Eligibility, Fees, and Testing Windows

Eligibility starts with RN licensure and stroke practice

ABNN's SCRN eligibility standard is practice-based. A candidate must hold current, unrestricted RN licensure in the United States, Canada, or a qualifying U.S. territory. International candidates may be considered when they meet a comparable licensure requirement, can read and understand English, and have licensure equivalency verified before applying.

The practice requirement is 1 year full-time, defined as 2,080 hours, of direct or indirect stroke nursing practice as a registered nurse within the 3 years immediately before application. Direct practice means nursing-process involvement with patients, families, or groups where stroke-focused nursing judgments affect outcomes. Indirect practice can include clinical supervision, research, consultation, administration, or education when the role is genuinely stroke-focused.

Fees and application windows

The 2026 handbook lists these application deadlines and test windows:

As of May 13, 2026, the February deadline has passed and the May testing window is already underway for candidates who applied by April 2. The next listed 2026 application deadline is August 6 for the September window. Application materials and the fee must be submitted online by the deadline, and deficiencies cannot be corrected after the deadline.

Audits, refunds, and scheduling

ABNN randomly audits a portion of certification applications and may audit others at its discretion. If selected, the candidate must support RN licensure and stroke-practice eligibility, including supervisor verification. A candidate who does not complete an audit can be denied and should not expect a refund.

After ABNN approves the application, the candidate schedules with PSI. SCRN can be taken at a PSI test center or through live remote proctoring when the candidate meets the technical and security requirements. Appointments are first-come, first-served. Do not plan to schedule and test on the same day; the handbook warns that candidates cannot do that and may miss the window.

Refund and cancellation rules also affect planning. If a candidate has not scheduled the exam and cancels early enough, ABNN may refund the application fee minus an administrative fee. Once an appointment has been scheduled, or if the candidate misses the appointment, appears late, fails ID matching, misses the eligibility period, or fails to reschedule in time, a new complete application and fee are required.

Calendar planning notes

Build the calendar backward from the application deadline, not the first day of the exam window. Leave time for supervisor verification, licensure documentation, payment processing, accommodation requests if needed, and PSI appointment availability. A practical plan is to finish the first full content pass before the application deadline, use the approval-to-test period for mixed practice, and reserve the final 10 to 14 days for timed sets and remediation. Candidates using live remote proctoring should also complete the PSI system checks early enough to switch to a test center if the home setup is not acceptable.