Exam Development
After identifying a need for a medical-surgical certification, that was developed by medical-surgical nurses, the CMSRN exam was created and the MSNCB was established. MSNCB maintains a relationship with a test development partner to ensure that the exam is legally defensible and psychometrically sound.
CAVRN exam content is validated through a job task analysis (JTA), conducted at least every five years. A JTA survey is circulated for acute-care virtual nurses to rate the importance and frequency of the tasks they perform, and the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform these tasks competently to provide competent patient care.
Domains of Acute-Care Virtual Nursing Practice
| Domain |
Weight on Exam |
| Quality & Safety |
16% |
| Patient & Family Education |
12% |
| Communication |
20% |
| Teamwork/Inter-Professional Collaboration |
17% |
| Coaching & Mentoring |
11% |
| Leadership |
10% |
| Informatics & Technology |
14% |
For detailed information on the exam content, refer to the CAVRN Exam Blueprint.
View the CAVRN Exam Blueprint
Exam Details
- 120 Questions
- The CAVRN exam has 120 multiple choice questions, and 100 of the questions count toward your score.
- The remaining 20 are unscored pilot questions to gather statistical data for future exams.
- 2.5 Hours
- You have 2.5 hours to complete the exam.
- We recommend you arrive at the testing center or launch the remote proctored exam application 30 minutes before the start of your exam.
- 95 Passing Score
- To pass the CAVRN exam, you must achieve a standard score of 95, which is about 83% correct.
- Your raw score, the number of correctly answered questions out of 100, is converted to a standard score for fair comparison across exam forms.
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for the CAVRN exam, applicants must meet both of the following criteria throughout the application process and the entire 90-day testing period:
- License: Hold a current, unencumbered Registered Nurse (RN) license in the United States, its territories, or Canada.
- Practice Hours: You must have completed 1,000 practice hours in a virtual acute-care setting within the past two years.
- Practice may include clinical nursing, management, or education.
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