DSSSB Nursing Officer Syllabus 2026: Section A and B
Half of your score in the DSSSB Nursing Officer exam comes from nursing knowledge and the other half from general subjects that many nurses have not studied since school. The DSSSB Nursing Officer syllabus therefore has two very different parts: Section A, with five general subjects of 20 marks each, and Section B, a 100-mark paper on nursing. Both sit inside one 2-hour computer-based test conducted by the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board.
This guide breaks each part into a topic checklist, shows where to start, flags topics that other pages list wrongly and ends with a phased plan. It is based on the scheme in Advertisement No. 04/2024 (Post Code 02/24), the latest Nursing Officer cycle. No new Nursing Officer advertisement has been released in 2026 so far, so re-check the syllabus when it arrives.
Table of Contents
Syllabus at a Glance
Section | Subject | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
A | General Awareness | 20 | 20 |
A | General Intelligence and Reasoning Ability | 20 | 20 |
A | Arithmetical and Numerical Ability | 20 | 20 |
A | Test of Hindi Language and Comprehension | 20 | 20 |
A | Test of English Language and Comprehension | 20 | 20 |
B | Nursing (subject concerned) | 100 | 100 |
Total | One sitting of 2 hours | 200 | 200 |
Every question carries 1 mark, and 0.25 mark is deducted for each wrong answer. The minimum qualifying marks apply only to Section B.
Key Points to Know Before You Start
Two official documents matter: DSSSB publishes an indicative Section A syllabus for one-tier exams and a separate indicative syllabus for Nursing Officer in the Health and Family Welfare Department. Download the nursing syllabus here: https://dsssb.delhi.gov.in/sites/default/files/DSSSB/universal-tab/nursing_officer_in_h_fw_deptt.pdf.
The lists below are a working checklist: They are built from the B.Sc Nursing and GNM course subjects and from the type of questions asked in nursing recruitment exams. Use them alongside the official PDF, not as a replacement for it.
Watch for pharmacy topics on other pages: Some sites list drug store management, community pharmacy or pharmaceutical chemistry as Nursing Officer topics. These come from pharmacist syllabi. Study pharmacology as it applies to nursing care, and treat pure pharmacy topics as low priority unless the official syllabus names them.
Hindi is compulsory: Both Hindi and English carry 20 marks each. There is no choice between them.
Level of questions: Section B is pitched at the qualifying degree or diploma level. Section A is broadly school level, with arithmetic usually feeling the hardest under time pressure.
Section A Syllabus: General Subjects
Section A has no minimum qualifying mark of its own, but its 100 marks count fully in the merit list. That makes it the part where steady practice turns into rank.
General Awareness
Area | Topics to cover | Start with |
|---|---|---|
History and culture | Ancient, medieval and modern India, freedom movement, heritage sites, art and culture | Modern India and the freedom movement |
Polity | Constitution, Parliament, President, fundamental rights and duties, local government | Key articles and constitutional bodies |
Geography | Physical and Indian geography, rivers, lakes, national parks, countries and capitals | Indian rivers and states |
Economy | Budget basics, banking, government schemes, especially health schemes | Recent health and welfare schemes |
General science | Biology, basic physics and chemistry, diseases, vitamins, inventions | Human biology and diseases |
Static GK | Books and authors, important days, awards, sports, firsts in India | Important days linked to health |
Current affairs | National and Delhi news of the last 6 to 12 months, appointments, summits | Monthly news notes |
General Intelligence and Reasoning Ability
Verbal reasoning: Analogy, classification (odd one out), number and letter series, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction sense, ranking and order.
Logical reasoning: Syllogism, statement and conclusion, Venn diagrams, decision making and problem solving.
Non-verbal reasoning: Mirror and water images, paper folding, figure series, counting figures, embedded figures.
Arithmetic reasoning: Missing numbers, mathematical operations and simple puzzles.
Arithmetical and Numerical Ability
Area | Topics to cover | Start with |
|---|---|---|
Number basics | Number system, decimals, fractions, LCM and HCF, simplification | Simplification and fractions |
Commercial maths | Percentage, profit and loss, discount, simple and compound interest | Percentage, as it feeds every other topic |
Ratio-based | Ratio and proportion, average, mixtures, partnership, ages | Ratio and average |
Time-based | Time and work, pipes and cisterns, time, speed and distance | Time and work |
Mensuration | Area and perimeter, surface area and volume of common solids | Basic formulas for 2D figures |
Data interpretation | Tables, bar graphs, pie charts, line graphs | Table-based questions |
Nursing students already use ratio and percentage in drug dosage and IV flow calculations. Practising those first makes the rest of the arithmetic section feel familiar.
Test of English Language and Comprehension
Grammar: Tenses, articles, prepositions, subject-verb agreement, error spotting and sentence improvement.
Vocabulary: Synonyms, antonyms, one-word substitution, idioms and phrases, spellings.
Usage and comprehension: Fill in the blanks, cloze test, sentence rearrangement, reading comprehension, active and passive voice, direct and indirect speech.
Test of Hindi Language and Comprehension
Vyakaran (grammar): Sandhi, samas, upsarg and pratyay, ling, vachan, karak, kaal and vakya shuddhi.
