Checked 25 September 2026. The reference list is NHRA's (v1.0); the plan and time split are ours, because NHRA publishes no blueprint.
NHRA publishes no blueprint or question count for nurses in the documents we read, but it does publish something useful: an official list of nine reference books for the Bahrain Nursing Licensure Examination. NHRA says the list comes from the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, is "a study guide only" and that questions may not come solely from it — but it shows the ground the exam covers: fundamentals, medical-surgical nursing, perioperative care, maternal-newborn nursing and care planning. This guide turns that list into an eight-week plan, with an hours planner, a tracker and advice on pacing 2½ hours.
NHRA references (v1.0); Prometric NHRA page; NHRA exam guide; SCH 29/2020.
NHRA's official reference list
| Book (as NHRA lists it) | Area |
|---|---|
| Olds' Maternal-Newborn Nursing & Women's Health Across the Lifespan, 9th ed. (Davidson) | Maternal and newborn |
| Student Workbook and Resource Guide for Olds' Maternal-Newborn Nursing | Maternal and newborn practice |
| NCLEX-RN Maternal-Neonatal Nursing Made Incredibly Easy (Lippincott) | Maternal and newborn review |
| All-In-One Care Planning Resource, 3rd ed. (Swearingen) | Care planning |
| Lippincott Manual of Nursing Practice, 9th ed. | General practice |
| Nursing Assistant: A Nursing Process Approach, 10th ed. (Hegner, Acello & Caldwell) | Basic care |
| Care of the Patient in Surgery, 14th ed. (Rothrock) | Perioperative |
| Fundamentals of Nursing: Standards and Practice, 4th ed. (Delmar) | Fundamentals |
| Brunner & Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing, 12th ed. | Medical-surgical |
From NHRA's "Bahrain Nursing Licensure Examination References" (v1.0). The "Area" column is ours. Midwives have their own list (Myles Textbook for Midwives).
The list does not tell you the exam's weighting, but it shows where NHRA looks. Three of the nine titles are on maternal-newborn nursing and one on medical-surgical nursing — Brunner & Suddarth, the standard text for adult care; the rest cover fundamentals, care planning, perioperative care and basic nursing care. Our reading: give adult medical-surgical nursing the largest share (it is the broadest clinical area) and maternal-newborn the next.
From the reference list to topics
| Area | Study (our list) |
|---|---|
| Fundamentals | Assessment and vital signs, hygiene, mobility and pressure care, nutrition and elimination, pain, documentation, communication |
| Medical-surgical | Cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, endocrine, gastrointestinal, neurological and musculoskeletal nursing; fluid and electrolytes |
| Perioperative | Pre-operative preparation, asepsis and the sterile field, positioning, safety checks, post-operative care and complications |
| Maternal-newborn | Antenatal care, labour and birth, postnatal care, newborn assessment and feeding, obstetric emergencies |
| Care planning | The nursing process — assessment, diagnosis, planning, intervention, evaluation — and prioritisation |
| Across all areas | Pharmacology and drug calculations, infection prevention, patient safety, ethics and scope of practice |
Our breakdown of the reference areas into study topics. Paediatrics, critical care and emergencies are not titles on the list; we include them because they appear in NHRA's scope-of-practice framework and in any registered-nurse role. NHRA's "Scope of Nursing and Midwifery Practice" framework is also useful for questions on accountability and delegation.
Plan your hours
NHRA nursing exam hours planner
Choose your likely exam day and how many hours a week you can study. The planner counts the weeks left from today and splits your total hours across the paper.
Pick a target date — the exam is booked when NHRA sends your eligibility code, so these are examples. The split is our preparation allocation built on the reference list, not an official weighting.
An 8-week plan
| Week | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Baseline timed set; fundamentals — assessment, vital signs, hygiene, mobility, documentation |
| 2 | Medical-surgical: cardiovascular and respiratory |
| 3 | Medical-surgical: renal, endocrine, gastrointestinal, neurological |
| 4 | Perioperative care; infection control; first full timed mock |
| 5 | Maternal and newborn: antenatal, labour, postnatal, newborn care |
| 6 | Paediatrics, pharmacology and drug calculations; care planning |
| 7 | Two timed mocks; revise the weakest area from your error log |
| 8 | Light revision; exam logistics — eligibility code, Prometric booking, ID |
Our plan. With less time, keep the order but shorten each block; with more, stretch weeks 2–3 and 5. Book the exam only once week 7's mocks are comfortably above the pass mark.
NHRA exam tracker
Tick a study area when a timed practice set on it goes well, and the readiness items as you complete them. Progress is kept on this device only.
0 of 15 done
Ticks are saved only in this browser on this device.
Pacing 2½ hours
With no published question count, plan around time rather than a number: a first pass answering everything you know, marking the rest; a second pass on the marked questions; and the last fifteen minutes to make sure nothing is left blank (no negative marking is stated, but none is ruled out either — so answer what you can reason out). Build this rhythm in your mocks, because pacing is a habit you build before the day, not on it.
Our suggestion for a 150-minute exam.
