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100+ Free CNA Gerontological Nursing Practice Questions

Pass your CNA Gerontological Nursing Certification (GNC(C)) Examination exam on the first try — instant access, no signup required.

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Key Facts: CNA Gerontological Nursing Exam

165

Total Exam Questions

CNA Blueprint

4.0h

Exam Duration

CNA Guidelines

$570

Member Fee (CAD)

CNA Certification Fees

Angoff

Passing Standard

CNA Scoring

5 Years

Validity Period

CNA Renewal

The GNC(C)® exam validates the specialized clinical knowledge, skills, and judgment of registered nurses in Canada who care for older adults across acute, long-term, and community care settings.

Sample CNA Gerontological Nursing Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to test your CNA Gerontological Nursing exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1A Registered Nurse (RN) is conducting a life review with a 78-year-old First Nations elder in a long-term care home in Ontario. How should the nurse adapt this intervention to be culturally respectful?
A.Encourage the resident to speak only about their accomplishments and avoid talking about historical trauma.
B.Incorporate storytelling, respect periods of silence, and allow the integration of traditional spiritual concepts.
C.Conduct the session in a highly structured, timed interview format to ensure all checklist items are completed.
D.Instruct the family that they must not participate in the session to ensure the resident's individual privacy.
Explanation: Culturally respectful care for First Nations elders involves honoring oral traditions through storytelling, respecting silence as a meaningful form of communication, and welcoming spiritual concepts. Rigidly structured schedules or excluding family can cause distress and show a lack of respect for indigenous family structures and communal values.
2An older adult who recently immigrated from a collectivist East Asian culture is admitted to a sub-acute unit. The patient's adult children insist on answering all medical questions and making decisions for the patient. Which action by the nurse is most appropriate?
A.Inform the family that Canadian law strictly forbids family members from being involved in patient assessments.
B.Acknowledge the family's collectivist decision-making style while ensuring the patient consents to this involvement.
C.Insist on interviewing the patient alone and document the family as being obstructive to care.
D.Accept the family's decisions unconditionally without attempting to assess the patient's own cognitive capacity or wishes.
Explanation: In collectivist cultures, family-centered decision-making is common and highly valued. The nurse should respect this dynamic by collaborating with the family while verifying that the patient is comfortable with their children speaking on their behalf and retains decision-making capacity.
3An 82-year-old Orthodox Jewish resident refuses to eat the meals provided by a long-term care facility, stating they are not kosher. What is the most appropriate initial response by the nurse?
A.Explain that the facility's menu is approved by a dietitian and contains all necessary nutrients for their recovery.
B.Consult with the facility's dietitian and the resident's family to source certified kosher meals from an approved vendor.
C.Instruct the resident that they must adapt to the facility's meals to maintain their strength and avoid weight loss.
D.Request a psychiatric consultation to evaluate the resident for food-related delusions or obsessive-compulsive traits.
Explanation: Respecting religious dietary laws is essential for culturally competent care. Sourcing certified kosher meals through collaboration with the dietitian and family addresses the resident's nutritional needs while honoring their religious beliefs, promoting trust and preventing malnutrition.
4A 75-year-old transgender woman is being admitted to a long-term care home. She expresses anxiety about facing discrimination from staff and other residents based on her gender identity. Which action should the nurse take first?
A.Reassure the resident that staff are professional and advise her to keep her transgender status private to avoid conflict.
B.Document her preferred name and pronouns in the care plan, and discuss her preferences for room assignment and privacy.
C.Assign her to a private room automatically to isolate her from the general resident population.
D.Tell her that gender identity is not relevant to geriatric nursing care and dismiss her concerns as unnecessary worry.
Explanation: To provide safe and affirming care for 2SLGBTQIA+ older adults, the nurse must proactively document the resident's preferred name and pronouns and discuss accommodation options that align with her wishes. Active listening and concrete care plan adaptations validate her identity and directly address her safety concerns.
5An older adult from a traditional South Asian culture is experiencing severe chronic pain but repeatedly rates their pain as 0 out of 10 and rarely asks for analgesics. What cultural factor should the nurse consider?
A.The patient likely has a higher physiological tolerance for pain than other demographic groups.
B.The patient may view pain expression as a sign of weakness or a burden to others, or believe pain is destiny to be endured.
C.The patient is likely experiencing cognitive decline and has forgotten how to use the pain scale correctly.
D.The patient does not actually have severe pain and the nurse's clinical assessment of pain is incorrect.
