If you are preparing to become a certified nurse aide in the Empire State, understanding how prometric cna ny testing works is the single most important step between finishing your training program and earning the right to work in a licensed nursing facility. New York contracts with Prometric to deliver the Nurse Aide Competency Examination, which combines a written (or oral) knowledge test with a hands-on clinical skills evaluation. Both pieces must be passed to earn placement on the New York State Nurse Aide Registry.
The state requires every candidate to complete a minimum of 100 hours of approved training before sitting for the exam, with 30 of those hours dedicated to supervised clinical practice. That training requirement is the foundation everything else rests on, and the Department of Health is strict about verifying that your program is on the approved provider list before Prometric will even let you register. Skipping or mis-documenting hours is one of the most common reasons applications get bounced back.
Once your training is verified, you will use the prometric testing center portal to choose a date, a location, and a testing modality. New York runs both Regional Test Sites housed inside community colleges and BOCES campuses, plus In-Facility Testing inside partnered nursing homes. Knowing which option suits you can shave weeks off your wait time, especially in busy regions like New York City, Long Island, and the Capital District where seats fill quickly during peak hiring months.
Beyond logistics, candidates often underestimate the depth of the written exam. The 60 multiple-choice questions cover infection control, resident rights, communication, basic nursing skills, restorative care, mental health, and emergency response. The clinical portion requires you to perform five randomly selected skills from a pool of more than twenty, and a single missed critical step, such as failing to wash your hands or lower a bed, can mean failing the entire station.
This guide walks you through every part of the New York process: how to confirm your training is registry-eligible, how to navigate the scheduler, what to bring to the test site, how the two exam sections are scored, what to do if you fail, and how to convert a passing score into an active certification number on the registry. We have also included realistic timelines, fee breakdowns, and the most common mistakes that delay applicants.
Whether you finished your program last week or are just starting to compare schools, the information below is built around the current New York State Department of Health requirements and Prometric's published candidate handbook. Use it as a checklist alongside any materials your training program provides, and bookmark the practice quizzes throughout so you can drill the exact content areas the proctor will be watching for on test day.
One last note before we dive in: regulations and fees do change. The figures and procedures in this article reflect the 2026 testing cycle, but always cross-reference the official New York handbook on Prometric's site before you submit money or travel to a regional center. A five-minute verification can save you a wasted trip and a non-refundable scheduling fee.
Your nurse aide training program must be approved by the New York State Department of Health. Approved providers include community colleges, BOCES, vocational schools, and many long-term care facilities offering free in-house training in exchange for a work commitment.
You must complete at least 70 hours of classroom instruction and 30 hours of supervised clinical practice in a licensed nursing home. Hours must be documented on the official 3122 training verification form signed by your program director.
All candidates submit fingerprints for a Criminal History Record Check through the New York DOH. Certain disqualifying convictions can prevent registry placement even after passing the Prometric exam, so check eligibility before paying tuition.
You will need a current PPD or chest X-ray, MMR titer, and varicella documentation before your clinical rotations. Many programs also require a physical exam, drug screen, and proof of COVID and seasonal flu vaccines.
Once you complete training, you have 24 months to pass both portions of the Prometric exam. Miss that window and you must repeat the entire 100-hour program from scratch — there are no exceptions or grace periods granted.
Locating an open seat at a New York prometric test center is often the most stressful part of the certification process, simply because demand routinely exceeds supply during the spring and fall hiring waves. New York operates two parallel testing tracks: Regional Test Sites (RTS) hosted at community colleges and BOCES, and In-Facility Testing (IFT) held inside partner nursing homes. Both are administered by Prometric staff or contracted Nurse Aide Evaluators using the same scoring rubrics, so the credential you earn is identical regardless of which track you choose.
Regional Test Sites are typically the right choice for candidates who completed training at a school rather than a facility. There are roughly two dozen RTS locations spread across the state, from Buffalo and Rochester through Syracuse, Albany, the Hudson Valley, the five boroughs, and out to Long Island. Each RTS publishes a fixed monthly calendar, and you select an open slot through the Prometric scheduler after your training verification is uploaded by your program coordinator.
In-Facility Testing is faster but more restrictive. If you trained inside a participating nursing home, that facility can host your exam on a date that works for their staffing, often within two to three weeks of program completion. The trade-off is that IFT seats are usually reserved for that facility's own graduates and any open seats they choose to offer to outside candidates, which is rare in high-demand markets like Brooklyn and Queens.
To register, you create an account in the Prometric scheduler using the email address your training program submitted on your 3122 form. If the addresses do not match, the system will not find your eligibility record and you will be stuck on a customer service call for an hour. Double-check this with your program before you start, and use a personal email rather than a school address you might lose access to after graduation.
After logging in, you will pay the testing fees, choose whether to take written or oral on the knowledge portion, select your skills exam date, and download an Authorization to Test (ATT) letter. Bring the ATT plus two forms of ID — one with photo and signature, one with signature only — to every visit. Forgetting the ATT or showing up with mismatched names between your ID and registration is a guaranteed turn-away with full forfeiture of fees.
