About Us
Benefits Of Certification
Certification Verification
Re-cerification
Affiliations
Exam Development
Job Analysis
The NHCWA Job Analysis determines the knowledge and skills that are tested for certification. All of the knowledge and skills must first be verified through an educational process, and must be taught and evaluated by an instructor or preceptor. The testing process serves as a second verification of the acquisition of knowledge and skills, providing an evaluation through a performance assessment and a written exam.
Exam Development /Written questions
The NHCWA retains a consultant to provide assistance in the development of the exams. The consultant is from a research and development firm that serves certification bodies by planning, developing, and administering assessment procedures and programs designed to measure professional competence.
The exam questions are written by the NHCWA Examination Committee specially trained healthcare professionals an expert panel of the NHCWA, practicing healthcare professionals, and educators under the guidance of the consultant to assure comprehensiveness and validity. The exam question pool is updated on a regular basis to reflect current knowledge. Individual questions are modified or deleted based on statistical analysis of the exam.
About Examinations/Format
There is only one (1) examination required for each certification. Each examination consists of 100 multiple-choice questions. Each test question presents the candidate with four (4) options of which only one option is correct. Candidates are permitted a total of 2 hours in which to complete the examination.
NHCWA’S examinations are administered in the following formats:
- Paper and pencil
- School administered, computer-based
- Commercial test center computer-based
What is the passing score? The score is reported on a scale where 70% is the passing score. A scaled score of 70% or higher is passing.
Exam Scoring
The passing score is determined by using the modified Angoff Method, where groups of subject matter experts rate each question on how likely a competent, but entry-level, student would answer it correctly. Based on the assumption that not all competent students will get every question right, but that each question should be clear and relevant enough to be answered correctly by most entry level students, the raters give each question a score based on how many competent students out of 100 would choose the correct answer. These scores are averaged to determine the passing score. This is a standard process used to set passing scores on many certification exams. The NHCWA Board has the final authority to determine the passing score, and may adjust the score upward or downward by one Standard Error of Measurement if they feel that the raters have judged the exam too harshly or leniently.
Because each question has a rating, and each form of the exam contains an assortment of questions from the Item Bank, the raw score (number of correct answers out of 100 questions) may vary slightly for each form of the exam. The forms currently in use have passing raw scores from 77-80, or approximately 80% correct answers. Reporting the score on a scale where 75 is the passing score allows a comparison of the passing or failing scores on different forms of the exam. For example, on an exam where the passing score is 77, a score of 78 would pass. On an exam where the passing score is 80, the score of 78 would not pass. A score below the passing score will be reported as a scaled score of 69 or lower, a score right at the passing score will be reported as a scaled score of 70, and a score above the passing score will be reported as 71 or higher.
About Examinations/Format
There is only one (1) examination required for each certification. Each examination consists of 100 multiple-choice questions. Each test question presents the candidate with four (4) options of which only one option is correct. Candidates are permitted a total of 2 hours in which to complete the examination.
NHCWA’S examinations are administered in the following formats:
- Paper and pencil
- School administered, computer-based
- Commercial test center computer-based