EKG practice test: free NHA CET exam questions with explanations

An EKG practice test for the NHA Certified EKG Technician (CET) exam, with original questions on its three scored domains: EKG acquisition, safety and patient care, and EKG analysis and interpretation. Start with 5 free questions, then take two timed tests of 60 questions in 60 minutes, split like the official test plan, with an explanation for every answer, every heart rate worked out and your score per domain.

• 5 free questions
• 2 timed tests, 120 questions
• Real pace: 1 minute per question
• Score per domain
• Practice certificate PDF

NHA CET exam format and passing score

Sources: NHA CET test plan (based on a 2017 job analysis) and NHA Candidate Handbook, nhanow.com; checked 1 November 2026 against published summaries of those documents. Because the score is scaled, 390 is not a percentage: you cannot turn it into a number of correct answers. The exam fee is shown in the NHA store when you register, and NHA updates its test plans from time to time, so check nhanow.com for the version that applies on your exam date.

What is on the CET exam: the three domains

• EKG Acquisition: equipment and settings, skin preparation and positioning, electrode placement for 12-lead, Holter, stress test, telemetry, right-sided and posterior EKGs, checking the tracing, and finding and fixing artifact.
• Safety, Compliance and Coordinated Patient Care: HIPAA, infection control, scope of practice and ethics, communication, vital signs, patient instructions for stress tests and monitors, the electronic record, and recognizing an emergency (CPR and BLS).
• EKG Analysis and Interpretation: heart rate and target heart rate, regularity, PR, QRS and QT intervals, waveforms, rhythms and heart blocks, pacemaker spikes, signs of ischemia, injury and infarction, and the response to life-threatening rhythms.

Basic heart anatomy and the conduction system run through all three domains. Source: NHA CET test plan (2017 job analysis), as summarised by EKG training providers, checked 1 November 2026.

What you practise on MyLevel

Every MyLevel question is an original question written on the topics of the test plan, with one correct answer, three wrong ones and a short explanation. The two full tests have 60 questions in 60 minutes each: MyLevel's own length at the same pace as the real exam (120 questions in 2 hours). After each test you see your score per domain.

The questions are text only: rhythms are described by their written criteria (rate, regularity, P waves, PR interval, QRS width), as you would read them off a strip. They use the standard textbook values: paper at 25 mm/s, a small box of 0.04 seconds and a large box of 0.20 seconds, a normal PR interval of 0.12 to 0.20 seconds and a QRS under 0.12 seconds (as in NCBI StatPearls, Electrocardiogram). Every heart rate and interval calculation was re-solved by script. Practise reading real tracings in your training program as well. MyLevel costs $9.99, a one-time payment with no subscription and no time limit, and also unlocks every other MyLevel job test. Many EKG programs also ask for a CPR/BLS card; you can practise the written part on our BLS practice test.

How to study for the EKG technician exam

• Start with the biggest domain: EKG acquisition is about 44 of the 100 scored questions. Learn V1 to V6 until you can place them without thinking: V1 and V2 in the 4th intercostal space beside the sternum, V4 in the 5th at the midclavicular line, V3 between V2 and V4, V5 and V6 level with V4.
• Know each artifact and its fix: 60-cycle interference (unplug nearby equipment), somatic tremor (warm and relax the patient), wandering baseline (check contact and breathing) and interrupted baseline (loose electrode or broken wire).
• Practise the rate methods by hand: 300 divided by large boxes, 1500 divided by small boxes, and the 6-second method (QRS complexes times 10) for irregular rhythms.
• Sort rhythms by their criteria: PR interval longer and longer until a dropped beat is Mobitz I, a constant PR with dropped beats is Mobitz II, and P waves that have no relation to the QRS is complete heart block.
• Train under time: take a full MyLevel test, read the explanation of every miss, work on your weakest domain and retake. Aim for 70% or more in each domain; this is our own practice target, not an NHA score.

MyLevel is independent and not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the National Healthcareer Association (NHA). CET and Certified EKG Technician are certifications of the NHA. All questions are original practice questions written by MyLevel, not real NHA exam questions, and a practice score is not an NHA score. Medical content follows standard, conservative textbook practice; follow your training program and employer where they differ.

Sample question with explanation

Frequently asked questions

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