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The Certified Medical-Surgical Registered Nurse exam from MSNCB is built
on the 2023 blueprint. Here’s the format and how the content is weighted.
Exam format
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Questions | 150 (125 scored, 25 unscored) |
| Time | 3 hours |
| Passing | Scaled standard score of 95 (about 71% correct) |
The five domains
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Patient/Care Management | 32% |
| Nursing Teamwork and Collaboration | 21% |
| Elements of Interprofessional Care | 17% |
| Holistic Patient Care | 15% |
| Professional Concepts | 15% |
What this means for studying
Patient/Care Management is the single biggest slice at 32% — the clinical core of
assessing, planning, and managing common med-surg conditions, medications, and prioritization.
But notice how much of the exam (53%) sits in teamwork, interprofessional care, holistic care,
and professional concepts. The CMSRN tests the whole role, not just pathophysiology.
Unlock 500+ CMSRN practice questions across 4 full-length simulators — $19.99 lifetime →
Sources & references
The exam facts on this page are drawn from official certifying-body materials, reviewed 2026-06-18 by the DrCertifications exam-prep team (10+ years in exam preparation and publishing).