NHM Rajasthan Nursing Officer Exam Pattern 2025 Guide

The NHM Rajasthan Nursing Officer exam pattern is a single objective paper set by the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board (RSSB) for the post of Contractual Nurse (NHM). It has 150 multiple-choice questions, 450 marks and a 150-minute limit, and a wrong answer costs 1 mark.

This page explains the marking scheme, the qualifying rule, how marks are spread across sections, and how to plan your time. The details come from RSSB advertisement No. 01/2025, and the same scheme applies to the Contractual Nurse Grade-II post of the Rajasthan Medical Education Society (RajMES).

Table of Contents

• Exam pattern

• Section-wise marks

• Marking scheme and negative marking

• Qualifying marks

• What the pattern means for you

• After the written exam

• Time management and exam-day strategy

Exam Pattern

The Board proposed 2 to 13 June 2025 for the exam in the notification, and its later order confirms the exams were held in that window. The syllabus page lists every topic behind these marks.

Section-wise Marks

The Board prints section marks but not question counts. The counts above are our estimate from 3 marks per question, and they add up to the stated 150 questions. The notification also does not say whether the paper has separate sections with their own time limits, so plan for one 150-minute paper.

Marking Scheme and Negative Marking

• Correct answer: You get 3 marks.

• Wrong answer: You lose 1 mark, so a wrong guess costs one third of what a right answer earns.

• Unattempted question: The notification does not say that unattempted questions carry a penalty.

The notification says the Board applies a normalisation process if the exam is held in more than one stage or shift. The Board's result orders publish cut-offs to four decimal places, so scores are not whole numbers.

Qualifying Marks

You need at least 40 percent marks, which is 180 out of 450. SC and ST candidates get a 5 percent relaxation, which brings the bar to 35 percent or about 157.5 marks. Candidates who score below the minimum are not eligible for appointment. Clearing the minimum does not secure a post, because selection depends on your rank within your category and area.

What the Pattern Means for You

• Professional section first: It holds 270 of 450 marks, so each point of improvement in nursing subjects moves your score the most.

• Guess with care: One wrong answer wipes out a third of a correct one. If you can remove two options, a guess is usually worth taking. If you cannot, skip it.

• Do not skip the small sections: The four 45-mark sections give 180 marks together, and questions in computers or Hindi can be quick to answer once you have practised them.

• Plan for normalisation: Your score may be adjusted if your shift differs in difficulty, so do not judge your result only by your raw count.

After the Written Exam

There is no interview or separate skill test in the 2025 process. After the exam, the Board publishes a merit list with the exam result. It then sends the shortlisted list to the Rajasthan Medical Education Society for an eligibility check and document verification, and finally recommends candidates category-wise with cut-off marks. Final selection follows rank, category and area, and for dual-post candidates their order of preference.

Time Management and Exam-Day Strategy

1. Plan about 1 minute per question: 150 questions in 150 minutes leaves no slack, so do not spend more than 90 seconds on any single question.

2. Start with your strongest section: You can begin with the professional questions and then use the short sections to fill gaps, or the reverse, as long as you decide the order before the exam.

3. Mark and move: Flag doubtful questions and return to them with the time you save.

4. Keep the last 10 minutes: Use them to recheck flagged answers and avoid careless errors.

Older pages and videos may quote a different pattern, such as another number of questions, so follow the official notification. You can read the scheme on page 58 of the RSSB advertisement PDF, and the Board's current notices appear at rssb.rajasthan.gov.in.