Free CNA Practice Test by State 2026: 10,000+ Nursing Assistant Questions

Free CNA Practice Tests for All 50 States and DC

Nearly every state tests nurse aides in two parts: a written (or oral) knowledge test and a hands-on skills test in front of a nurse evaluator. A few, such as Illinois and Kansas, check skills during training instead. What changes at the state line is almost everything else: the testing vendor, the number of questions, how many skills you perform, the passing rules, and the fee.

This page gives you a free CNA practice test for every state and a state-by-state table of the exam you will actually sit. We checked each row in October 2026 against the state's nurse aide registry, its rules, or the testing vendor's current candidate handbook. Several states changed vendors or fees in 2025 and 2026, so older lists online are often wrong.

Quick answer: In 2026, D&SDT-Headmaster delivers at least part of the CNA exam in 20 jurisdictions, Credentia (the NNAAP exam) in 15, and Prometric in 9. Eleven states run their own test or use a state-approved regional tester. Credentia's NNAAP is 70 written items plus 5 skills. Headmaster states use 60 to 80 questions and 3 or 4 skill tasks. Prometric states use about 60 questions plus handwashing, indirect care, and 3 skills.

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Start Your FREE CNA Practice Test

Take FREE CNA Practice Test, or pick your state in the table below. Each state page combines about 200 to 345 state-specific questions with 298 national nurse aide questions, roughly 500 to 640 per state and more than 10,000 in total. Every question has an explanation. 100% FREE. No signup required.

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CNA Testing Vendors Compared (2026)

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Free CNA Practice Test and Exam Facts by State (Verified October 2026)

Click your state for its free practice test. "Qs" means scored-plus-pretest questions as the vendor publishes them; a percentage is the published passing score. Where a state or vendor publishes no figure, the row says so instead of guessing.

States with more than one testing route

• Alabama: your training program picks Prometric ($125, 55 questions) or Credentia ($135, 70 items).
• California: CDPH approves three vendors: D&SDT-Headmaster, Credentia, and the Regional Testing Center at Golden West College. Your training program usually tells you which one it uses.
• Maryland: Credentia and D&SDT-Headmaster both test; your training program picks. Both charge $130 in total. Maryland renamed the credential CNA-I (formerly GNA) on April 1, 2026.
• Louisiana: you choose Prometric ($125) or a Louisiana Community and Technical College System college ($100).
• Iowa: take the written test through D&SDT-Headmaster ($50) or Credentia online ($70); a community college or other DIAL-approved site gives the skills test.
• Split tests: New Jersey (PSI written, Headmaster skills), South Dakota (Headmaster written, skills checked by your program), Washington (skills at your program, Credentia knowledge test online), and Idaho (Prometric written, skills at a career-technical college).

Vendor and fee changes in 2025-2026

• Nevada moved from Credentia to D&SDT-Headmaster on July 1, 2026: 75 questions in 60 minutes and 3 or 4 skill tasks.
• Tennessee moved testing and the registry to Credentia on June 1, 2026, under the Health Facilities Commission.
• Texas fees changed on September 1, 2026: $125 for the written or oral test plus skills.
• Connecticut fees rose to $125 on August 1, 2026.
• Wisconsin fees rose to $144.70 on June 7, 2026.
• Missouri fees rose to $135 on January 1, 2026.
• California Headmaster fees rose to $140 on March 1, 2026.
• Oregon merged CNA 1 and CNA 2 into one CNA level on July 1, 2025, with 105 training hours.
• New Mexico moved from Prometric to D&SDT-Headmaster on July 1, 2024.

Fees are the candidate price for the first attempt at both parts unless noted. If a nursing home employs you, federal rules say you should not pay them yourself (see below). Always confirm the live fee in your vendor's candidate handbook before you schedule.

