The questions on the Self-Assessment Examinations (SAE) have been carefully developed so that meaningful feedback can be provided to you. Although the actual certification examinations include more items, the SAE conforms to the specifications of the certification examinations in terms of content, as well as expected difficulty level. In other words, while the content coverage is not as broad, the examinations are intended to sample the domain of knowledge required of an acute/critical care nurse. In terms of the difficulty level of the SAE, many of the items have not been used on an examination, so the actual difficulty level is not known. However, the SAE was developed by some of the same content experts who develop the certification examinations.
Once you select an answer you will receive feedback and explanations about why the response you selected was right or wrong. Once you select an answer, you cannot change it. You may use references prior to answering.
When you have completed the examination, you will be given options to either return later or to score your examination. If you select the option to score your examination [Finish], you will no longer be able to access your test. When you decide to finish, you will be able to display your overall results, but you will no longer have access to your answers, or the explanations. After you have displayed the summary reports, an e-mail message will be sent to you with the results.
When you review the report, note that the number of items within each content category is quite small, and these scores would not provide an accurate prediction about your examination performance in each category. Your total score is more stable than each content category, but you should recognize that the total score could be affected by many factors.
Copyright laws protect the examination and all other aspects of the SAE process; you may not print or reproduce these materials for anyone else. You may retain your summary report for your own study purposes, but you must not divulge examination items or share explanations with anyone.
