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PNLE Table of Specifications

The PNLE TOS, explained.

What each subject covers and how many of its 100 items each topic gets, from PRC's official tables

New since November 2025. This is the Enhanced TOS from Board of Nursing Resolution No. 10, s. 2025, replacing the 2006 and 2017 tables. Tap any topic to see what PRC lists under it and where to study it.

Nursing Practice I

Community Health Nursing

Care of Individuals, Families, Population Groups and Community (Community Health Nursing)

Part A: Care in the community80 items

Part B: Health education and research20 items

Tested inside community situations that also check evidence-based practice, laws and ethics, communication, records, teamwork, leadership, technology in care and the nursing core values.

How the 100 items test you

  • 10Remembering
  • 10Understanding
  • 50Applying
  • 10Analyzing
  • 10Evaluating
  • 10Creating

Nursing Practice II

Mother, Child and Adolescent

Care of Mother and Adolescent (Well Clients), At Risk or With Problems; Human Growth and Development; Care of the Well and At-Risk Neonate, Infant, Toddler, Pre-school, School-age Child and Adolescent (Acute and Chronic)

Part A: Mother and adolescent50 items

Part B: Growth, development and the child50 items

How the 100 items test you

  • 15Remembering
  • 15Understanding
  • 24Applying
  • 25Analyzing
  • 11Evaluating
  • 10Creating

Nursing Practice III

Medical-Surgical, Part 1

Care of Clients with Problems in Surgery, Oxygenation, Fluid and Electrolytes, Infectious, Inflammatory and Immunologic Response, Cellular Aberrations (Acute and Chronic)

Part A: Safe patient care80 items

Part B: Health education and quality improvement20 items

How the 100 items test you

  • 10Remembering
  • 20Understanding
  • 50Applying
  • 14Analyzing
  • 6Evaluating
  • 0Creating

Nursing Practice IV

Medical-Surgical, Part 2

Care of Clients with Problems in Nutrition and Gastro-Intestinal, Metabolism and Endocrine, Perception and Coordination (Acute and Chronic)

Part A: Safe patient care80 items

  • Nutrition and gastrointestinal disturbances25 items

    PRC splits these items into 5 that test knowledge and 20 that test patient care.

    What PRC lists

    • Malnutrition, including obesity
    • Oral and esophageal disorders
    • Absorption and elimination: intestinal motility, malabsorption syndrome, structural and obstructive bowel disorders

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    Malnutrition · Oral & Esophageal / Gastric Disorders · GI Absorption & Elimination · Ostomies

  • Metabolism and endocrine25 items

    PRC splits these items into 5 that test knowledge and 20 that test patient care.

    What PRC lists

    • Metabolic disorders of the liver, biliary tract and pancreas (diabetes mellitus)
    • Endocrine hypo-function and hyper-function: thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal and pituitary glands

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    Hepatobiliary Disorders · Diabetes Mellitus · Endocrine Emergencies Summary · Thyroid Disorders · Parathyroid Disorders · Adrenal Gland Disorders · Pituitary Gland Disorders · ADH Disorders

  • Perception and coordination disturbances30 items

    PRC splits these items into 5 that test knowledge and 25 that test patient care.

    What PRC lists

    • Neurologic: multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, myasthenia gravis, cerebrovascular accidents, Alzheimer disease and dementia, traumatic lesions, neuropathies, peripheral nerve and spinal cord diseases
    • Musculoskeletal: trauma, metabolic bone disorders, infections, occupation-related disorders, casts, splints and braces
    • Vision: cataract, glaucoma, retinal detachment, ocular and orbital trauma, infections and inflammation, effects of systemic disease
    • Hearing and balance: conditions of the external, middle and inner ear

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    Neuroanatomy & Assessment Basics · Increased Intracranial Pressure (IICP) · Cerebrovascular Accident (Stroke) · Parkinson's Disease · Multiple Sclerosis (MS) · Myasthenia Gravis (MG) · Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) · Autonomic Dysreflexia · Alzheimer's Disease & Dementia · Seizure Disorders · Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) · Peripheral Neuropathies · Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) · Musculoskeletal Review & Interventions · Musculoskeletal Trauma · Metabolic Bone Disorders · Inflammatory & Infectious Bone/Joint Disorders · Spinal & Other MSK Conditions · Eye Anatomy, Assessment & Refractive Disorders · Glaucoma & Cataract · Retinal Detachment & Macular Degeneration · Other Eye Conditions & Surgery Care · Ear Anatomy, Assessment & Hearing Loss · Ear Disorders & Surgery Care

Part B: Education, teamwork, records and growth20 items

How the 100 items test you

  • 10Remembering
  • 10Understanding
  • 33Applying
  • 31Analyzing
  • 13Evaluating
  • 3Creating

Nursing Practice V

Medical-Surgical, Part 3

Care of Clients with Maladaptive Patterns of Behavior (Acute and Chronic); Care of Clients with Life-Threatening Conditions, Acutely Ill/Multi-Organ Problems, High Acuity and Emergency Situations

