Board of Nursing Files a CR-101 to Change Skills Testing for Nursing Assistants
Nursing assistant (NA) certification requires both a knowledge and skills examination. In 2023, the Washington State Board of Nursing faced challenges with mass testing for NA certification, including limited testing availability and the need for students to travel further to access testing sites. To address these challenges, the board decided to transition to administering testing through nursing assistant training programs.
In October 2023, the board launched a voluntary training program testing initiative, allowing NA students to be tested through local training programs instead of centralized testing sites. NA skills testing, conducted by training programs, serves as a vital mechanism for offering convenient and localized testing opportunities to students and increased access to skills testing across the state. Presently, 88 out of 180 programs are administering skills tests to their own students. Since the transition, there has been an increase in testing capacity, with higher testing volumes and improved student confidence in familiar testing environments. Pass rates have also slightly increased, indicating the effectiveness of the new testing approach.
Additionally, the board of nursing will consider piloting a change where skills testing will occur as a component of NA training programs and students will participate in skills testing just prior to completion of their program. This change is expected to increase efficiency in the NA certification process. Establishing rules to formalize these changes to the skills testing process will clarify expectations of NA training programs around skills testing. Rules will help to ensure registered nurse (RN) evaluator training and competency, collection of pass rate and other testing data, compliance with federal testing requirements, and skills testing of nontraditional applicants at regional testing sites.
Because the board of nursing is leading the way on easing test accessibility for NAs, WHCA staff continue to work closely with the Department of Health to push for similar testing accessibility for home care aides. We will update members as more information becomes available.
