Advanced Diabetes Management Field Test

For those who have earned the BC-ADM credential:

The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) requests your participation in a field test of newly written and edited items for the Advanced Diabetes Management examination. The field test will take place on Saturday, October 18, 2008.

About the field test

ANCC’s field test is an invitation-only, 175-item, paper & pencil test to be completed within a 3 ½-hour testing period. The purpose of the field test is to evaluate newly written test questions to ensure their acceptable statistical properties before they are used as scored items on future Advanced Diabetes Management examinations.

Participants will not receive scores, pass/fail notifications, or an ANCC credential. No preparation is required for the field test; however, participants are expected to make an honest effort to respond forthrightly to each item on the test.

Eligibility

  1. Nurses who have passed the ANCC Advanced Diabetes Management examination  or    
  2. Nurses whose scores from the previous Advanced Diabetes Management examination were slightly lower than the passing score standard

Benefits

Depending on the field test taker’s certification status on the day prior to the field test date (i.e., October 17, 2008), either 15 contact hours or a $25 fee reduction will be issued approximately 2 months after the field test date.

  1. For nurses who have passed the ANCC Advanced Diabetes Management examination by the day before the field test date (i.e., certified before or on October 17, 2008):  A reduction of 15 CE hours will be granted for use toward the next certification renewal for Advanced Diabetes Management (i.e., not for any other specialty examinations offered by ANCC).
  2. For nurses who have not passed the ANCC Advanced Diabetes Management examination by the day before the field test date (i.e., not certified before or on October 17, 2008):  A $25.00 fee reduction will be granted for use toward their registration to take the Advanced Diabetes Management examination by December 31, 2009. Participating in the field test also helps these nurses gain familiarity with the type of items that will appear on the new Advanced Diabetes Management examination.

Please be aware that if a candidate is not certified in Advanced Diabetes Management before or on October 17, 2008, s/he will not qualify for the 15 CE hours, even if s/he becomes certified on or after October 18, 2008.

Registration process

ANCC’s field test registration is completed on the Internet.

Please ensure that you are able to participate on the day of the field test before registering for the field test. Once the registration file is transmitted to the testing vendor, ANCC bears the full financial burden of each seat reserved for the field test registrants, and cancelled seats cannot be assigned to other people who are interested in taking the field test.

The list of the cities, where the field test will be administered, is available on the registration Web page. However, the exact location of the test site is not determined until approximately 2 to 3 weeks prior to the test date. Please note: Compensation for hotel accommodations and travel arrangements will not be provided.

To register:

  1. Go to address: http://www.nursecredentialing.org/fieldtest  (Please note: You will need your ANCC ID number to login.)
  2. Click Advanced Diabetes Management
  3. On the entry screen, type your 10-digit ANCC ID number in the box and click Next
  4. On the next screen, enter the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number and click Next
  5. Fill out all the boxes and select your choice of the test site city
  6. After filling out all the boxes, click Finish

The testing vendor determines the exact locations of the test sites approximately 2 to 3 weeks prior to the field test date. Admission tickets, indicating the exact location of the test sites, will be mailed to the registrants approximately 2 weeks prior to the test date.

The deadline for the field test registration is Thursday, August 21, 2008. Please note that no late registrations will be accepted. ANCC will accept the first 260 field test registrants. When your registration is processed, you will receive a confirmation via e-mail.

Admission ticket

Admission tickets will be mailed by the testing vendor to the registrants approximately 2 weeks prior to the field test date. The ticket indicates the registrant’s name, address, identification number, examination name and code, ID requirements, and the exact address where the field test will be administered. Your admission ticket will be valid only for the field test, on the field test date, and at the test site for which it is issued. If you do not receive the admission ticket by Wednesday, October 15, 2008; if you misplace the ticket; or if the candidate name, address, or examination listed on the ticket is incorrect, please immediately notify Chie Ohba, Ph.D. at chie.ohba@ana.org.

Admission to the field test

On the field test date, you must bring to the test site your admission ticket, along with two (2) valid forms of identification, one of which must include your photograph and signature (e.g., a driver's license, a passport). A social security card is not acceptable for identification. The names on both IDs and on the admission ticket must match exactly. YOU WILL NOT BE ADMITTED TO THE FIELD TEST UNLESS YOU FULFILL THESE ID REQUIREMENTS.

On the field test day:  Saturday, October 18, 2008

  1. Candidates must arrive no later than 7:30 AM. Since the time needed to complete the admission procedure varies, depending on the size of the candidate group at each site, the exact starting time for the test cannot be stipulated. However, the test will begin as soon as all candidates are registered. No candidates will be admitted once the examination has begun. At each site, proctors will follow specific instructions on the procedures in the registration and administration of the field test. These procedures are necessary to ensure that only registered candidates will be allowed to enter the examination room, and that the examination security will be maintained.
  2. Total testing time is 3 ½ hours. This does not include the time set aside for the registration and instructions. However, time is not intended to be a factor in the examination. Most examinees find that they have sufficient time to respond to all questions. You are advised to carefully proceed through the field test items and not to spend an inordinate amount of time on individual questions, until you have had an opportunity to respond to every question. If you complete the test prior to the last 15 minutes of the testing time, you may leave the testing room. However, if you finish after the 15-minute warning is given, you must remain in the testing room until the end of the testing period and all the materials have been collected and counted.

For more information, please contact Chie Ohba, Ph.D. at chie.ohba@ana.org.