You can practice for the CNA test free on this page: ten written-exam style questions across safety, infection control, personal care, communication and resident rights, each with the correct answer and an explanation of why it is right.
The real exam differs by state and vendor — the NNAAP written test runs 70 questions in 2 hours in Credentia's 2024 Colorado handbook, for example — so the sections below also cover scoring, retakes and where to find vendor and state practice materials.
How does this practice test match the real exam?
It is close enough to study from, and not close enough to treat as a copy.
The questions below track the topics federal rules require nurse aide training to cover, while your state and its exam vendor set the real test's length, wording and passing standard.
Federal rules require at least 16 hours of instruction in communication and interpersonal skills, infection control, safety and emergency procedures (including the Heimlich maneuver), resident independence and resident rights before a trainee has any direct contact with a resident (42 CFR 483.152(b)(1)).
Those federal topics, plus the personal-care skills the curriculum names alongside them, are what the domain groups below practice.
The personal-care questions track the skills the federal curriculum names: bathing, grooming and mouth care, dressing, toileting, eating and hydration, feeding techniques, skin care, and transfers, positioning and turning (42 CFR 483.152(b)(3)).
Format is where the match ends, because the written exam's question count and time limit depend on the vendor and the state edition.
| Vendor, with the state example this guide documents | Written test | Time allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Credentia — NNAAP (2024 Colorado handbook). | 70 multiple-choice questions, 10 of them unscored pretest items. | 2 hours. |
| Prometric (Texas, 2026). | 60 multiple-choice questions. | 90 minutes. |
| Headmaster, D&S Diversified Technologies (Missouri, September 2026 handbook). | 75 multiple-choice questions, with a score of 80% or better required to pass. | 60 minutes. |
Federal rules shape every state's version: the competency evaluation must let the aide choose between a written and an oral exam (42 CFR 483.154(b)(1)(i)).
A candidate must pass both the written or oral part and the skills demonstration, and each state sets its own passing standard (42 CFR 483.154(e)(1)).
On the NNAAP, candidates who have difficulty reading English may substitute an oral exam in English or Spanish for the written test.
The real evaluation also includes a skills demonstration in a facility or laboratory setting, administered and evaluated by an RN — no written question set rehearses that part, so practice it hands-on with your program's equipment.
On the NNAAP skills evaluation, that means 5 skills — hand hygiene is always one — performed in 30 minutes, with all 5 required to pass.
If you are still mapping the credential itself — training hours, registry, renewal — the certified nursing assistant career guide covers the role and how certification works.
Formats and outlines change
Practice questions by domain: safety, infection control, personal care, communication, resident rights
Work through each domain in order, then check every answer against the key in the next section.
Safety and emergencies
Question 1: On the NNAAP skills evaluation, what must you do with the wheelchair before you help the resident stand for a bed-to-wheelchair transfer?
- A. Place it at the foot of the bed with the brakes off
- B. Lock the wheels, and help the resident to a sitting position with feet flat on the floor
- C. Raise it to its highest position so the resident can slide across
- D. Leave the wheels unlocked so it moves with the resident
Question 2: For the same transfer, where does the NNAAP handbook place the transfer (gait) belt?
- A. Around the resident's waist, over the clothing
- B. Around the resident's chest, under the arms
- C. Around your own waist for balance
- D. Around the resident's hips, under the clothing
Infection control
Question 3: During the NNAAP hand hygiene skill, how long do you lather all surfaces of the wrists, hands and fingers with friction?
- A. At least 5 seconds
- B. At least 10 seconds
- C. At least 20 seconds
- D. One full minute, no more and no less
Question 4: In the NNAAP perineal care skill, in which direction do you wash and rinse?
- A. Back to front, rinsing with the same area of the washcloth
- B. Front to back, using a clean area of the washcloth for each stroke and rinsing the same way
- C. In circles across the whole genital area with one side of the cloth
- D. Either direction, as long as you wear gloves
Personal care
Question 5: In the NNAAP dressing skill, you are dressing a client who has a weak (affected) right arm.
Which arm goes through its sleeve first?
- A. The unaffected left arm, to steady the client
- B. The affected right arm
- C. Both arms together
- D. Whichever arm the client prefers
Question 6: In the NNAAP feeding skill, which position does the critical step require before you begin feeding?
- A. Lying flat in bed
- B. Reclined at 30 degrees
- C. Upright at 75–90 degrees
- D. Turned onto the left side
Communication
Question 7: Federal rules require at least 16 hours of instruction on which topics before a trainee has any direct contact with a resident?
- A. Personal care skills only
- B. Communication and interpersonal skills, infection control, safety and emergency procedures, resident independence and resident rights
- C. Vital signs and recordkeeping only
- D. Dementia care techniques only
Question 8: A candidate who has difficulty reading English may take which alternative on the NNAAP?
- A. A family member reads the questions aloud at the test site
- B. An oral exam in English or Spanish, substituted for the written exam
- C. A shortened written exam with extra time
- D. No alternative exists; the written exam is the only option
Resident rights
Question 9: Federal nursing home rules describe residents' rights as including which of the following?