Shabd gyan (vocabulary): Paryayvachi, vilom, anekarthi shabd, vakyansh ke liye ek shabd, tatsam and tadbhav.
Muhavare and lokoktiyan: Meaning and correct use of common idioms and proverbs.
Apathit gadyansh: Unseen passage comprehension.
Section B Syllabus: Nursing
Section B has 100 questions on the subject concerned, which for this post is nursing at the B.Sc Nursing and GNM level. You need at least the minimum qualifying marks here: 40 percent for UR and EWS, 35 percent for OBC (Delhi) and 30 percent for SC, ST and PwBD, as per the last notification.
Foundation Subjects
Subject | Topics to cover | Start with |
|---|---|---|
Fundamentals of nursing | Nursing process, vital signs, hygiene, infection control, asepsis, bed making, positioning, medication administration, oxygen therapy, first aid, bandaging, documentation | Vital signs, routes of drug administration |
Anatomy and physiology | Cells and tissues, skeletal, muscular, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, renal, nervous, endocrine and reproductive systems, blood | Cardiovascular and respiratory systems |
Microbiology | Bacteria, viruses, fungi, sterilisation and disinfection, hospital infection control, biomedical waste management, immunity | Sterilisation methods and waste colour coding |
Nutrition and biochemistry | Macro and micronutrients, deficiency diseases, therapeutic diets, enzymes, normal laboratory values | Vitamin deficiencies and therapeutic diets |
Psychology and sociology | Basic psychology, learning, behaviour, family and community structure | Defence mechanisms |
Clinical Subjects
Subject | Topics to cover | Start with |
|---|---|---|
Medical-surgical nursing | Care of patients with cardiac, respiratory, GI, renal, neurological, endocrine and musculoskeletal disorders; pre and post-operative care; burns; oncology; critical care and emergency nursing | Cardiac and respiratory disorders, ICU care |
Pharmacology | Drug classes, dosage calculation, antidotes, side effects, emergency drugs, nurse's role in drug administration | Emergency drugs and antidotes |
Midwifery and obstetrical nursing | Antenatal, intranatal and postnatal care, stages of labour, complications of pregnancy, high-risk pregnancy, newborn care, family planning | Stages of labour and pregnancy-induced hypertension |
Paediatric nursing | Growth and development milestones, immunisation schedule, care of sick newborn, common childhood illnesses, IMNCI basics | Milestones and immunisation schedule |
Mental health nursing | Psychiatric disorders, therapeutic communication, psychiatric emergencies, ECT, psychopharmacology, legal aspects | Major disorders and their drugs |
Community and Management Subjects
Subject | Topics to cover | Start with |
|---|---|---|
Community health nursing | Epidemiology, communicable diseases, national health programmes, primary health care, health indicators, vital statistics, environmental sanitation, cold chain | National health programmes and communicable diseases |
Nursing management and administration | Principles of management, staffing, ward management, supervision, records and reports, quality assurance | Principles of management |
Nursing education and research | Teaching methods, health education, research basics, sampling | Health education methods |
Professional trends | Nursing ethics, code of conduct, legal issues, Indian Nursing Council, nursing informatics and communication | Ethical principles |
Which Topics Deserve the Most Time
DSSSB does not publish topic-wise weightage. The priority list below is based on how much each subject covers in the nursing curriculum and on the kind of questions reported from recent nursing recruitment papers. Treat it as a planning aid, not as an official split.
Priority | Subjects | Why |
|---|---|---|
High | Medical-surgical nursing, fundamentals of nursing, midwifery and obstetrics | Large curriculum share and many clinical-situation questions |
Medium-high | Community health nursing, paediatric nursing, pharmacology | Fact-based and quick to score once revised |
Medium | Anatomy and physiology, mental health nursing, microbiology | Steady presence; supports clinical answers |
Steady | Nutrition, management, education, ethics | Fewer questions, but often direct and easy |
In Section A, arithmetic and Hindi are where most nursing candidates lose marks. Give them a fixed daily slot rather than leaving them for the end.
How to Cover the Syllabus in 16 Weeks
Weeks 1 to 6, build the base: Revise fundamentals, anatomy and physiology, and medical-surgical nursing from your course books. In parallel, spend 45 minutes a day on arithmetic basics and 20 minutes on news.
Weeks 4 to 10, add clinical depth: Cover midwifery, paediatrics, community health and pharmacology. Start reasoning practice and alternate English and Hindi grammar on different days.
Weeks 8 to 12, topic tests: Take short topic-wise tests after each subject and 20-minute sectional tests for Section A. Note every wrong answer in an error log.
Weeks 11 to 14, close the gaps: Finish mental health, microbiology, nutrition and management. Revise static GK and make one-page summaries for drugs, normal values and immunisation schedules.
Weeks 14 to 16, full mocks: Take two or three full-length 200-question mocks a week, analyse them the same day and revise from your error log.
That makes it easier to see whether your nursing score is safely above the qualifying line.
Previous Papers and Official Resources
The DSSSB website has a Question Bank section with papers from its online exams by year, and a link to an online exam mock test that shows the CBT screen. Both are on the official homepage: https://dsssb.delhi.gov.in/. Papers are not always available for every post, so check the listing for nursing posts.
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