Foundational Science
10%of exam
Anatomy + Physiology
5%of exam
Clinical Patient Care
56%of exam
Coordination + Education
8%of exam
Administrative Assisting
8%of exam
RecordsInsuranceSchedulingOperations
Communication + Service
8%of exam
Customer ServiceTherapeutic TalkDiversityTeamwork
Medical Law + Ethics
5%of exam
Quick Facts
- Exam
- CCMA
- Owner
- NHA
- Items
- 180 total
- Scored
- 150 items
- Pretest
- 30 items
- Time
- 3 hours
- Pass
- 390/500
- Delivery
- PSI or LRP
IM vs SQ
IM
- Into muscle
- Usually 90 degrees
SQ
- Into fat
- 45 or 90
Muscle vs fat
Medical Terms
- Anterior
- Front
- Posterior
- Back
- Proximal
- Near trunk
- Distal
- Farther away
- Medial
- Toward midline
- Lateral
- Away from midline
- Supine
- Face up
- Prone
- Face down
Drug Basics
- Schedule II
- High abuse risk
- Generic
- Nonbrand name
- Trade
- Brand name
- Contraindication
- Do not use
- Enteral
- GI route
- Parenteral
- Non-GI route
- IM
- Into muscle
- SQ
- Under skin
Systems
- Atrium
- Receives blood
- Ventricle
- Pumps blood
- Alveoli
- Gas exchange
- Insulin
- Lowers glucose
- Nephron
- Kidney filter
- Peristalsis
- GI movement
- Pathogen
- Disease agent
- Homeostasis
- Internal balance
Fire RACE
Rescue, alarm, contain, extinguish.
RescueAlarmContainExtinguish
Disinfection vs Sterilization
Disinfection
- Kills most pathogens
- Surface/equipment use
Sterilization
- Kills all microbes
- Critical instruments
Most vs all
Specimen Picker
- Coagulation ordered→Light blue
- CBC ordered→Lavender
- Glucose ordered→Gray
- CMP ordered→SST
- Blood culture ordered→Culture bottles
- Small vein→Butterfly
- Legal drug screen→Chain custody
- POCT outlier→Repeat per policy
Intake + Vitals
- Chief complaint
- Main concern
- HPI
- Current illness story
- Pulse deficit
- Apical-radial difference
- Respiration
- Count unobtrusively
- BP cuff
- Correct size
- Orthostatic
- Lying to standing
- Pain scale
- Patient-reported
- BMI
- Screening tool
Syncope vs Seizure
Syncope
- Fainting
- Lower patient
Seizure
- Abnormal activity
- Protect from injury
Faint vs seizure
General Care
- Dorsal recumbent
- Pelvic exam
- Sims
- Rectal procedure
- Fowler
- Breathing support
- Trendelenburg
- Head lower
- Z-track
- Deep IM medication
- Wound drainage
- Document amount
- RACE
- Fire response
- AED
- Follow prompts
Objective vs Subjective
Objective
- Measured data
- Vitals/labs
Subjective
- Patient reports
- Pain/nausea
Measured vs stated
Infection
- Hand hygiene
- Best prevention
- PPE don
- Gown, mask, goggles, gloves
- PPE doff
- Gloves first
- Disinfection
- Most pathogens killed
- Sterilization
- All microbes destroyed
- Biohazard
- Red bag waste
- Needlestick
- Wash and report
- SDS
- Chemical safety data
POCT + Lab
- CLIA-waived
- Simple low-risk test
- QC
- Control check
- Urine hCG
- Pregnancy test
- Glucose
- Capillary sample
- Occult blood
- Hidden stool blood
- Specific gravity
- Urine concentration
- Specimen rejection
- Label or quality issue
- Chain custody
- Legal specimen tracking
Phlebotomy
- ETS
- Vacuum collection
- Butterfly
- Small fragile vein
- Syringe
- Control suction
- Hematoma
- Blood under skin
- Hemolysis
- RBC rupture
- Petechiae
- Tiny red spots
- Syncope
- Fainting
- QNS
- Insufficient specimen
EKG + Cardio
- P wave
- Atrial depolarization
- QRS
- Ventricular depolarization
- T wave
- Ventricular repolarization
- Somatic artifact
- Muscle movement
- AC artifact
- Electrical interference
- Wandering baseline
- Loose electrodes
- Holter
- Ambulatory monitor
- Stress test
- Exertion monitoring
Education
- Readiness
- Willing to learn
- Barrier
- Language, fear, literacy
- Teach-back
- Return explanation
- SMART goal
- Specific measurable plan
- Screening
- Early disease detection
- Referral
- Specialized care link
- Discharge
- Home care instructions
- Follow-up
- Scheduled reassessment
SOAP Note
Subjective, objective, assessment, plan.
SubjectiveObjectiveAssessmentPlan
Records + Insurance
- SOAP
- Chart note format
- PHI
- Identifiable health data
- ICD-10-CM
- Diagnosis coding
- CPT
- Procedure coding
- EOB
- Payment explanation
- Claim
- Payment request
- Denial
- Claim rejected
- Aging report
- Unpaid balances
Ethics Four
Choice, good, no harm, fair.
AutonomyBeneficenceNonmaleficenceJustice
HIPAA vs OSHA
HIPAA
- Privacy
- Protect PHI
OSHA
- Workplace safety
- Exposure control
Privacy vs safety
Escalation Picker
- Possible abuse→Report per law
- Patient refuses→Notify provider
- Need diagnosis→Provider decides
- Medication error→Report immediately
- PHI request→Verify authorization
- Need interpreter→Qualified service
- Aggressive behavior→De-escalate safely
- Scope unclear→Ask supervisor
Law + Ethics
- Autonomy
- Patient choice
- Beneficence
- Do good
- Nonmaleficence
- Do no harm
- Justice
- Fair treatment
- Battery
- Unwanted touching
- Abandonment
- Improper care ending
- Fraud
- Intentional deception
- Whistleblower
- Reports wrongdoing
Common Traps
Clinical Weight
84 scored items ≠ Study first
Blue Tube Fill
Exact ratio needed ≠ Underfill rejects
Gloves
Not hand hygiene ≠ Wash still required
Pain Scale
Subjective data ≠ Do not reinterpret
Patient Refusal
Respect refusal ≠ Report promptly
Remote Proctor
Rules still strict ≠ Verify environment
Last Minute
- 1.150 scored, 30 pretest
- 2.Clinical domain: 84 items
- 3.Blue tube before serum
- 4.Lavender equals EDTA hematology
- 5.Hand hygiene beats gloves
- 6.Document facts, not blame
- 7.Patient refusal needs provider
- 8.Do not interpret EKG
- 9.Use qualified interpreters
- 10.Scope unclear: escalate
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