- A. A dignified existence, self-determination, and communication with and access to persons and services inside and outside the facility
- B. Privacy only during family visits
- C. Whatever each facility's policy manual defines as rights
- D. Contact limited to the facility's own staff
Question 10: Under federal rules, a nursing home resident may be physically or chemically restrained when:
- A. A shift is short-staffed
- B. Discipline or convenience requires it
- C. A family member requests it in writing
- D. It is required to treat medical symptoms — and never for discipline or convenience
Answer explanations
Score the set with the key below, then read the reason for each answer — the explanation is the part that transfers to the real exam.
| Question | Answer | Why it is right |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Locking the wheelchair wheels, and helping the client to a sitting position with feet flat on the floor before standing, are critical steps of the transfer skill in Credentia's 2024 Colorado NNAAP handbook. |
| 2 | A | The same handbook applies the belt at the waist over the clothing, with an upward grasp on both sides of the belt and a knee-to-knee or toe-to-toe stance. |
| 3 | C | In the Colorado NNAAP handbook, hand hygiene requires at least 20 seconds of friction lathering, with the hands held lower than the elbows and fingertips down; the lathering and rinse steps are Critical Element Steps. |
| 4 | B | In the same handbook, perineal care's critical steps are washing front to back with a clean area of the washcloth for each stroke, then rinsing the same way. |
| 5 | B | In the same handbook, the affected arm goes through the sleeve first, and the gown comes off the unaffected side first. |
| 6 | C | In the same handbook, the feeding skill's critical step places the client upright at 75–90 degrees; the candidate then sits facing the client, checks the name card and offers fluid at least once. |
| 7 | B | Federal rules require these topics in the first 16 hours — communication, infection control, safety and emergencies (including the Heimlich maneuver), resident independence and resident rights — before any resident contact (42 CFR 483.152(b)(1)). |
| 8 | B | Credentia's handbook lets an oral exam in English or Spanish substitute for the written exam, and federal rules require the evaluation to offer a written and oral choice (42 CFR 483.154(b)(1)(i)). |
| 9 | A | Federal rules give nursing home residents the right to a dignified existence, self-determination, and communication with and access to persons and services inside and outside the facility (42 CFR 483.10(a)). |
| 10 | D | Residents have the right to be free from physical or chemical restraints imposed for discipline or convenience and not required to treat medical symptoms (42 CFR 483.10(e)(1)). |
Every clinical explanation above comes from the handbook or regulation named in it; the questions themselves were written for practice and are not drawn from a live item pool.
How to score and what to study next
Count your correct answers and use the domains you missed as your study list.
A practice score does not predict a state result, because passing standards belong to the states: federal rules require a candidate to pass both parts of the competency evaluation, and each state sets its own passing standard (42 CFR 483.154(e)(1)).
One documented example: Headmaster's Missouri knowledge test requires a score of 80% or better.
If the score disappoints, the federal floor gives you room: a candidate who fails must be told which areas were failed, and has at least three opportunities to take the evaluation, though states may cap attempts but not below three (42 CFR 483.154(f)).
On the NNAAP, the three attempts cover both parts, and after failing either part three times a candidate must complete another state-approved training program and retake both parts.
- Rework every question you missed, then re-read that domain in your program's materials before moving on.
- Study the content outline in your state's candidate handbook — the 2024 NNAAP outline in Credentia's Colorado handbook took effect in April 2024, based on NCSBN's 2019–2020 nurse aide job analysis.
- Practice the skills demonstration hands-on with your program's equipment, because a written set cannot rehearse it.
Once you are certified and listed on your state's registry, you can browse CNA jobs across nursing homes, home health and hospice providers, and assisted living communities.
Vendor and state practice tests
Federal rules let the state administer the competency evaluation itself or hand it to a state-approved entity that is not a Medicare or Medicaid-participating nursing facility, so the vendor — and the practice materials available to you — are state decisions.
Credentia runs the NNAAP, the program it acquired from Pearson VUE in April 2021.
Prometric delivers the Texas nurse aide exams, and Headmaster (D&S Diversified Technologies) partners with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services on testing and registry services.
Credentia describes the NNAAP as the largest nurse aide certification examination program in the United States, with testing listed across a set of states that includes California, Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington.
One vendor practice exam is documented in the research for this guide: Prometric's Texas written practice exam, with 50 questions at $10 each and a super pack of 3 for $25.
That one is paid, not free — and for other states, this guide's research did not confirm a vendor practice exam, so check the practice materials your state's vendor or registry publishes.
Free practice lives in three places: the question set on this page, whatever practice materials your training program offers, and the candidate handbooks the vendors publish online.
Free testing is a separate matter with its own federal rule.
An aide who is employed by, or has a job offer from, a nursing facility on the date they begin a nurse aide training and competency evaluation program cannot be charged for any part of it, textbooks included (42 CFR 483.152(c)(1)).
The same no-charge rule covers the competency evaluation itself.
If you paid your own way and a nursing facility hires you — or offers you a job — within 12 months of completing the program, the state must reimburse the training costs pro rata while you are employed.
Handbooks are edition-specific, which is why your own state's handbook is the study document: Colorado's 2024 NNAAP handbook, for example, lists 23 skills, including state-specific electronic and manual blood pressure skills.
Career information, not licensing, legal, medical or tax advice: exam formats, vendors, fees and retake rules are set state by state and change — confirm current requirements with your state's nurse aide registry and the exam vendor's current candidate handbook.
Confirm before you schedule