Clinical Nurse Leader Exam

The CNL exam is a computer-based test given at Prometric test centers during four testing windows each year (winter, spring, summer and fall). You apply through your CNC profile before the window's deadline, and about two weeks before the window opens you receive instructions to choose a center, date and time.

Key Facts About the CNL Exam

Exam Design by Domain

Domain II has only three subdomains but the largest weight, so illness and disease management, health promotion and health policy deserve a large share of your study time. Domain III is broad: it ranges from knowledge management and team coordination to quality improvement, evidence-based practice, finance and informatics.

The Twenty Subdomains

Your result is a scaled score from 150 to 500, and you need 350 to pass. Only the 130 scored questions count, and you cannot tell which 10 questions are pretest items, so give every question your best effort. The exam is criterion-referenced: you are measured against a fixed standard, not against other candidates. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so answer every question.

Results are reported as pass or fail at the test center and by email. Candidates who do not pass receive their scaled score and feedback for each content area, rated Deficient (69% or less correct), Marginal (70% to 76%) or Proficient (77% or more). That feedback tells you exactly where to focus before retesting.

• Unit scenarios that ask what the CNL should do first, or which action is most appropriate
• Unfolding case studies that follow one patient or one unit problem through several questions
• Quality and safety data, such as infection rates, fall rates or run charts, to interpret
• Choosing the right quality improvement tool, change strategy or communication technique
• Care transitions, chronic disease management and patient teaching for common populations
• Ethics, advocacy and delegation situations that test judgment and scope of practice
• Evidence appraisal, finance and informatics questions, some with short calculations

• Be in the last term of, or a graduate of, an accredited CNL master's or post-master's program. Your program director submits the Education Documentation Form.
• Faculty who teach in a CNL program may qualify through a separate faculty pathway.
• Certification is granted after you pass the exam and hold an active, unrestricted RN license.
• Certification lasts five years. Renewal requires continuing education contact hours, an attestation of practice hours in a qualifying nursing role and an active RN license.

If you do not pass, you may retest in a later testing window, but not within the same window. A retake fee applies, and you register again through your CNC profile. Check the official fee schedule before you apply, because fees and deadlines are updated from time to time.