CNOR is a certification exam developed by Competency and Credentialing Institute (CCI) for credentialing of perioperative nurses. The exam is administered by Thompson Prometric. According to CCI, CNOR is not an acronym but is a definition- “the documented validation of the professional achievement of identified standards of practice by an individual registered nurse providing care for patients before, during and after surgery”.
Eligibility-
The exam is taken by registered nurses having current unrestricted license. The applicant must have 2 years and 2400 hours of perioperative nursing experience (of which 1200 hours should be in intraoperative settings) and should be presently working in perioperative nursing specialty.
Test Overview-
CNOR assesses advanced level of knowledge and skills required by nurses practicing in operating room nursing. It consists of 200 multiple choice questions spanning over 9 subject areas. These content areas are Preoperative patient assessment and diagnosis (26 questions), Development of individualized plan of care and identification of expected outcomes (17 questions), Intraoperative activities (57 questions), Communication (17 questions), Transfer of care (9 questions), Cleaning, disinfecting, packaging, sterilization, transporting, and storing instrumentation and supplies (22 questions), Emergency situations (15 questions), Management of personnel, services and material (11 questions), and Professional accountability (11 questions).
Test Format-
The exam is conducted as computer based test. It is administered in a time of three hours and 45 minutes. There is no requirement of previous computer experience for taking the test.
Marking Scheme-
Out of 200 questions, 185 are scored while 15 are not scored. The unscored pretest items are experimental and used for future administration of the exam. The raw score is proportional to number of questions attempted correctly. Since, the exam is offered in multiple forms having slight differences in difficulty level, a process called equating is applied to derive scaled scores. The passing score is determined by a process called Cut Score Study, in which, a representative group of test administrations across the country are taken into account. The current passing score is 620. The “Pass” or “Fail” in the exam is reported to the examinee immediately after the test. If the examinee has failed, score is an indication of, how far he/she has scored, from the passing score. The successful candidates are mailed credential certificate in 4 to 6 weeks from the exam date. The certification is valid for five year period. The re-certification is possible by three methods- Exam, Continuing Education and Portfolio.
Schedule-
The candidates require applying for the exam two months before the testing window month, in which, they want to be tested. For example, if somebody applied in January, he/she will be tested in March. One can apply for the test by filling an electronic form at the CCI website. Once the application is accepted, candidate requires scheduling a test date and location on Prometric website (www.prometric.com).
Exam Fees-
The regular fee is $375. The same fee for AORN (Association of periOperative Registered Nurses) members is $295.
The regular re-certification fees are:
Re-certification by exam: – $375
Re-certification by Continued education: – $280
Re-certification by Portfolio: – $280
The re-certification fees for AORN members are:
Re-certification by exam: – $295
Re-certification by Continued education: – $210
Re-certification by Portfolio: – $210