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Open free NYS Nurse Aide Exam prep resources ↗Exam facts & prep options
New York State Nursing Home Nurse Aide Competency Examination
Find the current format, timing, scoring, fees, eligibility, and testing options for NYS Nurse Aide Exam, with direct links to official sources.
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QuestionsWritten exam: 60 multiple-choice questions (single correct answer). Oral option: the same exam heard from a prerecorded CD, plus a separate 16-question Reading Comprehension section
Testing timeWritten exam: 90 minutes (oral candidates get an additional 30 minutes for the Reading Comprehension section). Clinical Skills exam: timed, with duration varying by the skills assigned
ScoringPass/fail on each part — candidates must pass BOTH the Clinical Skills exam and the Written (or Oral) exam to be certified; Prometric determines the passing score (no public numeric cut score); Oral candidates must additionally pass the Reading Comprehension section
Exam feeUSD 115 first-time package (Clinical Skills + Written) or USD 135 (Clinical Skills + Oral); retests: USD 68 Clinical Skills / USD 57 Written / USD 67 Oral; USD 50 reciprocity (out-of-state CNAs, RNs, LPNs); USD 15 duplicate certificate
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Study resources for NYS Nurse Aide Exam
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Exam overview
What to know before choosing your prep
- Who runs it
- NYSDOH
- Category
- Nurse Aide & Nursing Assistant
- Current version
- Current specification; no public version label
- Where it applies
- US-NY, United States
- Exam languages
- English
- Testing provider
- Prometric
- Format
- Computer-based written/oral exam plus an in-person hands-on Clinical Skills exam, delivered either in-facility (at the nursing home or training program where the candidate trained) or at Prometric regional exam sites
- Availability
- Scheduled by appointment — in-facility testing is scheduled by the nursing home/training program; regional site candidates schedule with Prometric (applications due 10 business days before a requested in-facility date)
- Results
- Official Clinical Skills results viewable online within 48 hours of completing that exam; official score reports for failed exams emailed within 5 business days; certificate and wallet card arrive about 10 business days after passing (successful candidates typically appear on the online registry several days earlier)
- Remote testing
- Not available
Exam structure
Two required parts: (1) Clinical Skills exam — hands-on demonstration scored on five skills (three assigned skills plus Handwashing and Indirect Care), performed in order on a resident actor; (2) Written exam — 60 multiple-choice questions, or the Oral exam delivered by CD player and headset with replay allowed plus a 16-question true/false-format Reading Comprehension section. First-time candidates must register for both parts
Where rules vary
The competency examination is New York State's implementation of the federal OBRA nurse-aide mandate for aides working in Medicare/Medicaid nursing homes; passing it and listing on the NYS Nurse Aide Registry are required for nurse aide duties in New York nursing homes. The exam itself is uniform statewide.
Eligibility
Route 1: completion of a NYS-approved nursing home nurse aide training program; alternate routes include out-of-state registry listing (reciprocity), RN/LPN status, and other equivalency routes — plus submission of the NYS NAR application form and fees to Prometric
Retake policy
Route 1 candidates: three attempts per part (three for Clinical Skills, three for Written/Oral) within two years of completing training; candidates who do not pass must re-register and pay the per-part retest fee; Routes 1 and 7 candidates who do not pass both exams within the required timeframe must retrain through a different NYS-approved program before reapplying