Nursing, Nursing Non-Clinical , Exam Prep
CNE®cl Certification Requirements
Jun 19, 2019
(With excerpts from Certified Academic Clinical Nurse Educator (CNE®cl) Review Manual, by Ruth A. Wittmann-Price PhD, RN, CNS, CNE, CHSE, ANEF, FAAN, Karen K. Gittings DNP, RN, CNE, Alumnus CCRN and Linda Wilson PhD, RN, CPAN, CAPA, BC, CNE, CHSE, CHSE-A, ANEF, FAAN
Get moving toward the next chapter in your career by taking the following steps to getting your Certified Academic Clinical Nurse Educator CNE®cl certification:
Make Sure You Qualify for Your Exam!
First Option: Meet criteria 1, 2 & 3
- Licensure: Have a current, active, unencumbered registered nurse (RN) designation in your country of residence
- Education: Have a nursing education graduate degree
- Professional Practice: Three years of practicing nursing in any specialty
Second Option: Meet criteria 1, 2, 3 & 4
- Licensure: Have a current, active, unencumbered registered nurse (RN) designation in your country of residence
- Education: Have a bachelor’s degree (or higher) in nursing
- Professional Practice: Three years of practicing nursing in any specialty
- Academic Practice: Teaching nursing for at least two years academically within the past five years (you can count simulation if you wish)
Apply for the CNE®cl Certification Exam!
Before applying for your CNEcl exam, the National League for Nursing (NLN) requires you to read the CNEcl Candidate Handbook to familiarize yourself with the testing policies and procedures.
Registration should take about 15 minutes. You’ll need a few things to get started:
- Your RN license number and expiration date
- Your credit card number and expiration date (see below chart for fees!)
- An NLN member login name and password
Non-NLN members can create an account here.
Click here to sign into your account and begin the registration process through NLN!
Computer-Based Testing Fees
| NLN Member | Non NLN Member | |
| Initial Testing | $400 | $500 |
| Retesting | $350 | $450 |
Schedule Your Exam
The CNE certification exam is computer-based and offered by PSI. There are over 120 testing centers located nationwide, which you can locate here.
After you’ve completed your online registration, expect to get your confirmation notice of eligibility from PSI within three weeks—this will be emailed and/or mailed to the address you provided on your registration. You’ll then have 90 days to schedule your exam.
Start Studying (if you haven’t already!)
Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to prepare—most people take at least 2 or 3 months to prepare, given the amount of content you need to know. You’ll probably need a few exam preparation products to help you study in more depth. You can check out what we have here.
Resources:
National League for Nursing. (n.d.). Certified Academic Clinical Nurse Educator (CNE®cl) 2018 Candidate Handbook. Retrieved from http://www.nln.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/cnecl-handbook-jan-2018.pdf?sfvrsn=4
National League for Nursing. (n.d.). Create Account. Retrieved from https://members.nln.org/NLN/Contacts/CreateAccount.aspx
National League for Nursing. (n.d.). Sign In. Retrieved from https://members.nln.org/NLN/Sign_In.aspx?WebsiteKey=1adecee9-2612-447b-8502-29cddc6c9704&LoginRedirect=true&returnurl=/MyAccount
PSI. (n.d.). Test Center List - National League for Nursing Certified Nurse Educator Exam. Retrieved from http://online.goamp.com/CandidateHome/displayTCList.aspx?pExamID=21426
Wittmann-Price, R. A., Wilson, L., & Gittings, K. K. (2019). Certified Academic Clinical Nurse Educator (CNE®cl) Review Manual. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.