This CNA cheat sheet distills the nurse aide certification exam — both the written knowledge test and the hands-on skills evaluation — into a printable rundown of the facts and skill steps candidates miss most. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Reinforce it with the rest of your free CNA toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
CNA exam at a glance
- Format: Written/oral knowledge test + hands-on skills evaluation
- Skills: 5 randomly selected skills (hand hygiene is nearly always one)
- Passing: Varies by state (both parts must be passed)
- Attempts: Usually up to 3 within a set window
What’s on the CNA cheat sheet
- Physical Care Skills — activities of daily living, basic nursing skills, restorative care, and taking accurate vital signs.
- Psychosocial Care Skills — emotional and mental health needs plus spiritual and cultural sensitivity for residents.
- Role of the Nurse Aide — communication, resident rights, legal and ethical behavior, and being a member of the care team.
- Hands-On Skills Evaluation — the checklist steps — indirect care (hand washing, privacy, safety) count on every skill you perform.
How to use it in your final week
- Rehearse the indirect-care steps until they're automatic — hand hygiene, privacy, call light in reach, bed lowered, and resident comfort are graded on every skill you perform.
- Practice all skills on the checklist out loud, not just the common ones — only 5 are drawn at random on test day, so you can't predict which you'll get.
- Drill vital signs and normal ranges the morning of the exam — accurate measurement and reporting is high-yield on the written test.
- Pair each review pass with the practice test so the knowledge facts and the skills sequence both stay sharp under time pressure.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your CNA practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
CNA cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the CNA cheat sheet is 100% free to download as a PDF, with no sign-up required. It's part of Career Employer's free CNA toolkit alongside the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
The cheat sheet condenses the highest-yield nurse aide facts into a quick reference: infection control and hand hygiene, patient safety, resident rights, vital signs, and the indirect-care steps scored on the hands-on skills evaluation — organized around the written knowledge test and the skills checklist.
It's built from the current NNAAP/state nurse aide candidate handbooks and CMS competency-evaluation requirements. Because passing standards, skills lists, and attempt limits are set state by state, we keep it aligned to the common testing standards and review it regularly.
No — the cheat sheet is a review and last-week cram aid, not a substitute for practicing the hands-on skills out loud and by hand. You must pass both the written (or oral) knowledge test and the skills evaluation, so use the sheet to reinforce facts and steps, and the practice test to build readiness.
Click the download button (or the preview card) at the top of this page to open the PDF instantly. Bookmark this page so you can find it again in the last week before your test date.
References
- 1.Credentia. “Nurse Aide Certification Exam (NNAAP / state candidate handbook).” Credentia, 2026. ↑
- 2.CMS. “Nurse Aide Training & Competency Evaluation Program (NATCEP) Requirements.” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (cms.gov), 2026. ↑
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