The Vascular Access Board Certified™ or VA-BC™ examination is the standardized measure of the basic knowledge, skills and abilities expected of professionals working in vascular access.
The exam is multiple-choice consisting of 150 questions (125 of these questions are used in computing the score). Each item consists of a question with four (4) possible answers.
You have two and one half (2 ½) hours to take the exam. In addition there is a separate 15 minute tutorial at the beginning of the exam and a separate 15 minute survey following the exam.
The certification exam is available only in English and all references used to develop it are US based and reflective of US clinical practice.
It is offered each year during the entire month of June and the entire month of December.
We currently offer two testing environments for the VA-BC™ Exam:
- Test Centers: in numerous locations across the U.S. and Canada, with varied international sites.
- ProProctor Remotely-proctored Exams:
- Please ensure that your computer passes the system check prior to scheduling your appointment, and that you will have a secure internet connection and testing environment during your remote exam.
- We recommend you schedule your exam at a test center to provide a user-friendly experience and limit testing issues.
- International candidates (outside the U.S. and Canada) may have a testing site operating near them, or they may choose to use ProProctor.
Explore additional details or find a testing center near you.
Review our eligibility requirements to determine if the VA-BC™ is right for you.
The exam questions (items) are based the content outline or blueprint. It details the topics that fall in the scope of the VA-BC™ credential, and you can use it to guide your studying.
The VA-BC™ exam test specifications (Blueprint) are based on a Role Delineation Study, also known as a Job Task Analysis. This type of study is done every 4-5 years to assure that the examination content remains relevant and current to the specialty. The present examination Test Specification is based on a Job Analysis done on 2020.
Refer to the Candidate Certification/Recertification Handbook for complete information about the exam.
Watch an overview of the testing process and get answers to the most common questions about the VA-BC™ exam in this video with VACC staff and former President Dr. J. Hudson Garrett Jr., PhD, MSN, MPH, FNP-BC, CSRN, PLNC, CDONA, FACDONA, VA-BC™.