A week for a working nurse
| Day | Study (about 1½–2 hours) |
|---|---|
| Monday | Read one reference chapter; make a one-page summary |
| Tuesday | 40 timed MCQs on Monday's topic; log every wrong answer |
| Wednesday | Second chapter; drug calculations drill (15 minutes) |
| Thursday | 40 timed MCQs; review the error log |
| Friday | Rest or light reading |
| Saturday | Mixed 60-question set across all areas, timed |
| Sunday | From week 4: a full 2½-hour timed mock |
Our routine for shift workers — five sessions of 1½–2 hours plus the Sunday mock, about 10–12½ hours a week. Swap days around your roster; keep the mix of reading, timed practice and review.
Using the books well
Nine books are a library, not a reading list. Use Brunner & Suddarth as the spine for adult nursing and Olds' for maternal-newborn, dip into Rothrock for perioperative questions and the care-planning resource for nursing-process questions, and keep the Lippincott manual as a quick reference. Read with a question in mind — "what would a nurse do first?" — because, in our experience of licensure-style questions, priorities and safe actions matter more than recalling a definition. After each chapter, do timed questions on it the same week; a chapter read but never tested is the one that fails you on the day.
Mistakes to avoid
Where candidates lose attempts
- Studying from a coaching-site "blueprint" instead of the official reference areas.
- Neglecting maternal-newborn nursing, which has three of the nine reference titles.
- Sitting before you are ready — four attempts in three years is the whole allowance for non-Bahrainis.
- Letting the eligibility code expire (Prometric says it lasts up to four months).
- Forgetting to upload the result to Mehan after the exam.
One more point on the books: the editions NHRA lists are old — Brunner & Suddarth's 12th edition, for example — because the list itself dates from 2017. Use the current edition of each title; nursing practice changes and current editions reflect it.
Practise it, don't just read it
Timed topic quizzes are the quickest way to see whether a reference area has stuck.
The ProSyllabus NHRA nursing library has topic quizzes for Fundamentals of Nursing, Medical-Surgical Nursing (two quizzes), Pharmacology, Maternal and Child Health, Critical Care and Emergency, Infection Prevention and Professional Practice and Bahrain Health Regulations — the first one is free.
Which books are recommended for the NHRA nursing exam?
NHRA lists nine, including Brunner & Suddarth's Medical-Surgical Nursing, Olds' Maternal-Newborn Nursing, the Lippincott Manual of Nursing Practice, Rothrock's Care of the Patient in Surgery and Delmar's Fundamentals of Nursing.
Is there an official NHRA exam syllabus?
No blueprint is published. NHRA offers a reference list, which it calls a study guide and not the sole source of questions, and its scope-of-practice framework is also useful.
How should I prepare for the NHRA nursing exam?
Cover the reference areas — fundamentals, medical-surgical, perioperative, maternal-newborn and care planning — with timed practice, giving medical-surgical nursing the most time.
How long should I prepare for the NHRA exam?
It depends on your experience and hours; our plan assumes about eight weeks of steady study, and the eligibility code gives up to four months to book.
Should I use the latest edition of the NHRA reference books?
Yes. NHRA's list dates from 2017 and names older editions; current editions reflect current practice.
Are NHRA exam questions from the reference books only?
No. NHRA says questions "may not necessarily be taken solely from these references".
What is the pass mark I should aim for?
NHRA's guide sets 50% for nursing (Prometric's page says 60%); aim well above both in your mocks.
Is there a separate reference list for midwives in Bahrain?
Yes. NHRA's midwifery list names Myles Textbook for Midwives; ambulance nurses have their own list covering ACLS, BLS, PALS and paramedic texts.
What do NHRA exam questions focus on?
NHRA publishes no blueprint. Practising prioritisation and safe-action questions ("what would the nurse do first") across all the reference areas is our suggestion.
Do I need to buy all nine NHRA reference books?
No. Use them as a map of the areas; one strong text per area — Brunner & Suddarth for adult nursing, a maternal-newborn text, a fundamentals text — plus timed practice covers the ground.
How many practice questions should I do for the NHRA exam?
NHRA sets no number; aim for timed sets on every area weekly and at least two full 2½-hour mocks before the exam.
Can I prepare for the NHRA exam while working night shifts?
Yes — plan around time rather than days: shorter reading sessions, timed MCQ sets on rest days and a full mock once a week from the fourth week.
More in this series
- NHRA Bahrain nursing exam: pattern, pass mark, attempts
- NHRA nurse eligibility for Indian nurses
- NHRA nurse licence process and fees
- NHRA nurse renewal, CPD, BLS and transfer
- NHRA Bahrain nursing notice board — official updates
- Gulf nursing licences compared: Saudi, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain
- Indian nurses and emigration clearance: the 2025 rules
Sources
- official — NHRA — Bahrain Nursing Licensure Examination References (v1.0)
- official — NHRA — Midwifery Examination References 2021
- official — NHRA — Licensure Examination guide (updated)
- official — Prometric — National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA)
- official — NHRA — Nursing Professionals Qualification Requirements, 2020 October v2.2 (updated Oct 2022)
- official — SCH Decision No. 29 of 2020 — licensure examination system
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