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CNA Training Hours by State

The federal minimum is 75 hours, including 16 hours of supervised practical training. These are the state minimums in force in October 2026:

A few details matter when you compare programs:

• New York's rule still says 100 hours, but a 2022 Department of Health letter lets DOH-approved nursing-home programs use the federal 75 hours.
• Massachusetts announced in April 2026 that training will rise to 87 hours; no effective date has been set.
• Virginia raised its minimum to 140 hours in May 2023, and Washington requires 108 hours (35 classroom, 33 lab, 40 clinical).
• Wisconsin requires 75 hours under DHS 129.07, not the 120 hours that some older guides still list.

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The Federal Rules Every State Builds On

Nurse aide testing is state-run, but federal nursing-home rules in 42 CFR Part 483 set the floor:

• Training: at least 75 clock hours, including 16 hours of supervised practical training (42 CFR 483.152). Many states require more; see the training-hours table above.
• Two-part test: a written or oral knowledge test plus a skills demonstration in front of a nurse evaluator (42 CFR 483.154).
• At least three tries: a state may cap your attempts, but the cap cannot be lower than three (42 CFR 483.154). After that, most states require you to retrain.
• Working before you test: a nursing home may use you as a nurse aide for up to 4 months full time while you finish training and pass the test (42 CFR 483.35(d)).
• The 24-month lapse rule: if you go 24 consecutive months without paid nursing work, you must complete a new training and competency program or a new competency evaluation (42 CFR 483.35(d)).
• No cost if a nursing home employs you: an aide employed by, or offered a job by, a nursing facility when training starts cannot be charged for training or testing. If you are hired within 12 months after training, the state must provide pro-rata reimbursement (42 CFR 483.152(c)).

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What the Written Exam Covers: the 2024 NNAAP Outline

Credentia's NNAAP knowledge test follows the 2024 content outline, which is based on NCSBN's 2019-2020 nurse aide job analysis. Of the 60 scored items, the official weights and approximate item counts are:

That puts 64% of the test on physical care, 10% on psychosocial care, and 26% on the role of the nurse aide. Headmaster, Prometric, and the state-run exams publish their own outlines, but they test the same federal nurse aide curriculum, so the study priorities below carry over.

Activities of daily living and basic nursing skills (57%)

• Infection control: hand hygiene before and after every resident contact and after removing gloves; standard precautions for every resident; contact (gown and gloves), droplet (mask on entering the room), and airborne (fit-tested N95 and an airborne-isolation room) precautions.
• Safety and emergencies: call light within reach, bed in the lowest position, wheels locked before any transfer, gait (transfer) belt for transfers and ambulation, RACE and PASS for fires.
• Vital signs and measurements: count pulse and respirations for a full minute; normal adult pulse is 60-100 and respirations 12-20 per minute; report any reading outside the care-plan range to the nurse right away.
• Personal care: perineal care front to back, dress the weak side first and undress the strong side first, mouth care for an unconscious resident on the side with the head turned, and test bath water before it touches the resident.
• Elimination and nutrition: keep the urine bag below the bladder and off the floor, measure output at eye level, record intake and output in mL, and sit upright for meals to reduce aspiration risk.

Self-care, psychosocial needs, and the role of the aide (43%)

• Resident rights: privacy, dignity, the right to refuse care, freedom from abuse and restraints, and the right to voice grievances without retaliation.
• Scope of practice: aides observe, report, and document; nurses assess, plan, and give medications. Most "what should the aide do first" items are answered by keeping the resident safe and reporting to the nurse.
• Dementia and behavior: stay calm, approach from the front, redirect rather than argue, and look for causes such as pain, hunger, or the need to use the toilet.
• Abuse and neglect: report suspected abuse immediately; do not investigate on your own.

The Skills Test: Where Most Candidates Lose Points

On the NNAAP, every candidate performs hand hygiene plus four more skills, one of which is a measurement (blood pressure, radial pulse, respirations, urinary output, or weight), within 30 minutes. The NNAAP skills list numbers 23 skills, but each state uses only one of the two blood pressure skills (electronic or manual), so 22 can appear on your test. Each skill has bold critical element steps; missing one fails that skill even if every other step is right.

