1.2 The NJ CNA Exam Format
Key Takeaways
New Jersey uses D&S/Headmaster for skills and PSI for knowledge under the NJ Department of Health; pass skills before scheduling the knowledge test.
The skills evaluation starts with hand washing, followed by four randomly selected tasks from the current 22-task list.
Each skills task requires at least 80% of its scored steps and no missed key step; key designations are task-specific.
The knowledge examination has 60 questions, a 90-minute limit and a 75% passing score.
The usual training route has both a two-year training-completion deadline and a one-year deadline from the first skills attempt.
New Jersey's two-vendor competency evaluation
The NJ Department of Health candidate bulletin distinguishes D&S/Headmaster skills testing from PSI knowledge testing. For the usual route, pass skills before scheduling knowledge. A general NNAAP or Credentia checklist does not establish New Jersey's current test rules.
| Skills requirement | Current New Jersey bulletin |
|---|---|
| Assignment | Five tasks: hand washing first, then four randomly selected tasks |
| Reference list | Current 22-task list in the bulletin |
| Scoring | At least 80% of each task's scored steps and no missed key step |
| Checklist | Task-specific; use its designated key steps |
| Timing | Follow the current vendor and appointment instructions; a generic 30-minute NNAAP limit is not asserted here |
Do not assume a required measurement task, a catheter-care assignment, arbitrary task order, or a five-minute warning borrowed from another program. Use the exact current New Jersey list and instructions. General resident safety habits support care but do not create additional official key steps.
Knowledge test and testing deadlines
The current New Jersey knowledge test has 60 questions, 90 minutes and a 75% passing score. At that stated cut score, 45 of 60 is 75%; 90 divided by 60 gives a planning average of 1.5 minutes per question. These calculations explain the format and do not guarantee a practice-to-exam result.
English and Spanish oral options are listed by PSI. Use the current 12-topic, 60-item outline rather than importing NNAAP domain percentages or adding ten assumed pretest questions.
For the ordinary approved-training route, track two years from training completion and one year from the first skills attempt to complete both components. The later clock does not extend the earlier deadline. Three failures of a component require retraining under the bulletin's standard route; approved waiver candidates have separate conditions and should follow their waiver letter.
Testing payments are separate: D&S skills is $27, PSI written $57, and PSI oral $68. Thus skills plus written totals $84; skills plus oral totals $95. These totals are not the price of either individual component. Check the current bulletin before paying a retake fee.
Source: current NJ candidate bulletin.
Which task assignment does the current New Jersey skills evaluation use?
Five tasks: hand washing first, then four randomly selected tasks
Three skills total, with vital signs always included
Ten skills total, all randomly selected with no required skill
Four skills total, with bed-making always included
At the completion of an assigned New Jersey skills task, a candidate has omitted a designated key step and did not correct it during that skill. How does that affect the task?
The candidate still passes because most steps were correct
The candidate loses a few points but can continue normally
The task fails because the pass rule permits no missed key step
The evaluator lets the candidate redo only that one step immediately
Which knowledge-test format is specified by the current New Jersey candidate bulletin?
Exactly 100 scored questions with no extra items
60 questions in 90 minutes, with a 75% passing score
About 25 scored questions and 25 essay questions
About 60 questions that are all unscored practice
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.