Nursing, Nursing Advanced Practice, Exam Prep
What’s the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Exam Like?
With excerpts from Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Certification Intensive Review: Fast Facts and Practice Questions, Amy R. Koehn, PhD, NNP-BC, Editor.
Wondering what the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) certification exam is like? Here are answers to some of the major questions you’re likely to have.
The Format
The National Certification Corporation (NCC) administers the NNP certification exam. This competency-based exam is a computer-based multiple-choice test with 175 questions that you’ll take at a testing center. It tests knowledge and application in providing care for neonatal, infant, and young toddler (up to age 2) patients in hospitals or outpatient settings and will require higher-level thinking and analysis skills in physiology and pathophysiology, assessment, diagnosis, and patient management.
The Questions and Time
Before the exam, you’ll have a chance to take a practice exam, which isn’t counted against your time. When you’re ready, you can start the actual exam. You’ll have three hours to complete the 175-question test. Twenty-five of those questions aren’t scored, but instead are used to gather statistical data on items for use in future exams. You should answer all questions, as there is no penalty for answering incorrectly. Each question has three answer options labeled A, B, and C. There is no limit to the number of times you can change your answer, and you can leave a question unanswered and then come back to it.
Detailed Content Outline
The NNP exam tests a range of topics, but the focus is on embryology, physiology, pathophysiology, and systems management. The table below outlines the percentage of test questions assigned to each area.
| Content | Percentage of Test | Topics |
| General Assessment | 17% | Maternal history affecting the newborn; neonatal; and other topics |
| General Management | 19% | Thermoregulation; resuscitation and stabilization; other topics |
| Pharmacology | 9% | Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics; other topics |
| Embryology, Physiology, Pathophysiology, and Systems Management | 52% | Cardiac; respiratory; gastrointestinal; other topics |
| Professional Issues | 3% | Evidence-based practice; legal/ethical principles; other topics |
Scoring
The NCC does not assign a minimum percentage score to pass. Rather, a passing score is based on the number of questions you answer correctly. Because no test is exactly the same, a candidate who took a slightly more difficult test will need to have answered fewer questions correctly than a candidate who took a somewhat easier test.
The Results
You’ll get your test results in the mail; they also will be available in your NCC account 15 business days after the exam date. Besides a grade of pass or fail, your report will provide areas of strength and weakness in the exam content areas.
Caring optimally for neonatal patients means understanding as much as possible about neonatal-specific development, diseases, and evidence-based practice. The NNP certification allows you to demonstrate that you have achieved a level of expert skills and fine-tuned knowledge to provide advanced practice care to neonates and children up to age 2.
Resources
National Certification Corporation. (2020). NCC Certification Examination Guide to Testing Methods. Retrieved from https://www.nccwebsite.org/content/documents/cms/ncc-testing-guide.pdf
National Certification Corporation. (2020). 2020 Candidate Guide Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. Retrieved from https://www.nccwebsite.org/content/documents/cms/nnp-candidate_guide.pdf