The AOCNP^® Examination tests knowledge which is vital for an oncology nurse to function competently as an oncology nurse practitioner. Advanced oncology nursing certification is a validation of an individual's knowledge in advanced cancer care practice.

Development of the Test
The content of the AOCNP^® Test is based on the AOCNP^® Test Blueprint. The blueprint was developed based on the results of a role delineation study of oncology advanced practice nursing conducted in 2009. The results of this study describe the professional roles and practice behaviors of advanced-level oncology nurses, including those specific to oncology nurse practitioners.

A diverse group of oncology nurses in advanced practice write questions for the AOCNP^® Test. The Advanced Practice Test Development Committee and members of Pearson VUE staff review the questions before inclusion on a test. The committee, with the help of Pearson VUE staff, assembles each form of the test based on the requirements of the blueprint.

Description of the Test
The AOCNP^® Test Blueprint is composed of 11 major subject areas, each with a percentage assigned to it. Each major subject area is represented in every test with the appropriate percentage of questions. However, not all content sub-areas on the AOCNP^® Test Blueprint are included on every form of the test. Candidates will have three hours to complete the test.

Pretest Questions
The test consists of 165 multiple-choice questions. One hundred twenty five of the questions on each test count toward the scoring of the test. The remaining 40 questions are newly developed questions that are being pretested. Candidates do not know which questions make up the scored portion of the test and which are pretest questions.

The purpose of pretesting questions is to determine if they are statistically sound and fair questions. Extensive statistical analyses are performed on each newly developed question to determine how well it "performs." Questions that have poor statistics are not used on future tests. They are either discarded or rewritten and pretested again. Questions that perform well statistically when pretested are added to the total question pool and used on future test forms as questions that count toward scoring.