If your preferred site shows no availability, check back every morning around 6 a.m. Eastern. Cancellations get released back into the pool in real time, and many candidates have snagged a seat one or two weeks out by refreshing during the early window. You can also widen your radius to a less convenient location; the cost of a long Amtrak ride to a smaller upstate site is often less than waiting two more months at a packed metro center.
Finally, plan transportation and arrival carefully. Prometric requires check-in 30 minutes before the scheduled start, and late arrivals are not admitted under any circumstance. For city candidates, account for subway delays; for upstate candidates, consider weather and parking. Treat exam day like a job interview that you cannot reschedule without paying another fee.
The written knowledge test is 60 multiple-choice questions delivered on paper at Regional Test Sites and on tablet at most In-Facility locations. You have 90 minutes to complete it, and the passing score is 80%, meaning you can miss no more than 12 questions. Content is drawn directly from the federally required OBRA curriculum that all 100 training hours are built around.
Topics include role of the nurse aide, communication and interpersonal skills, infection control, safety and emergencies, promoting function and health of residents, basic restorative services, mental health and social service needs, care of cognitively impaired residents, and residents' rights. Questions are scenario-based rather than pure recall, so memorizing definitions alone will not get you across the 80% line.
New York offers an oral version of the knowledge test for candidates who are more comfortable with spoken English than written English, or who have a documented reading disability. The oral exam contains the same 60 questions plus a separate 10-question reading component, all delivered via headphones with a synchronized printed booklet so you can follow along visually while listening.
You must request the oral format when you register through the prometric login portal; it cannot be switched on test day. The same 80% cutoff applies. Many ESL candidates find the oral format dramatically improves their score because the audio paces them through the question stems and answer choices at a consistent speed.
The clinical skills evaluation is the section most candidates fear, and rightly so. You will perform five randomly assigned skills from the published list of more than twenty, always including handwashing and one indirect care skill such as making an occupied bed or providing perineal care. Each skill has a specific set of critical steps that must be performed in the correct order, and missing any critical element fails that entire skill.
You must pass all five skills to pass the section. The evaluator scores silently using a checklist and will not coach, hint, or repeat directions. Bring a watch with a second hand if your skill involves taking vital signs, and practice talking through each step out loud during training because verbalizing what you are doing helps the evaluator confirm steps they might otherwise miss.
Handwashing is the first skill of every clinical exam and the most failed step statewide. You must lather for a full 20 seconds, friction all surfaces including thumbs and between fingers, and turn off the faucet with a clean paper towel. Skipping any one of these critical elements ends the skill in failure regardless of how well you perform the other four assigned skills.
The 2026 standard fee for the combined New York Nurse Aide Competency Exam is approximately $115 when you take both the written and clinical sections on the same day at a Regional Test Site. If you split the sections across two visits, expect to pay separate seat fees totaling closer to $135. In-Facility Testing fees are often absorbed by the sponsoring nursing home, especially when you sign an employment commitment of six to twelve months in exchange for free testing and training.
Retake fees are charged per failed section rather than for the entire exam. A written-only retake runs about $40, and a clinical-only retake runs about $90 because of the staffing required for live skill evaluations. New York gives you up to three attempts at each section within your 24-month eligibility window, after which you must restart the full 100-hour training program. Most candidates who fail on the first try pass on the second attempt after targeted review.
Payment is collected by Prometric at the time of scheduling and is generally non-refundable. The exception is a documented medical emergency or a death in the immediate family, both of which require paperwork submitted to Prometric's accommodations team within five business days. Otherwise, a no-show forfeits the entire fee, and a reschedule with less than 30 days notice incurs a $25 administrative charge.
Once you pass both sections, your name is forwarded to the New York State Nurse Aide Registry, typically within ten business days of your last passing score. You can verify your active status at any time using the public registry search on the Department of Health website. Employers are required to check the registry before hiring you, and your name must appear with an active status and no abuse or neglect findings.
The registry credential is good for 24 months. To stay active, you must work at least eight hours for pay performing nurse aide duties in a licensed long-term care facility during each two-year cycle. Working in a hospital or home health setting does not count toward this renewal requirement, which trips up many candidates who take their first job outside the long-term care setting and quietly lose their certification.
If your certification lapses, New York will require you to retake and pass the Prometric exam — but you do not have to repeat the 100-hour training as long as the lapse is less than 24 months. Beyond 24 months, both the training and the testing must be redone, with the same fees and timelines that a brand-new candidate faces. Set a calendar reminder for your renewal date the day your name first appears on the registry.
Salary in New York averages between $39,000 and $52,000 depending on shift, region, and union status, with NYC and Long Island posting the highest hourly rates and many upstate facilities offering signing bonuses to combat staffing shortages. Becoming a CNA is also a recognized pathway into LPN and RN programs, with several SUNY and CUNY nursing schools granting credit for active CNA experience toward their pre-licensure requirements.
