We are excited to announce that Washington’s nursing assistant testing will resume in counties that are in Phase 2 or higher, effective the week of August 10, 2020.

In relation to COVID-19 and an interest in safe and efficient testing of candidates, here are some important changes to know about:

• Testing that resumes during the week of August 10 will begin with administration of the skills portion of the exam only. Testing for the written (or oral) exam will resume a few weeks later in a computer-based testing (CBT) format at Pearson’s third-party testing centers. This change has several advantages:
  • Candidates will be able to schedule specific time slots for their skills exam, which will mean that fewer candidates will be on site at one time and they will be able to plan on a more focused time-frame for testing.
  • By removing the two hours previously allotted for the written (or oral) test at the start of the testing day, more skills testing slots can be slated for each day.
  • Because social distancing is necessary for the written (or oral) exam, using Pearson’s third-party testing centers for computer-based testing increases overall capacity for test-taker volume.
• About a month after computer-based testing at third-party Pearson test centers is launched, a new option for computer-based testing—called “OnVUE” will be launched, enabling candidates to take the computer-based written (or oral) exam from flexible alternate locations, such as their own homes. This will facilitate improved access for those in remote areas where testing centers are less plentiful.
• Pearson VUE has worked to develop safety protocols for testing in alignment with Washington’s Phase 2 guidance. They have provided notification to all test centers, evaluators, and candidates. Review information about the new testing protocols.

Please know that with these changes to testing, existing testing appointments will need to be canceled to accommodate scheduling skills and written (or oral) testing separately as described. Pearson VUE has reached out to test sites and candidates to notify them and provide information about next steps.

Pearson VUE will continue to monitor government guidance and notifications from public health officials and will make adjustments if conditions change so that testing services can be safely implemented for candidates, evaluators, and test center staff.

Questions?

Contact:

Laura Hofmann, MSN, RN
Director of Clinical and Nursing Facility Regulatory Services

 c: 360-691-9281