If your dream career involves working in the healthcare industry, then becoming a Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT) will open doors. Medical, dental, pharmacy, or physician assistant (PA) schools look for applicants who have experience working with patients in a healthcare environment. Getting your phlebotomy certification allows you to work in a variety of settings, including a hospital, clinic, blood donation site, lab, and doctor’s office.
Whether you want to add phlebotomy to your resume to improve your employment opportunities or meet graduate school prerequisites, your best option is to pass the NHA Phlebotomy Exam.
What is the NHA Phlebotomy Exam?
The National Healthcare Association (NHA) CPT Phlebotomy Exam tests for the knowledge and skills necessary to work as a phlebotomy technician. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in this field will continue to grow at a faster-than-average rate over the next few years.
What that means for those entering the healthcare industry is that there is a growing demand for trained phlebotomists. Getting your certification by taking the NHA CPT Phlebotomy Exam moves you to the top of the candidate list for employment in this field. In some states, certification is a requirement for employment as a phlebotomist.
NHA is a nationally accredited provider of medical certifications such as CPT. As a graduate of ACT’s online phlebotomy technician certification course, you meet the requirements to sit for this critical exam. The cost of the exam is included in the affordable tuition for the course, and NHA certification is accepted throughout the country.
What to Expect When Taking the NHA CPT Exam?
It is normal to have questions when considering a national certification exam. For example, you might ask, “How many questions are on the NHA Phlebotomy Exam?” and “Is the NHA Phlebotomy Exam hard?”
At Advanced eClinical Training, we aim to support you as you prepare to take your certification test. A practical place to start is by providing some basic information about the exam.
The NHA CPT Exam has 120 multiple-choice questions broken down into five categories. Within each section, there are two types of questions:
- Knowledge statement – Information you should know to be a phlebotomist
- Task statements – Questions regarding tasks you perform as a phlebotomist
Each section has a set number of each, such as:
- Safety and Compliance – 15 knowledge and 14 task statements related directly to safety precautions when drawing blood.
- Patient Preparation – 12 knowledge and 10 task statements regarding preparing patients before taking samples.
- Routine Blood Collections – 22 knowledge and 16 task statements that cover the regular responsibilities of a phlebotomist.
- Special Collections – 15 knowledge statements and 7 task statements discussing atypical blood collections such as donations or blood smears.
- Processing – 8 knowledge and 7 task statements about specimen processing after collection.
There is also a section on core knowledge and skills. The core knowledge topics cover basics such as:
- Medical terminology
- Blood components
- Vascular anatomy as it relates to phlebotomy collection
- Hemostasis and coagulation
- How phlebotomy technicians fit in the laboratory testing schematic
- What role does CPT play in patient care
- Blood groups
- Cardiovascular system
- How pre-analytical errors impact testing
- Needlestick Safety and Prevention ActAseptic techniques
- Documentation and reporting
- Patient characteristics impacting communication
- Professionalism
- Ethical standards
- Verbal and non-verbal communication
As well as 20 pretest questions that NHA uses in their data collection efforts. You have two hours to complete the exam.
About NHA Phlebotomy Exam Scoring
NHA assigns a value to each question on the test based on difficulty. With this scaled scoring system, the ranges fall between a low 200 to a perfect score of 500. The NHA phlebotomy exam passing score is 390.
How to Prepare for the NHA Phlebotomy Exam
ACT sets you up for success at a price you can afford with our phlebotomy technician certification course. This program allows you to master the knowledge and skills necessary to pass the exam in just eight weeks.
Like many ACT courses for NHA certification, the phlebotomy program is self-paced. This allows you to work on the modules in your own time and at a comfortable speed. As a CPT student, you can access the course materials 24-7 and from anywhere.
You will also be able to take advantage of expert instructors and mentors to get guidance when you need it. These healthcare professionals will sustain you throughout your study to become a CPT.
At the end of the online medical certification course, you’ll complete a robust exam prep module. You’ll have resources to help you study for the NHA CPT Certification Exam and support from instructors when needed. The prep assets include:
- Practice exams
- Adaptive knowledge assessments
- Comprehensive checkpoints
Through the ACT course, you also participate in an externship program that allows you to gain real-world clinical experience. You’ll work with a local healthcare partner to complete 30 venipunctures and 10 capillary sticks on a live person.
In addition, you’ll receive a phlebotomy simulation kit to use as you study. This gives you hands-on practice and reinforcement of your phlebotomy skills at home.
When ready, you can access the NHA Exam portal as part of the ACT Phlebotomy Technician Certification Course. You’ll have the results in a day or two once you complete the test. If you fail to pass, you can do more prep and retake the exam when ready.
Enroll now and jump-start your healthcare career as an NHS-certified phlebotomy technician
