download the Handbook for Candidates, you will need free Adobe®
Acrobat® Reader® software. Click on this link to download your
free copy today.)
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Eligible candidates must
- Be currently licensed as a Registered Nurse in the United States.
- Have attained
- A bachelor's degree or higher, in nursing or a health related field relevant to school nursing, or the equivalent in other
countries.
OR
- Current certification by NBCSN as an NCSN
See the FAQ Section of this website for further information on acceptable health related fields.
- Meet the clinical practice requirements of a minimum of 1,000 hours* during the past three years (see definitions below)
- Complete and file the Application for the Certification Examination for School Nurses.
- Pay the required fee.
*NBCSN recommends that
candidates have approximately 4,000 hours of clinical practice
experience in school nursing before taking the examination.
*Clinical Practice Requirements for
Certification
Clinical Practice in school
nursing means actively employed or contracted to provide a direct
or indirect professional contribution to the health and education
of students and their families in public or private school settings.
Direct clinical practice in
school nursing is defined as involvement in the nursing process in a
school setting where the nursing actions and judgments are focused on a
particular student, family, school community, or group of students or
their families where there is continuing professional responsibility and
accountability for the outcomes of these actions.
Indirect clinical practice
in school nursing is defined as involvement that:
- includes clinical supervision of
school nurses, education and clinical supervision of
baccalaureate/master's nursing students in school health,
administration of school health services, research, consultation or
other engagement in the field of school nursing that contributes to the
specialty's body of knowledge or enhances the quality of school
nursing practice;
- entails continuing professional
responsibility and accountability for the outcomes of the
involvement.
Not eligible as clinical practice
in school nursing includes: substitute nursing in a school, except
as a full time substitute working consecutive days for the required
clinical practice hours; one-to-one nursing as the nurse's sole
responsibility within a school; employment in the direct sales,
marketing or distribution of school nursing-related products or services
in pharmaceutical, technology or other school health-related industries;
community health screenings; work in a camp setting; preceptorship/mentor;
and jobs unrelated to school nursing.
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The Certification Examination
is administered for NBCSN by the Professional
Testing Corporation (PTC).
Non
refundable Application fee - $325.00 See
the Handbook for Candidates for payment options. |
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The Certification Examination
for School Nurses will be administered during a two-week testing period
in the winter and in the summer of each year. Click
here to search for the site nearest you.
You will not be able to select a testing center for your four hour
examination appointment until you have received an Eligibility Notice
from PTC. Please note that hours and days of availability vary at
different centers. Testing centers may differ in environments
and security requirements. Applicants may contact PTC prior to the
examination if there are any questions or concerns regarding the testing
center and to arrange another site if needed within the same testing
window.
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The national exam for school
nurses is held two (2) times annually. It is offered at
various locations throughout the country (please refer to Testing
Centers, above). Upcoming exam
dates:
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| Application
Deadline |
Examination
Date |
| December
31, 2012 |
February
16, 2013
- March 2, 2013 |
| May
31, 2013 |
July
20, 2013 - August 3, 2013 |
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The
national exam for school nurses is a written computerized exam composed of a maximum of
250 multiple-choice, objective questions with a total testing time of four
(4) hours.
For
a complete Content
Outline
and
Sample
Questions, refer to our Handbook
for Candidates.
The
exam will be weighted in approximately the following manner:
-
27%
HEALTH APPRAISAL
-
28%
HEALTH PROBLEMS AND NURSING MANAGEMENT
-
20%
HEALTH PROMOTION/DISEASE PREVENTION
-
13%
SPECIAL HEALTH ISSUES
-
12%
PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
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Exam
preparation is a unique process for each candidate. School nurses
have formed study groups, attended school nurse curriculum workshops,
and reviewed school nursing and related texts in preparation for the
examination. The examination is national in scope, and reflects
the broad variety of student and community populations, specialty
practice situations and legal and current health issues that school
nurses confront in everyday practice. Exam
questions are chosen from a larger pool of questions which provides for enabling variation
of exam content and undergo a rigorous process to ensure their validity,
reliability and applicability to current school nursing practice.
Although there
is no single study guide, a List
of Resources, included
in the Handbook for Candidates may be helpful in preparing.
Many of the resource publications can be found at
the NASN bookstore.
In addition, you will find Sample
Questions in the handbook.
Click
here to Download the Handbook and Application
What is it?
The Online Practice Test for School Nurses is a practice test of
75 questions with a testing time of 2 hours taken over the Internet
Why take it?
The Online Practice Test for School Nurses offers the experience of taking a computerized examination, the chance to review an example of
the type of content included in the Certification Examination for School Nurses, and the opportunity to learn more about question format, style,
and level of difficulty. After completing the online practice test, you will receive an instant score report showing test performance in each of
the content areas.
How much is it?
The fee is $75 by credit card
How do I apply?
Go to https://secure.ptcny.com/webtest/
and follow directions on how to create an account and pay online
Technical
specifications:
The Online Practice Test for School Nurses can be taken on any
Internet-ready PC. It is not compatible with Macintosh computers.
Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher is recommended for optimum performance.
Pop-up windows must be allowed from https://secure.ptcny.com/webtest/
Please note:
Performance on the Online Practice Test for School Nurses may differ from actual performance on the Certification Examination for School
Nurses. There is no guarantee that taking the online practice test will help you to prepare for or pass the Certification Examination for School Nurses.
For more information, please visit www.ptcny.com
or call Professional Testing Corporation at 212-356-0668.
Disclaimer of Endorsement
NBCSN does not endorse or support any certification preparation program of
study, course or study guide advertised to prepare school nurses to take the
certification (NCSN) examination. Such programs, courses and guides are not
affiliated with the National Board for Certification of School Nurses, Inc. (NBCSN),
even if their materials and advertisements suggest otherwise. Representatives of
these programs and courses have no involvement in the development, preparation,
review or administration of the NCSN examination. They are neither sanctioned
nor approved by the National Board for the Certification of School Nurses.
NBCSN does not sanction or recommend
any commercial study guide, course or program of study
In addition, reference in this site to any specific commercial product,
process, or service, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for
the information and convenience of the public, and does not constitute
endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by NBCSN. While NBCSN strives to make
the information on this website as timely and accurate as possible, NBCSN makes
no claims, promises, or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy
of the contents of this site, and expressly disclaims liability for errors and
omissions in the contents of this site.
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