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Nebraska Nurse Aide Competency Evaluation (Written/Oral Exam and Skills Exam)
The Nebraska nurse aide competency evaluation is the state-approved two-part exam required for placement on the Nebraska Nurse Aide Registry: a Written/oral exam of 50 multiple-choice questions (passing grade 70 percent or greater) and a Skills exam consisting of a demonstration of six randomly selected nurse aide skills (70 percent or greater on each skill; failing any one skill fails the skills exam). DHHS owns the evaluation under Title 172 NAC 108 (effective 9/24/2022) and approves the testing entities that administer it; the Nebraska Health Care Learning Center (NHCLC) is the primary approved testing provider, charging USD 50 per component (written and clinical). Each exam may be attempted up to three times before the 75-hour nurse aide course must be retaken.
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QuestionsWritten/oral exam: 50 multiple-choice questions. Skills exam: demonstration of six skills.
Testing timeWritten exam: one hour (a one-hour block of time; read-aloud accommodation is a separate one-hour one-on-one block). Skills exam: one hour, after a five-minute packet review. (Published by the state's primary approved testing provider, NHCLC, not by DHHS.)
ScoringPassing grade is 70 percent or greater on the written/oral exam; the skills exam requires 70 percent or greater on each of the six skills, and failing any one of the six skills fails the entire skills exam (skills may have mandatory/critical steps that must be performed correctly to pass that skill)
Exam feeNo state fee — DHHS states there are no application or license fees for nurse aides; testing fees are charged by the approved testing provider: USD 50 for the written test and USD 50 for the clinical (skills) test at the Nebraska Health Care Learning Center (fees not guaranteed to be refunded)
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- Who runs it
- Nebraska DHHS
- Category
- Nurse Aide & Nursing Assistant
- Current version
- Current specification; no public version label — the state-approved nurse aide competency evaluation governed by Title 172 NAC 108 (effective 09-24-2022), which requires a written or oral portion and a skills demonstration portion
- Where it applies
- US-NE, United States
- Exam languages
- English
- Testing provider
- DHHS-approved competency testing entities — chiefly the Nebraska Health Care Learning Center (NHCLC, operated by the Nebraska Health Care Association) and DHHS-approved post-secondary education providers; there is no single statewide commercial vendor
- Format
- Paper-based written test with a fill-in-the-bubble answer sheet (four randomly assigned test versions, individually graded by the test instructor); oral read-aloud accommodation delivered one-on-one; skills exam performed in person before a registered-nurse test instructor
- Availability
- Scheduled group test events run by approved providers (registration closes in advance of each event; late arrivals are not allowed to test); lapsed nurse aides retest through approved post-secondary education providers
- Results
- Written exams are individually graded on site by the test instructor; results are submitted to the state by NHCLC within 7 business days of the test event and registry placement takes approximately 2–4 weeks (DHHS: about three weeks)
- Credential validity
- Registry status, not score validity: an aide stays Active by working as a nurse aide in a paid position within 24 months of last employment; a lapsed aide must retake both the written/oral and clinical exams to reactivate
- Remote testing
- Not available
Exam structure
Two required parts, both of which must be passed for registry placement: (1) a Written/oral exam of 50 multiple-choice questions (four test versions are randomly assigned; the oral accommodation is a one-on-one read-aloud of the same exam); (2) a Skills exam — demonstration of six randomly selected skills drawn from twelve skills packets, each skill with required steps including critical steps that must be performed, performed individually with one instructor per student; per 172 NAC 108-006.01(B) the skills demonstration must 'be administered and evaluated by a registered nurse with at least one year's experience'
Where rules vary
Nebraska-specific competency evaluation: passing both parts is required for placement on the Nebraska Nurse Aide Registry ('The State of Nebraska requires completion of a 76-Hour Nurse Aide Class and passing both the written and clinical exams to be placed on the registry'), and the governing regulation covers 'nurse aides employed in nursing homes' in Nebraska (172 NAC 108).
Eligibility
At least 16 years of age; not convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude rationally related to the position; successfully complete a minimum of 75 hours of State-of-Nebraska-approved training (or a 21-hour basic resident care course for ICF/DD facilities) plus one hour of Nebraska-specific abuse/neglect/misappropriation training before taking the exams
Retake policy
Three total attempts to pass each exam (written and skills); if either exam is not passed after three tries, the 75-hour nurse aide course must be retaken; a student who fails a test version cannot retake that same version