Measurements must match the evaluator's reading within these NNAAP tolerances:

Headmaster states work differently: you perform 3 or 4 randomly selected tasks in 30-35 minutes, and each task needs every key step plus at least 80% of the other steps. Prometric scores handwashing and indirect care (privacy, safety, communication) throughout the test in addition to three assigned skills.

Easy-to-miss steps on every vendor's skills test:

1. Hand hygiene done too fast or touching the sink afterward.
2. Forgetting to lock wheels or to apply the transfer belt before a transfer.
3. Leaving the call light out of reach or the bed raised at the end of a skill.
4. Counting for 30 seconds instead of a full minute, then recording a number outside tolerance.
5. Skipping privacy (closing the curtain) or not explaining the procedure to the resident.

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Six Practice Questions, Worked Through

These mirror the scenario style of state written exams. Use them to check your reasoning, then take a full set on your state's practice page.

1. A resident refuses morning medications. What should the nurse aide do? Respect the refusal and report it to the nurse right away. Aides do not give medications, and forcing, hiding, or bargaining over medications violates the resident's rights. Document per facility policy.

2. During a bed bath you find a red area on the sacrum that stays red when pressed. What do you do? Report it to the nurse and reposition the resident off the area. Non-blanchable redness on intact skin is a Stage 1 pressure injury. The aide observes and reports; the nurse assesses and plans treatment.

3. A conscious adult resident is choking and cannot speak, cough, or breathe. What is the first action? Call for help and give back blows and abdominal thrusts. The 2025 American Heart Association guidelines treat severe choking in adults with cycles of 5 back blows followed by 5 abdominal thrusts. If the resident becomes unresponsive, lower them to the floor, activate the emergency response, and start CPR. Older textbooks teach abdominal thrusts alone, so read each answer choice carefully.

4. A resident is on droplet precautions. What personal protective equipment do you need? A surgical mask on entering the room, plus gloves and a gown when standard precautions call for them (for example, contact with body fluids). Droplet precautions do not require an N95 respirator; that is airborne precautions.

5. You measure a blood pressure of 88/52 mmHg on a resident who usually runs 130/80. What next? Keep the resident safe (seated or lying down), then report the reading to the nurse immediately. You may recheck it if your facility allows, but do not wait until the end of the shift. A sudden drop can signal bleeding, infection, dehydration, or a medication effect.

6. A resident with dementia becomes agitated and swings at you during care. What is the best response? Stay calm, step back to a safe distance, speak in a quiet voice, and stop the task for now. Look for a trigger such as pain, fear, or the need to use the toilet. Never restrain or argue with the resident. Report the behavior to the nurse.

A 3-Week CNA Study Plan

Week 1: Learn the content

• Study one NNAAP content area a day, starting with basic nursing skills and activities of daily living, which together make up 57% of the test.
• Make flashcards for vital-sign ranges, precaution types, positioning, and resident rights.
• Answer 25 to 30 questions a day on your state practice page and read the explanation for every miss.

Week 2: Practice the skills

• Download your vendor's current skills checklist (Credentia, Headmaster, Prometric, or your state's own) and practice every skill on it, not just the common ones.
• Have a partner score you with the checklist, including the critical or key steps.
• Count pulse and respirations for a full minute every time, and practice reading a graduated cylinder at eye level.
• Raise your written practice to 50 questions a day.

Week 3: Simulate test day

• Take two or three full-length timed practice tests that match your state's question count and time limit from the table above.
• Run a full mock skills test with your vendor's time limit (30 to 45 minutes for most states).
• Review resident rights, infection control, and when to report to the nurse one last time.
• Confirm your test-day ID, arrival time, and what to wear in your candidate handbook.

CNA Salary and Career Path (BLS, May 2025)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 203,300 openings a year for nursing assistants and orderlies from 2025 to 2035. The top 10% of nursing assistants earned more than $51,980 in May 2025. Many nursing programs value CNA experience, and some hospitals help employees pay for further nursing school.

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Frequently Asked Questions