Exam Volunteer Opportunities

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN) appreciates your interest in serving on an item development panel. Professionally committed nurses who are currently licensed and employed in the United States, Canada or NCSBN member jurisdictions are needed to assist in developing exam items (or questions). If you are interested in participating, please complete our online application and you will be contacted via e-mail. 

Volunteer Qualifications

  • Currently licensed/registered in the jurisdiction in which you practice
  • Registered nurse (RN) or licensed practical/vocational nurse (LPN/VN/RPN)
  • Employed as an RN or LPN/VN/RPN for at least two years
  • Have not participated in exam development activities for another organization in the previous two years

NCLEX or REx-PN Volunteers

Item Writing and Item Review panels for the NCLEX-RN, NCLEX-PN, and REx-PN examinations are held frequently throughout the year. Panels are three to five days long and held virtually or in Chicago, IL.

To qualify as an item writer you must be currently teaching and supervising undergraduate students in the clinical setting.

To qualify as an item reviewer you must be currently employed in clinical nursing practice in the role of supervising/mentoring/precepting nurses who have entered practice within the last 12 months.

NNAAP or MACE Volunteers

For the NNAAP and MACE examinations, only registered nurses who are currently licensed and employed in the United States or its member jurisdictions qualify to participate in item writing and item review. In addition, you must either currently educate or supervise nurse aides/medication aides.

To Get Started

Please enter your last name and email address below. We will send you a link to verify your email address and then you may start or update your application. 

If you previously submitted an application, please enter the email address you used at that time. If you no longer have access to that email address, please contact us for assistance.


If you have questions or if you have any difficulties completing the application, please contact us at TestDev@ncsbn.org. Thank you.



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