The single best predictor of passing the New York Prometric exam on the first attempt is structured practice rather than passive re-reading. Candidates who score above 90% almost universally describe working through hundreds of multiple-choice items, drilling the skills checklist out loud with a study partner, and timing themselves under realistic conditions. The free practice sets linked throughout this guide are designed to match the format and reasoning style of the actual exam, so use them as your benchmark rather than relying on textbook quizzes alone.
For the written section, build a study schedule across three to four weeks rather than cramming in the final 48 hours. Focus heaviest on infection control, resident rights, communication, and safety, which together account for more than half of the 60 questions. Many candidates over-prepare for medical terminology and under-prepare for the soft-skill scenarios, then are surprised by how many questions test whether you would knock before entering or address a resident by their preferred name.
For the clinical section, the most effective technique is to write the critical steps of each of the 22+ skills on index cards and recite them aloud while physically miming the action. Muscle memory matters because the evaluator is watching your sequence, not just the outcome. Pair up with another candidate from your program and grade each other using the published skill checklists, taking turns playing resident and aide so you experience both perspectives.
Time management on the written test is rarely a problem given the 90-minute window, but candidates with reading anxiety should consider the oral format described earlier. Whichever format you choose, read every question and every answer choice fully before marking your response. Prometric writes distractors that are partly correct, and the difference between the best answer and the second-best answer is often a single word like "first" or "before."
On the clinical side, the two universal habits that separate passing candidates from failing ones are knocking and introducing yourself before every skill, and providing privacy by closing the curtain or door. These are not part of the technical skill itself but are scored as part of resident rights and dignity. Forgetting either one will cost you points on every single skill in the rotation, often enough to fail an otherwise perfect performance.
For ESL candidates, practicing the spoken scripts of each skill in English is just as important as practicing the physical motions. Evaluators expect you to verbalize what you are doing — for example, "I am going to take your blood pressure now, please sit comfortably" — and silent execution often reads as unprofessional even when technically perfect. The prometric test center: language expectations are written into the scoring rubric, not just implied.
Finally, give yourself permission to be nervous. Every candidate is, and evaluators see hundreds of test-takers each month. Take a slow breath before each skill, organize your supplies on the bedside table before you begin, and ask the evaluator to clarify any instruction you did not hear clearly — they are allowed to repeat directions once, just not to coach. Confidence projected outward tends to translate into smoother, safer technique inward.
Beyond pure exam prep, a handful of practical logistics make a noticeable difference on test day. Lay out your scrubs, IDs, ATT letter, and watch the night before so the morning is mechanical rather than panicked. If your test starts at 8 a.m., wake by 6 a.m. and arrive at the parking lot by 7:15 a.m. — this gives you a buffer for traffic, a calm 10 minutes in your car, and an unhurried walk to check-in. Showing up out of breath visibly tilts evaluators against you before the first skill begins.
Bring a small high-protein snack and bottled water to leave in your car or assigned locker. The skills section can run 30 to 45 minutes per candidate, and if your slot is later in the morning you may be waiting in a holding area for an hour before your turn. Eating before you enter the exam room, even something as simple as a granola bar, keeps your blood sugar stable and prevents the shaky hands that wreck vital-sign accuracy.
Dress code matters more than candidates expect. Plain, solid-color scrubs in good condition project competence; wrinkled tops, novelty prints, or scrubs that do not fit properly read as careless to evaluators trained to spot infection-control issues. Long hair must be pulled back off the shoulders, fingernails must be short and unpolished, and any jewelry beyond a plain wedding band must be removed before you enter the testing area.
If you have a documented disability, request accommodations at least 30 days before your test date through Prometric's ADA coordinator. Approved accommodations include extended time, separate testing rooms, large-print materials, and assistive listening devices. The process requires recent documentation from a qualified professional, so begin gathering paperwork as soon as you decide to test rather than waiting until you have already scheduled.
After the exam, you will not get an immediate pass/fail result for the clinical section — only the written section is sometimes scored same-day. Clinical results are posted to your Prometric account within 10 business days, and the official letter follows by mail. Do not call to ask for results sooner; the evaluator's scoring sheet has to be processed centrally, and the registry update only happens after both sections are confirmed passing.
If you receive a failing result, the letter will indicate which sections (and on clinical exams, which specific skills) you missed. Use that feedback ruthlessly. The most common failed skills statewide are handwashing, indirect care/safety, and ambulation with a gait belt — drill exactly those for two to three weeks before your retake rather than rebuilding from scratch. Most second-attempt candidates pass when they target their weak spots.
When your active registry number arrives, take a screenshot of the verification page and email it to yourself for safe keeping. Many New York employers ask for proof of certification before your physical card arrives in the mail, and a dated screenshot of the official registry page is universally accepted as interim proof of credential. You are now officially a New York certified nurse aide, ready to begin work in any of the more than 600 licensed long-term care facilities across the state.