The CET exam covers safety and patient care for EKG technicians, acquiring EKGs (equipment, skin prep, lead placement, artifacts, Holter and stress testing) and analyzing tracings (heart rate, rhythm, intervals, arrhythmias and pacemakers).
Exam format at a glance
| Format | 120 questions (100 scored, 20 unscored pretest) in 2 hours, computer-based. |
| Cost | NHA lists the exam fee on its website — check NHA for current pricing. |
| Scoring | Scaled score from 200 to 500; 390 or higher is passing. NHA does not publish a percent-correct equivalent, so practice scores here are an estimate, not a prediction of your scaled score. |
| Validity | Renewed every two years with 10 continuing education credits, per NHA's renewal requirements. |
Who this exam is for
- Students finishing an EKG technician program
- Medical assistants and patient care technicians adding EKG certification
- Telemetry and monitor technicians
How to actually study for it
- EKG acquisition is the biggest domain — memorize all ten electrode positions and common artifacts.
- Know the graph paper: small box 0.04 s, large box 0.20 s, 25 mm/s and 10 mm/mV.
- Practice heart rate methods: 6-second strip × 10, 300 ÷ large boxes, 1,500 ÷ small boxes.
- Learn normal intervals (PR 0.12–0.20 s, QRS under 0.12 s) and the key arrhythmias.
Where to go next
Start with the free 10-question diagnostic to see where you actually stand, or go straight to the one-page CET cheat sheet. The full CET practice exam covers every domain at the real exam's weighting, with every answer explained.