NACE I PN-RN

The NACE I PN-RN: Foundations of Nursing assessment is developed and administered by the National League for Nursing. It measures whether a practical or vocational nurse has mastered the foundational nursing knowledge taught in the first level of an RN program, so the RN program can grant credit or advanced standing.

The NLN content outline groups the tested knowledge into five areas. Basic health needs, physiologic and psychosocial, make up the largest share of the exam.

Every NACE I item is classified by the nursing-process phase it tests. The distribution below shows how the 100 items are spread across the four phases.

• Scores are based on the number of items answered correctly; there is no penalty for a wrong answer, so answer every item.
• A score report is generated when the exam ends and is shared with the nursing program.
• There is no single national passing score. Each RN program sets its own decision score; programs commonly require a score in the 65–80% range.
• Programs also set their own retake rules, such as a waiting period of 30 days or more between attempts and a limit on attempts per admission cycle.
• Scores are typically accepted for one to three years, depending on the program.