Part A: Safe patient care80 items

  • Concepts of mental health and mental illness20 items

    What PRC lists

    • The state of mental health in the Philippines and the mental health care delivery system (5 items)
    • Psychobiologic bases of behavior: neuroscience, patterns of human behavior, global and regional perspectives
    • Therapeutic models: psychoanalytic, developmental (Erikson), interpersonal (Sullivan, Peplau), cognitive (Piaget, Beck), cognitive therapy, stress models (5 items)
    • Understanding stress: acute and long-term effects, general adaptation syndrome, measuring stress and coping
    • Psychopathology: psychoses, anxiety, mood, personality, cognitive, eating, sexual and substance-related disorders, disorders of childhood and adolescence, domestic violence (10 items)

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    Foundations of Mental Health Nursing · Therapeutic & Stress Models · Anxiety & Anxiety-Related Disorders · Trauma-Related Disorders · Mood Disorders · Schizophrenia & Other Psychoses · Personality Disorders · Eating Disorders · Substance Use Disorders · Cognitive & Other Psychiatric Disorders

  • The nursing process in psychiatric and mental health care30 items

    What PRC lists

    • Assessment: subjective and objective data (5 items)
    • Nursing diagnosis: NANDA taxonomy, DSM-IV and DSM-5 (5 items)
    • The nurse-client relationship: orientation, working and termination stages (5 items)
    • Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP): depression, PTSD, psychosis, epilepsy and seizures, intellectual disability, suicide (5 items)
    • Treatment modalities: ECT, complementary and alternative therapy, psychotherapies, behavioral, cognitive, milieu, art, dance and music, and attitude therapies, psychopharmacology (antipsychotics, anxiolytics, antidepressants, lithium and mood stabilizers), nutrition and diet therapy (5 items)
    • Evaluation of care: outcome-based (5 items)

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    Psychiatric Assessment & Symptomatology · Therapeutic Communication & Relationship · Crisis Intervention · Somatic & Behavioral Therapies · Psychopharmacology

  • Acute biologic crisis: life-threatening and emergency situations30 items

    What PRC lists

    • Altered ventilatory function: pulmonary embolism, ARDS, acute lung injury, respiratory failure, ventilator-associated pneumonia, respiratory pandemics, pulmonary hypertension, pneumothorax (5 items)
    • Altered tissue perfusion: acute ischemic heart disease, heart failure, cardiogenic shock, coronary artery disease, hypertensive crisis, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias (5 items)
    • Altered elimination: acute GI bleeding, intra-abdominal hypertension, abdominal compartment syndrome, liver failure, acute pancreatitis, diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperglycemia, hyperosmolar non-ketotic acidosis, acute renal failure (5 items)
    • Altered perception: traumatic alterations, acute ischemic stroke, spinal cord injury, seizures (5 items)
    • Multi-system problems: shock, SIRS, multi-organ dysfunction syndrome (5 items)
    • High acuity and emergencies: airway, breathing, circulation; head injury and stroke; heat, submersion, poisoning, drowning, diving and lightning injuries (5 items)

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    Altered Ventilatory Function · Altered Tissue Perfusion · Altered Elimination · Altered Perception · Multi-System Problems (Shock & Sepsis) · High Acuity & Emergency Situations

Part B: Communication, records, teamwork, equipment20 items

How the 100 items test you

  • 14Remembering
  • 18Understanding
  • 46Applying
  • 17Analyzing
  • 5Evaluating
  • 0Creating

The six thinking levels

PRC sorts every item by the kind of thinking it asks for

Take it with you

The PNLE TOS on one page: the five Nursing Practice subjects and how many items each topic gets
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Questions students ask

What is the PNLE TOS?+

The Table of Specifications is the Board of Nursing's official list of what each PNLE subject covers, how many of its 100 items each topic gets, and how many items test each thinking level. PRC requires every exam item to come from it.

Is this the TOS for the coming PNLE?+

It is the TOS adopted in Board of Nursing Resolution No. 10, s. 2025, which applies from the November 2025 exam onward and stays in force until the Board issues a new one. We last compared this page with PRC's PDF on 1 November 2026.

How many items is the PNLE?+

500 items: 5 Nursing Practice subjects of 100 items each.

What score do I need to pass?+

A general average of at least 75%, with no subject rated below 60% (Republic Act 9173, the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002, Section 15).

What changed from the old TOS?+

It replaces Resolution No. 18 (s. 2006) and Resolution No. 11 (s. 2017). It is aligned with the Philippine Qualifications Framework (Level 6), and for each subject it sets how many items test each thinking level, from Remembering to Creating.

Where can I download the official TOS?+

From the PRC website. The links to the Resolution and to Annex A (the tables themselves) are in the Sources section of this page.

Sources

Numbers copied from PRC's tables as printed. Last compared with PRC's PDF on 1 November 2026.

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