CNA practice exam: the full timed mock

Set up the sitting like test day

A mock only tells you something if you take it under the same pressure as the real one. Clear 2 hours in one block, put your phone in another room and close your notes. Sit at a table, not on a couch. On the real written test you cannot step out to check a fact, so treat any question you are unsure about the way you will on the day: pick the best option, flag it and continue.

The clock above starts when you answer the first question and the mock is marked when it reaches zero, even if questions are left blank. A blank counts as wrong, exactly as a missed item does on the real test, so never leave one empty when a minute remains.

Pace checkpoints

With 70 questions in 2 hours you have about 103 seconds per item. Rather than watching the seconds, check the question number at four moments:

If you are ahead at the first checkpoint, good: bank the time for the flagged questions at the end. If you are behind, you are probably reading every option twice. Read the last sentence of the question first, so you know what is being asked, then read the scenario once.

Reading your result

The result screen shows your share of correct answers and a line for each area of the outline. Look at the areas before the total. A total of 80% built on a weak basic nursing skills line is fragile, because that area alone holds 24 of the 70 questions. A weak line in spiritual and cultural needs, which counts for 1 question on a full form, matters far less.

Then open the question map. Green squares are right, red ones are wrong, and the amber ones you flagged show where your doubt was. Two patterns are worth separating:

• Flagged and wrong. You knew you did not know. Learn the rule behind the answer and drill that area in the practice test by area.
• Not flagged and wrong. You felt sure and were mistaken. These are the dangerous ones: read the explanation twice and write the rule down in your own words.
• Flagged and right. Your doubt may have been a lucky guess. Read the explanation anyway, because luck is not a plan for test day.

Compare the two halves of the form as well. If most of your errors come after question 49, the problem is stamina rather than knowledge: you read less carefully when tired. The cure is simply more full-length sittings, with a short pause of a few seconds every twenty questions to reset your attention.

Every miss is saved in this browser and comes back on the review page until you answer it right.

How many mocks, and when

One mock is a snapshot; three or four spread over the last weeks show a trend. A workable rhythm is one full mock a week, with practice by area on the days in between. Take the last one four or five days before the exam, not the night before, so there is time to fix what it reveals. Each new mock draws a fresh mix of questions, so a rising score reflects what you know rather than answers you remember.

When two mocks in a row clear 80% with no area far behind, the written part is unlikely to be the problem. At that point your remaining study time is better spent on the skills checklist.

What this mock does not test

It covers the written test only. The skills demonstration is a separate part of the evaluation with its own pass or fail, and you prepare it with your hands, not with questions: the skills test guide explains how it runs. If you plan to take the oral version, the content is the same, but the questions are read to you and you cannot reread them at your own speed, so practise listening to scenarios as well. Finally, the length here follows the NNAAP. Prometric states such as Texas use a shorter form (Texas bulletin), and Headmaster forms differ again (Ohio handbook); the state guide lists them.