DHA exam syllabus for nurses
The DHA exam syllabus for nurses has four published areas: Fundamentals, Adult Nursing, Maternal-Child Nursing and Unit Management and Leadership. DHA lists topics and reference books but does not publish how much each area counts.
The four areas
- Fundamentals of nursing: core skills, safety, infection control, medication administration, communication, ethics and documentation.
- Adult Nursing: medical-surgical care across body systems, with assessment, priorities and patient teaching.
- Maternal-Child Nursing: pregnancy, labour, postpartum, newborn and child health.
- Unit Management and Leadership: delegation, prioritising, quality and safety, and professional and legal duties.
DHA's guideline lists topics under each area. Read the list on DHA's own site, linked below, and tick off what you have studied.
Reference books DHA lists
DHA's guideline names reference books, including Kozier and Erb's Fundamentals of Nursing and Brunner and Suddarth's Medical-Surgical Nursing. Using the editions you can access is fine. Study the principles rather than memorising pages.
Weights: what is and is not known
DHA does not publish percentages for the four areas. Some websites quote percentage splits. Those numbers come from other regulators, for example the Saudi SNLE, which publishes its own, or from guesswork. Do not plan your time on a DHA weighting that DHA has not given.
A safe approach is to cover all four areas, with extra time on your weakest one. Adult Nursing is broad, so most nurses give it the largest share of study time, but this is our advice, not a DHA figure.
Turning the syllabus into practice
Take the free 20-question check to see which area needs work, then use adaptive practice to focus on it. For the full format, return to the DHA exam hub.
Common questions
What is the DHA exam syllabus for nurses?
Four areas: Fundamentals, Adult Nursing, Maternal-Child Nursing and Unit Management and Leadership.
Does DHA publish topic weights?
No. DHA lists topics and reference books but no percentages.
Which books should I use for the DHA exam?
DHA's guideline lists reference books, including Kozier and Erb's Fundamentals of Nursing and Brunner and Suddarth's Medical-Surgical Nursing.
Is the syllabus the same for Assistant Nurses?
DHA's topic list for Assistant Nurses is identical to the Registered Nurse list, according to the guideline we read.
Related guides
Sources
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