Good for You
- Communicate to peers, employers, and patients your competence and commitment as a nurse.
- Validate your expert, specialized knowledge.
- Maintain an innovative edge in your career.
- Gain self-confidence in your abilities as a nurse.
Good for Your Employer
Foster an environment where certification is encouraged and awarded. Certified staff allows for:
- Improved patient care and safety.
- Higher nurse retention rate.
- ANCC Magnet Recognition.
- Attract more qualified nurses to your hospital.
Get CMSRN Certified
About the CMSRN
Exam Development
After identifying a need for a medical-surgical certification, the Certified Medical-Surgical Registered Nurse (CMSRN) exam was created and MSNCB was established. MSNCB and its test development partner, Data Recognition Corporation, maintain a relationship to ensure that the exam is defensible and sound.
CMSRN exam content is validated through a job task analysis (JTA), conducted at least every five years. A JTA validates the importance and frequency of the tasks medical-surgical registered nurses perform, and the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform these tasks competently to provide safe patient care.
Domains of Medical-Surgical Practice
The CMSRN exam domains are:
| Domain |
Weight on the Exam |
| Patient/Care Management |
32% |
| Holistic Patient Care |
15% |
| Elements of Interprofessional Care |
17% |
| Professional Concepts |
15% |
| Nursing Teamwork and Collaboration |
21% |
For detailed information on the exam content, refer to the CMSRN Exam Blueprint.
View the CMSRN Exam Blueprint
Exam Details
- 150 Questions
- The CMSRN exam has 150 multiple choice questions, and 125 of the questions count toward your score.
- The remaining 25 are unscored pilot questions to gather statistical data for future exams.
- 3 Hours
- You have three 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 CMSRN exam, you must achieve a standard score of 95, which is about 71% correct.
- Your raw score, the number of correctly answered questions out of 125, is converted to a standard score for fair comparison across exam forms.
Eiligibility Requirements
To sit for the CMSRN exam, you must meet the eligibility requirements outlined below at the time of application and for the full 90-day test period.
- License
- You must hold an unencumbered and current license as a Registered Nurse (RN) in the United States, its territories, or Canada.
- Hours of Practice
- You must have worked 2,000 practice hours within the past three (3) years in a medical-surgical setting. Practice may be as a clinical nurse, a manager, or an educator.
- It is recommended to have practiced two (2) full years in a medical-surgical setting with your RN license.
International Nurses
The CMSRN is available to first-level nurses practicing outside of the United States and Canada.
Applicants who have international nursing experience or education and are currently practicing internationally and do not hold a U.S. RN license must meet international testing eligibility requirements:
- Hold a current, full, and unrestricted nursing license.
- Nursing license held and/or nursing education completed internationally must be verified for equivalency by a credentials evaluation organization such as the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) or World Education Services (WES) prior to submitting a CMSRN exam application. MSNCB reserves the right to request additional documentation following an agency’s evaluation.
- Have worked 1,000 hours of practice within the past three (3) years in a medical surgical setting. Practice may be as a clinical nurse, as a manager, or as an educator.
The CMSRN certification exam is based on practice in the medical-surgical specialty in the United States. As such, the CMSRN exam is reflective of U.S. practice, regulations, and culture.
Ready to Get Started?
Start your application and review the Test Takers FAQs to learn about exam processes, scheduling, fees, and more!
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Hear What CMSRN Means to Certificants