Certified Nurse Educator Exam

The CNE exam is a computer-based test delivered by Meazure Learning, either at a testing center or through live online remote proctoring. After the NLN approves your application, you have 90 days to schedule and take the exam.

Key Facts About the CNE Exam

Exam Design by Content Area

Facilitate Learning alone is worth more than the four smallest areas combined, so teaching strategies, learning theory, clinical teaching, simulation and technology deserve the largest share of your study time. Learner development and assessment come next, at about 14% each.

The blueprint also sets the thinking level of the questions. Of the 130 scored questions, only about 19 are recall questions. About 76 are application questions and about 35 are analysis questions, so expect to apply what you know to a teaching situation rather than simply recognize a term.

The CNE is criterion-referenced: you are measured against a fixed passing standard, not against other candidates. The NLN sets the standard through a modified Angoff study, in which experienced nurse educators judge how a minimally competent educator would perform on each question. Because each exam form is equated, the number of correct answers needed to pass can differ slightly from one form to another.

Only the 130 scored questions count, and you cannot tell which 20 questions are pretest items, so give every question your best effort. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so answer every question. Your score report shows pass or fail and the number of questions you answered correctly in each content area. Those area scores are for feedback only; the pass or fail decision is based on your total.

• Teaching scenarios that ask which strategy best fits the content, learners and outcome
• Clinical teaching and simulation situations that test supervision, safety and clinical judgment development
• Student situations involving learning needs, remediation, accommodations, incivility or unsafe practice
• Test construction and item-analysis data to interpret, such as difficulty and discrimination values
• Curriculum and program evaluation decisions, including outcomes, benchmarks and accreditation
• Change, leadership, conflict, scholarship and academic-community questions about the faculty role
• Legal and ethical situations involving student privacy, due process and professional boundaries

• Hold a valid, unencumbered registered nurse license or its equivalent.
• Option A: hold a master's or doctoral degree in nursing with a major emphasis in nursing education, or a nursing master's or doctorate plus a post-master's certificate in nursing education, or a nursing master's or doctorate plus at least nine graduate credit hours of education courses. Research and statistics courses do not count toward the nine credits.
• Option B: hold a master's or doctoral degree in nursing with a major emphasis in another role, plus at least two years of employment in a nursing program at an academic institution within the past five years.
• Certification lasts five years. You renew either by documenting continuing professional activities mapped to the nurse educator competencies or by retaking the exam.

If you do not pass, you may reapply after a 90-day waiting period with a new application and fee. You may test no more than four times a year. Check the official NLN fee schedule and Candidate Handbook before you apply, because fees and policies are updated from time to time.