DOH exam for registered nurses

Facts last verified 5 October 2026.

A nursing diploma leads to a different title from Registered Nurse. Check which title the Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DOH) approves before choosing your exam.

Is this the right paper for you?

This paper is for Registered Nurse. A GNM or other nursing diploma leads to a different title.

  • For Registered Nurse, you need a nursing bachelor’s from at least 3 years of full-time study (PQR).
  • There is no minimum experience rule for Registered Nurse. Practice-gap rules still apply.
  • A nursing diploma of at least 18 months leads to Assistant Nurse. No minimum experience; practice-gap rules apply. You work under a registered nurse.
  • Distance and correspondence nursing awards do not count. For a bridging degree, ask DOH to assess your whole education.
  • NCLEX or a qualifying listed-country licence may remove the exam requirement. Ask DOH to confirm the conditions before booking.

Ask DOH about the pass mark

Format at a glance

150 questions. Time: 3 hours. Pass mark: Not published.

Delivered by Pearson VUE.

What the paper covers

We did not find published section weights for the DOH paper for nurses. ProMCQ's mock papers use the published Qatar DHP blueprint for nurses as practice targets. These are not DOH's own weights. Each mock includes national-topic content, so its final question shares can differ slightly from these targets.

  • Nursing Fundamentals (20%): Assess patients and vital signs. Prevent infection, treat wounds and pressure sores and give medicines safely. Spot the need for urgent help.
  • Adult Nursing (40.7%): Spot adults getting worse. Spot complications after surgery, diabetes, heart failure, lung disease and high-alert drugs.
  • Maternal-Child Nursing (29.3%): Care for mothers before, during and after birth. Check newborns and sick children, including weight-based doses.
  • Unit Management and Leadership (10%): Decide which tasks to delegate and which patient needs help first. Revise handover, incident reports and staff needs.

Sample questions

Eight original practice questions from the DOH nurses bank. They are written to the paper's style, not taken from the live exam. Pick an answer to see the key and explanation.

  1. During intake, the nurse documents histories from clients reporting episodic finger color changes triggered by cold or emotional stress. Which documented history most strongly supports primary Raynaud's disease?

    1. A 24-year-old woman with cold-triggered episodes and no tissue injury
    2. A 52-year-old woman with new asymmetric episodes and tissue injury
    3. A 19-year-old man with severe asymmetric episodes and tissue injury
    4. A 46-year-old woman with new severe episodes and tissue injury
    Answer

    A. Primary Raynaud's disease most often affects young women, typically presenting in the teens to twenties, with episodes triggered by cold or emotional stress. Later onset, severe or asymmetric symptoms, and tissue injury instead raise concern for secondary Raynaud's.

  2. Which timing is a WHO hand-hygiene moment?

    1. After touching patient surroundings
    2. Before body-fluid exposure occurs
    3. After an aseptic procedure begins
    4. Before touching patient surroundings
    Answer

    A. The five moments include hand hygiene after touching the patient's surroundings. The other choices reverse the required before-or-after timing.

  3. A 3-year-old has resumed normal arm use after a trained clinician performs reduction. The nurse reviews findings that warrant another evaluation. Which statement by the parent indicates that teaching was effective?

    1. "New swelling needs further evaluation."
    2. "Persistent nonuse is expected for days."
    3. "Point tenderness confirms successful reduction."
    4. "Visible deformity can be watched overnight."
    Answer

    A. Swelling, bruising, deformity, point tenderness, an atypical mechanism, or persistent nonuse suggests fracture or another injury rather than uncomplicated nursemaid's elbow.

  4. After pressure increase still produces no chest rise, which action comes next?

    1. Insert an alternative airway
    2. Reopen the newborn's mouth
    3. Return to sniffing position
    4. Repeat mouth-and-nose suction
    Answer

    A. If increased pressure still does not produce chest movement, the next MR SOPA correction is an alternative airway such as a laryngeal mask or endotracheal tube.

  5. Worry about everything for seven months with tension, irritability, and poor sleep suggests what?

    1. Posttraumatic stress disorder
    2. Specific phobia
    3. Acute stress disorder
    4. Generalized anxiety disorder
    Answer

    D. Generalized anxiety disorder involves difficult-to-control worry about multiple events or activities more days than not for at least six months, with impairment and at least three associated symptoms in adults.

  6. An adult patient with several bruises arrives with a partner who answers most questions. How should the nurse begin the safety assessment?

    1. Interview the patient alone
    2. Interview the couple together
    3. Interview with a family member
    4. Interview through the partner
    Answer

    A. The nurse should speak with the patient privately, with the partner, family members, and friends outside the room. Privacy gives the patient a safer opportunity to answer direct questions about harm, threats, control, and safety at home.

  7. What is the untreated HIV risk per percutaneous exposure to infected blood?

    1. About 0.23%
    2. About 0.09%
    3. About 1.8%
    4. About 7%
    Answer

    A. Without PEP, the estimated average HIV transmission risk after percutaneous exposure to HIV-infected blood is approximately 0.23%. The corresponding mucous membrane estimate is approximately 0.09%. Risk increases with factors such as a deep injury and a blood-filled hollow-bore needle.

  8. A 77-year-old woman with severe vision loss is admitted to a single room. She is alert and able to press buttons. Nurse Rasha has oriented her to the room and is about to leave. Which action BEST ensures she can summon help from bed?

    1. Call light placed on bedside table
    2. Bed moved within sight of station
    3. Glasses on before nurse leaves
    4. Call light in reach, use confirmed
    Answer

    D. For bedside orientation of a patient with vision impairment, the call light is placed within reach and the nurse confirms that the patient knows how to use it before leaving.

Full papers in the real format

10 timed mock papers of 150 questions each, built to the weights above. No question repeats across papers.

How to prepare

  • Our suggested approach: name the patient at greatest risk. Practise safe delegation.
  • Practise adult and paediatric doses and infusion rates. Use a screen calculator.
  • DOH gives 72 seconds per question. ProMCQ mocks have 150 questions in 150 minutes, so their pace is faster.
  • Revise UAE law, the health system, insurance, screening and national programmes.

Licensing steps

  1. Check eligibility: DOH licence requirements.
  2. Book the exam: DOH fees and booking.
  3. Get your result: DOH results and next steps.

Frequently asked questions

What is the DOH nursing pass mark?

DOH sets the pass mark internally. Its catalogue gives no percentage. TAMM shows pass or fail with no score.

Can NCLEX exempt a nurse from the DOH exam?

A valid NCLEX pass is a PQR route. Ask DOH to confirm it under DOH licence requirements. Verification and licensing still apply.

Which books should you use for the DOH nursing exam?

We did not find an official full reading list. Send study-material questions to exam@doh.gov.ae.

Can an Assistant Nurse upgrade to Registered Nurse?

You can apply after earning a bachelor’s. Your assistant experience must be no more than 5 years. Approval is not automatic.

Sources

Facts last verified 2026-10-05.

  1. Licensing Service Catalogue and Licensing Procedural Manual (Circular 151/2024), Department of Health Abu Dhabi
  2. Unified Healthcare Professional Qualification Requirements, April 2025, MOHAP, DOH, DHA and SHA
  3. Unified Healthcare Professional Qualification Requirements, April 2025, MOHAP, DOH, DHA and SHA
  4. Arrival and taking the exam (DOH programme), Pearson VUE