Nurse Executive, Advanced Certification Examination Content Outline
(formerly Nursing Administration, Advanced)

This is a paper-and-pencil exam

There are 175 questions on this examination. Of these, 150 are scored questions and 25 are nonscored pretest questions. Questions are pretested to determine how well they perform before they are used in the scored portion of the examination. The pretest questions cannot be distinguished from those that will be scored, so it is important that a candidate answer all questions. However, a candidate's score is based solely on the 150 scored questions. Performance on pretest questions does not affect a candidate's score.

This Test Content Outline identifies the areas that are included on the examination. The percentage and number of questions in each of the major categories of the scored portion of the examination are also shown.

Test Content Outline

1. Organization and Structure
   1. Theories
      1. Organizational
      2. Management
      3. Nursing
      4. Change
      5. Role
      6. Leadership
      7. Decision-making
      8. Systems
   2. Mission and philosophy
      1. Purpose
      2. Organizational concepts and models
      3. Framework
      4. Review mechanisms
   3. The planning continuum
      1. Strategic planning
         1. Assessment
         2. Goal setting
         3. Prioritizing
         4. Other issues
      2. Contingency planning
      3. Crisis management/Emergency management
      4. Program planning
   4. Standards
      1. Policies
      2. Procedures
      3. Plan of care
      4. Protocols
      5. Practice (e.g., standards of nursing departments)
      6. Professional criteria
         1. Scope and Standards for Nurse Administrators
         2. Other
   5. Practice environment
      1. Delivery systems/professional practice models (including nursing models)
      2. Governance models
      3. Differentiated practice
      4. Alternative-care settings
      5. Corporate culture and climate
      6. Collaborative practice
      7. Career and clinical ladders
      8. Collaboration and consultation
      9. Work redesign
   6. Institutional environment
      1. Organizational structure
         1. Centralized vs. decentralized
         2. Product line
         3. Matrix
      2. Committee structure
      3. Governing boards
      4. Systems integration
         1. Networks
         2. Management information systems
         3. Support systems
         4. Continuity of care
      5. Restructuring
         1. Internal
         2. External
   7. External environment
      1. Community organizations
      2. Access to care
      3. Community assessment, demographic assessment, and feasibility studies
      4. Community diagnosis and epidemiology
      5. Interagency relationships
      6. Health care industry
      7. National and international factors, connections, outreach and influences
      8. Health care policy
         1. Healthy People 2010: Conference Edition, Vols. I & II (US Public Health Service, 2000)
         2. Guidelines of the US Public Health Service's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
         3. Evidence-based practice reports of the US Public Health Service's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
   8. Physical environment
      1. Structural design and renovation
         1. Participant roles
         2. Occupancy approval
         3. Architectural review
      2. Safety and code requirements
      3. Efficiency
      4. Effects on patients/clients and staff
      5. Interior design and aesthetics
   9. Program evaluation
      1. Program evaluation models
      2. Performance improvement (PI)/continuous quality improvement (CQI)
      3. Patient safety
      4. Outcome criteria
         1. Stakeholder satisfaction
            1. Patient/client and family
            2. Staff and physicians
            3. Payers
         2. Report cards
         3. Benchmarking
         4. Other issues
   10. Research
       1. Conducting research
       2. Utilizing findings/Evidence-based practice
       3. Facilitating research
       4. Writing grants
       5. Protection of human subjects
       6. Ethical conduct
2. Economics
   1. Budget
      1. Types
         1. Revenue
         2. Expense
         3. Capital
         4. Other
      2. Uses
         1. Development
         2. Monitoring
         3. Justifying
         4. Variance analysis
      3. Reports
      4. Computer forecasting
   2. Reimbursement
      1. Prospective payment systems
         1. Diagnosis-related groups (DRGs)
         2. Resource utilization groups/minimum data set (RUGS/MDS)/HHRG
         3. Outcome and Assessment Information Sets (OASIS)
         4. Other
      2. Managed care
         1. Capitated systems
         2. Health maintenance organizations (HMOs), preferred provider organizations (PPOs), medical service organizations (MSOs), and similar organizations
         3. Covered lives
         4. Risk sharing
      3. Traditional third-party payers
         1. Medicare
         2. Medicaid
         3. Indemnity insurance
         4. Other
   3. Cost containment
      1. Case management
      2. Cost-benefit analysis
      3. Critical pathways
      4. Productivity
      5. Patient/client classification
      6. Staff mix
      7. Reduction in staff and services
      8. Resource management
   4. Marketing
      1. Purpose/market share/penetration/mix
      2. Advertising and the media
      3. Surveys
      4. Image building
      5. Public relations
3. Human Resources
   1. Staffing
      1. Recruitment
      2. Retention and turnover
      3. Use of agency personnel
      4. Scheduling
      5. Job analysis
         1. Job descriptions
         2. Role clarification
      6. Patient/client classification analysis
      7. Interviewing
   2. Staff development
      1. Needs assessment
      2. Teaching/learning principles
      3. Orientation
      4. In-service training
      5. Continuing education and professional development
      6. Mentoring, precepting, and coaching
      7. Competence
   3. Management issues
      1. Motivation
      2. Communication
      3. Relationships
         1. Interpersonal
         2. Professional
         3. Team building
         4. Cultural/diversity considerations
      4. Conflict and conflict resolution
      5. Decision making
      6. Recognition
      7. Job satisfaction
      8. Group dynamics
      9. Negotiation
      10. Discipline
      11. Employee assistance programs
      12. Stress management
      13. Personnel policies and procedures
      14. Performance appraisal
          1. Peer review
          2. Management by objectives
          3. Criteria-based objectives
          4. Self-evaluation
          5. Other types
      15. Absenteeism
      16. Job enlargement and enrichment
      17. Management style
      18. Supervision and delegation
4. Ethics
   1. Professional ethics
      1. Values clarification
         1. Cultural diversity
         2. Staff rights
         3. Other issues
      2. Professional integrity
      3. Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements
      4. Confidentiality
      5. Refusal of assignment
   2. Ethics and human values
      1. Patient/client rights
      2. Advocacy
      3. Advance directives
      4. Organ donation and transplants
      5. Pain management
      6. Resource utilization
5. Legal and Regulatory Issues
   1. Federal and state
      1. Federal laws and regulations
         1. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
         2. Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Acts
         3. Patient Self-Determination Act
         4. Americans With Disabilities Act
         5. Fair Labor Standards Act
         6. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
         7. Affirmative action
         8. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
         9. Other
      2. Medicare
      3. Medicaid
      4. State nurse practice acts
      5. Institutional licensure
   2. Labor-management relations
      1. Negotiations
      2. Collective bargaining
      3. Grievance and arbitration
      4. National Labor Relations Act
   3. Accreditation, credentialing and recognition programs
      1. Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)
      2. Magnet Recognition Program^®
      3. Specialty accreditation (e.g., home health, long-term, rehabilitation, substance abuse)
      4. Credentialing
         1. Registration
         2. Licensure
         3. Certification
         4. Other issues
   4. Professional and institutional liability
      1. Insurance
      2. Documentation
      3. Malpractice and negligence
      4. Risk management
      5. Employee impairment
      6. Fraud, abuse, and waste
   5. Politics
      1. Political process
      2. Power
      3. Lobbying
      4. Networking
   6. Contracts and agreements
      1. Types
         1. Service
         2. Educational
         3. Labor
         4. Other
      2. Administration of contracts and agreements

This page last revised 1/24/2007.