Florida CNA Exam Day Checklist: What to Bring, What Happens in Order, and What to Do If Something Goes Wrong

Who runs your Florida CNA exam day

The Florida Department of Health contracts with Prometric to develop and run the CNA exam. Prometric receives your application, emails your Admission to Test letter, runs the test site and issues your score report. Certification is granted by the Department of Health through the Board of Nursing. So questions about your appointment go to Prometric, and questions about certification go to the Florida Board of Nursing (opens in a new tab).

On the day you will meet site staff and Nurse Aide Evaluators, the nurses who run the skills test. Two of them watch each skills test. None may coach you or discuss your results.

Most candidates sit a written test on computer, which can be taken in audio form if you chose that on your application, and a clinical skills test. Anyone who completed an approved training programme within six months before applying sits the written part only. This guide follows Prometric’s Florida CNA candidate bulletin (opens in a new tab), revised 1 November 2025. For what each part covers and how skills are scored, read what the Florida CNA exam tests.

What to do the week before the CNA exam

ID and name problems can be fixed a week before your exam, but not on the morning. Prometric emails your Admission to Test letter once the Department of Health confirms you are eligible, and the Board says scheduling follows within 7 to 14 business days. If nothing has arrived, check your application status online with your Prometric ID, then contact Prometric.

Accommodations must also be in place already. The audio written test is chosen on your application, not at the site. ADA accommodations need 30 days’ notice, and extra time for candidates whose first language is not English applies only if Prometric approved it before you scheduled. If something is missing, call Prometric now.

• Read your letter in full. Note the date, time, site address and your Prometric ID.
• Compare the name on the letter with your photo ID, letter by letter. It must match exactly.
• Check that both IDs are in date, undamaged and signed.
• If you might need a new date, decide today. At least five full working days ahead, you pay a rescheduling fee; after that, the full exam fee. If your training programme or employer booked the exam at its own facility, the facility reschedules for you.
• Read Prometric’s General Instructions (opens in a new tab) for the skills test.
• Do a trial journey at the same time of day, and find the parking and the entrance.
• Rehearse being the resident with a friend: lie still, move only when asked, and stay quiet.
• In storm season, know how to check whether your site has closed.

What to bring to the CNA exam in Florida

Prometric asks for two things at the door: the Admission to Test letter it emailed you, and two valid pieces of identification. Print the letter, because your phone will be collected before testing.

Your first ID must be current and government-issued, such as a driver’s licence, a state ID card or a military ID card. It must carry a current photo and a legible signature, and the name on it must exactly match your Admission letter. Your second ID must also carry your signature; Prometric gives a Social Security card or a credit card as examples. Every ID must have been signed before test day, and a cracked, torn or tampered card may be refused.

• Admission to Test letter, printed
• Primary ID: current, government-issued, with photo and signature
• Second ID, signed
• A watch with a second hand
• A pen or pencil, your keys and a small wallet, the only belongings allowed into the skills testing room
• Prometric’s phone number, (888) 277-3500, on paper in case you are delayed

What to wear to the CNA skills test

Footwear is the one firm rule. Prometric requires flat, non-skid, closed-toe shoes for the clinical skills test. Scrubs or a uniform are suggested, not required.

The most useful skills test day tips are practical ones. Wear clothes you can bend, kneel and lift in, and that you are comfortable lying on a bed in, because you will move a person and someone may also move you. Tie long hair back, keep nails short and leave rings and bracelets at home so gloves go on easily. Wear a plain watch with a second hand, as Prometric advises. A smartwatch or fitness tracker is likely to be treated as an electronic device, and those are not allowed in the testing area.

How early should you arrive for the CNA exam?

Arrive at least 30 minutes before your appointment. Prometric uses that time to sign you in and check your identification. Late arrivals can be turned away, so allow for traffic, parking and finding the room.

Many Florida test sites are training schools and colleges rather than dedicated test centres. Prometric’s test centre list (opens in a new tab), revised 2 September 2026, includes two sites in Orlando and one in Kissimmee, and your letter names yours. Note the suite or room number before you set off.

Come on your own. Guests, visitors, children and family members are not allowed at the test site, so anyone driving you must wait elsewhere.

Plan for a long day. The written test allows 90 minutes and the skills test 31 to 40 minutes, depending on your skills, but you may also wait while others test and then act as the resident. Prometric publishes no fixed order for the two parts, so follow the staff, and eat before you arrive.

What happens on Prometric test day, in order

Sites differ, but the sequence below follows Prometric’s bulletin and its General Instructions for the skills test. If you know it in advance, nothing in the room should come as a surprise.