Explanation: Pain expression is heavily influenced by culture. In some South Asian and East Asian cultures, stoicism, avoiding being a burden to healthcare providers, or viewing suffering through a spiritual lens can lead patients to underreport pain. The nurse should use non-verbal assessments and open-ended discussions rather than relying solely on numerical pain scales.
6A 90-year-old French-Canadian resident with advanced dementia has started speaking only French, their primary language, despite being bilingual and speaking English for decades. How should the care team respond?
A.Insist that the resident speak English to prevent cognitive regression and maintain bilingual skills.
B.Incorporate French-speaking staff into their care, use simple French phrases, and provide French-language activities.
C.Refer the resident to a speech-language pathologist for immediate language rehabilitation therapy.
D.Instruct the family to communicate only in English during visits to reinforce language retraining.
Explanation: In advanced dementia, individuals frequently lose their secondary language and revert to their mother tongue (first language). The care team should adapt by communicating in the resident's primary language to reduce frustration, anxiety, and behavioral symptoms, while supporting their comfort and dignity.
7During an assessment, an older Indigenous patient request that a small bundle containing sage and sweetgrass be kept at their bedside. Which action by the nurse is most appropriate?
A.Confiscate the bundle as it represents an infection hazard and violates the hospital's clutter policy.
B.Ensure the bundle is kept safely at the bedside and facilitate access to a designated smudging space if requested.
C.Explain that traditional medicine has no scientific backing and discourage the patient from using it.
D.Accept the bundle but store it in the clean utility room away from the patient's room.
Explanation: Under the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action and CNA guidelines, healthcare providers must respect and integrate traditional Indigenous healing practices. Keeping the sacred bundle at the bedside supports spiritual healing, and coordinating access to smudging areas honors their cultural traditions safely.
8A nurse is caring for an older Muslim patient who is dying. The family requests that the patient's bed be turned so that the patient faces Mecca. What is the nurse's best action?
A.Refuse the request, explaining that the bed must remain in its standard position for medical safety and staff ergonomics.
B.Accommodate the request by adjusting the bed position, ensuring that IV lines and medical equipment remain functional and safe.
C.Tell the family that spiritual adjustments can only be made by the hospital chaplain after a formal review.
D.Suggest that the family perform this adjustment themselves after the patient has passed away.
Explanation: Accommodating religious and spiritual wishes at the end of life is a crucial part of palliative care. Position adjustments, such as facing Mecca, should be facilitated by the nurse when logistically possible, ensuring that medical lines remain clear and patient safety is maintained.
9An 83-year-old resident in a long-term care home is experiencing new-onset confusion, lethargy, and tachypnea. The resident's temperature is 37.2°C (99.0°F). Which clinical concept should guide the nurse's assessment?
A.The resident's vital signs indicate that they do not have an active infection.
B.Older adults often present atypically with infections, frequently showing cognitive changes rather than a high fever.
C.The confusion is a normal age-related change and requires no further medical workup.
D.The symptoms suggest a primary psychiatric disorder rather than an acute physical illness.
Explanation: Older adults have a reduced febrile response due to immunosenescence and altered thermoregulation. Infection in this population commonly presents atypically with symptoms such as confusion, lethargy, falls, tachypnea, or a decline in functional status, rather than a classic high fever.
10A nurse is using the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) to evaluate an older patient. Which of the following combinations of features is required to confirm the presence of delirium?
A.Acute onset/fluctuating course, inattention, AND either disorganized thinking OR altered level of consciousness.
B.Acute onset/fluctuating course, disorganized thinking, altered level of consciousness, AND memory impairment.
C.Inattention, disorganized thinking, psychomotor agitation, AND a history of dementia.
D.Gradual onset, inattention, flat affect, AND disorientation to place and time.
Explanation: The CAM diagnostic algorithm requires the presence of features 1 (acute onset and fluctuating course) AND 2 (inattention), and EITHER feature 3 (disorganized thinking) OR feature 4 (altered level of consciousness) to confirm delirium.

About the CNA Gerontological Nursing Exam

The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) Gerontological Nursing Certification (GNC(C)®) is the premier credential for registered nurses (RNs) and other eligible nursing professionals in Canada who demonstrate specialized expertise in caring for older adults. The exam evaluates a nurse's competency across seven key domains: Culture and Human Diversity, Assessment, Health Promotion and Risk Reduction, Illness and Disease Management, Ethical/Legal/Health System Issues, Professional Practice, and Information/Health Technologies. The exam focuses heavily on application-level and critical-thinking questions, assessing the candidate's clinical judgment in managing geriatric syndromes (e.g., delirium, dementia, polypharmacy, falls, skin breakdown) and applying evidence-based gerontological care models.