1. 1Sign in. Staff check your Admission letter and both IDs.
2. 2Store your belongings. Electronic devices are collected, and bags stay out of the testing area.
3. 3Take the written test, if you are sitting it: 60 multiple-choice questions on computer, answered with a mouse. You do not need computer experience.
4. 4While you wait for the skills test, read the General Instructions sheet you are handed, then give it back to the nurse.
5. 5In the testing room, the evaluator checks your photo ID, has you empty your pockets and shows you round. You can try the equipment and ask about the instructions, and you are told when you will test and when you will play the resident.
6. 6You get a card listing your skills. The evaluator reads the instructions aloud and tells you your time, then lets you review the card. If a skill needs a measurement, you sign for the recording form now. You may look for supplies, but not collect them yet.
7. 7Take your skills test. Handwashing is watched at the start, without a prompt. Do the skills in the order on the card, record any measurement before finishing that skill, and say “I am done” after each one. There are no breaks.
8. 8Act as the resident for another candidate, before or after your own test, whenever the evaluator directs.
9. 9Wait for your score report, keeping your ID to hand in case you are asked to show it.

Test centre rules: what is and is not allowed

Breaking a test-site rule can disqualify your exam, and Prometric reports misconduct to the Board of Nursing. Sessions may be audio or video recorded. Each time you enter the testing room you will be asked to turn your pockets inside out.

Playing the resident for another candidate

In Florida, candidates play the resident for others taking the skills test, sometimes for more than one person. You confirmed on your application that you have no condition that taking part would affect. If an injury, a pregnancy or a food allergy rules out any task below, tell the nurse running the test when you check in.

Be an alert, cooperative resident. Move only when the candidate asks, and speak only to answer their questions. Give no hints through words, gestures or facial expressions: Prometric treats that as cheating, and both of you can be dismissed. Afterwards, do not tell the candidate how they did. If you are ever at risk, the nurse can pause the skill.

The bulletin lists what may be done to you. For the bedpan skill you wear a hospital-style gown over your own clothes.

• Being helped to walk, and moved from the bed into a wheelchair
• Having your pulse and breathing counted
• Having your teeth brushed, and being fed a small snack
• Having the bed linen changed while you lie in bed, and being turned on your side
• Having an arm or leg moved through simple exercises
• Having your nails cleaned and shaped, and one foot washed and moisturised
• Being placed on a bedpan, fully clothed

What if you are late, ill or your ID is refused?

Some problems can be put right on the day; some cannot. The answers below come from Prometric’s bulletin. If your situation is not covered, call Prometric before assuming anything.

When do you get your results, and what happens next?

You normally leave with your results. The written test gives a pass or fail report when you finish, and the skills report is handed to you shortly after your test, unless a technical fault prevents it. Results can still change after review by the Department of Health. Scores are never given by phone.

Within 48 hours, official results appear on Prometric’s score portal (tcnet.prometric.com/flcna), where you log in with the Prometric ID on your letter. For the skills test, the Item Feedback link shows which checkpoints you missed.

After a pass, scores reach the Board of Nursing in about a week. The Board can take four weeks to issue and post your certificate, and joining the public CNA Registry takes three to five weeks after Board approval. Keep your address current with the Board. If a nursing home employs you within 12 months of certification, federal law requires it to pay your training and testing fees, so keep your receipts.

If you fail a part, you reapply to Prometric with a new fee. Under section 464.203 of the Florida Statutes, three unsuccessful attempts mean completing an approved training programme before testing again. After a failed written test you can request a review within 21 days, then wait 30 days after it before booking a retake.

To rehearse the whole day first, including the ID check, timed skills and the resident role, ask about our CNA exam preparation or send us an enquiry. We are at Suite 251, 6100 Lake Ellenor Drive, Orlando, on (407) 606-7964. Jude Health Institute offers examination preparation, not a state-approved training programme, and has no say in eligibility, scheduling or scoring.

Sources

1. 1Prometric — Florida CNA Candidate Information Bulletin (Rev. 11/01/2025) (opens in a new tab)
2. 2Prometric — Nurse Aide Clinical Skills Test General Instructions (opens in a new tab)
3. 3Prometric — Florida Clinical Skills Test Checklist (opens in a new tab)
4. 4Prometric — Florida Nurse Aide Exam Test Center List (Rev. 09/02/2026) (opens in a new tab)
5. 5Florida Board of Nursing — CNA certification by examination: requirements and process (opens in a new tab)
6. 6Florida Board of Nursing — CNA Examination Quick Tips Top 10 (opens in a new tab)
7. 7Florida Board of Nursing — Certified Nursing Assistant FAQs (opens in a new tab)
8. 8Florida Statutes — s. 464.203, certification routes, the oral examination and the three-attempt rule (opens in a new tab)
9. 9Florida Statutes — s. 400.211, nursing assistants employed in nursing homes before certification (opens in a new tab)