Assessment

Multiple-choice computer-based examination (approx. 165 questions, includes independent and case-based questions)

Time Limit

4.0 hours

Passing Score

Determined via psychometric equating (modified Angoff)

Exam Fee

$588 CAD (CNA member) / $780 CAD (non-member) application fee, plus $85 online (ProctorU) or $110 in-person writing appointment fee; rewrite $378 (member) / $500 (non-member). Applicable taxes extra. (Canadian Nurses Association (CNA))

CNA Gerontological Nursing Exam Content Outline

8%

Culture and Human Diversity

Individualizing care to incorporate older adults' cultural, social, and spiritual values and beliefs.

20%

Assessment

Using age-appropriate tools to perform comprehensive physical, functional, cognitive, and psychosocial assessments.

25%

Health Promotion and Risk Reduction

Promoting healthy aging, managing vaccines, assessing safety, and minimizing risk of decline.

25%

Illness and Disease Management

Caring for acute and chronic conditions, differentiating the 3 Ds (Delirium, Dementia, Depression), managing polypharmacy, and palliative care.

10%

Ethical, Legal and Health System Issues

Navigating consent, capacity, power of attorney, elder abuse, and advocacy in healthcare delivery.

6%

Professional Practice

Implementing evidence-based guidelines, collaborating with interprofessional teams, and leading geriatric care initiatives.

6%

Information and Health Technologies

Documenting health records, utilizing telehealth, and integrating assistive devices for mobility and sensory loss.

How to Pass the CNA Gerontological Nursing Exam

What You Need to Know

  • Passing score: Determined via psychometric equating (modified Angoff)
  • Assessment: Multiple-choice computer-based examination (approx. 165 questions, includes independent and case-based questions)
  • Time limit: 4.0 hours
  • Exam fee: $588 CAD (CNA member) / $780 CAD (non-member) application fee, plus $85 online (ProctorU) or $110 in-person writing appointment fee; rewrite $378 (member) / $500 (non-member). Applicable taxes extra.

Keys to Passing

  • Complete 500+ practice questions
  • Score 80%+ consistently before scheduling
  • Focus on highest-weighted sections
  • Use our AI tutor for tough concepts

CNA Gerontological Nursing Study Tips from Top Performers

1Study the difference between Delirium, Dementia, and Depression (the 3 Ds). Delirium has an acute onset, fluctuating course, and is a medical emergency, whereas dementia is gradual and progressive.
2Familiarize yourself with comprehensive geriatric assessment tools, such as the CAM (Confusion Assessment Method) for delirium, MoCA or MMSE for cognitive screening, and the Katz ADL index.
3Review age-related physiological changes and how they alter drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (Beers Criteria). Atypical presentation of disease, such as a UTI presenting as confusion or falls, is highly testable.
4Focus on ethics and law: understand substitute decision-maker (SDM) hierarchies, living wills, and the nurse's role in reporting suspected elder abuse under provincial legislation.
5Develop a study plan aligned with the CNA blueprint. Prioritize the high-weight sections, specifically Illness and Disease Management (25%) and Health Promotion (25%).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the format and duration of the GNC(C)® exam?

The GNC(C)® exam is a computer-based test containing approximately 165 multiple-choice questions. Candidates are given 4 hours (240 minutes) to complete the exam. It can be taken either at a Pearson VUE test center or online via remote proctoring.

What are the eligibility requirements for the CNA Gerontological Nursing certification?

To write the exam, candidates must hold a current, active RN, RPN/LPN, or NP license in Canada. Additionally, they must have either Option A: a minimum of 1,950 hours of gerontological nursing practice within the last 5 years, or Option B: a minimum of 1,000 hours of practice within the last 5 years plus a 300-hour post-basic specialty course in gerontological nursing completed in the last 10 years.

How is the passing score determined for the GNC(C)® exam?

The passing score is not a fixed percentage. It is determined using the modified Angoff method, where a panel of gerontological nursing experts establishes a baseline level of difficulty for a minimally competent candidate. Psychometric equating is then used to adjust for variations across different exam versions.

How long is the GNC(C)® certification valid?

The certification is valid for 5 years. To maintain the credential, nurses must apply for renewal either by documenting 100 continuous learning hours or by rewriting the certification exam.

What is the cost of the CNA Gerontological Nursing Certification Exam?

The standard exam fee is $570 CAD for CNA members and $756 CAD for non-members (plus applicable taxes). Reduced fees are available during promotional periods or if rewriting a previous attempt.