This free CRNA cheat sheet boils the NBCRNA National Certification Examination down to a printable rundown of what examiners test most, mapped to the four official content areas. 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 CRNA toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
CRNA exam at a glance
- Questions: 100-170 (variable-length, computer adaptive; minimum 100)
- Time: 3 hours maximum
- Scoring: Pass/fail, adaptive standard (no fixed %); adjusted eff. July 1, 2026
- Cost: $1,310 NCE (includes $160 MAC Check); $1,150 retake — verify at NBCRNA.com
What’s on the CRNA cheat sheet
- Basic Sciences (20%) — cardiovascular, respiratory, CNS and acid-base physiology, pharmacology principles, and applied physics and gas laws.
- Equipment, Instrumentation & Technology (20%) — the anesthesia machine and gas supply, breathing circuits and absorbents, monitoring, and airway equipment.
- General Principles of Anesthesia (35%) — the largest area — inhaled and IV anesthetics, opioids and NMBAs, regional, critical events, and professional/ethical/legal.
- Surgical Procedures & Special Populations (25%) — subspecialty, obstetric, pediatric, geriatric, and trauma anesthesia.
How to use it in your final week
- Front-load General Principles of Anesthesia — at 35% it is the single largest content area, so anesthetic pharmacology, airway, and critical-event management earn you the most.
- Print the sheet next to your practice questions: skim one content area, then immediately drill that area so the numbers and drug facts stick.
- Do a fast morning-of pass on the memory hooks — MAC values, blood:gas order, TOF ≥ 0.9 for extubation, and the MH-to-dantrolene chain.
- Never cram in isolation — pair every review pass with timed, adaptive-style items so reasoning through dosing and hemodynamics stays automatic.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your CRNA 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.
CRNA cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — this CRNA cheat sheet is a 100% free PDF download with no sign-up and no account required. It sits alongside Career Employer's free CRNA toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
It condenses the highest-yield NBCRNA NCE facts into a quick reference organized by the four content areas — Basic Sciences, Equipment and Technology, General Principles of Anesthesia, and Anesthesia for Surgical Procedures and Special Populations. You get the blueprint weights, core anesthesia pharmacology, airway and monitoring essentials, and the critical numbers examiners lean on.
No. The NCE is a variable-length computerized adaptive test scored pass/fail against a fixed ability standard, so there is no set percentage to hit. The engine serves items until it can confidently place you above or below the standard. Note that NBCRNA adjusted the passing standard effective July 1, 2026, though exam content and format are unchanged.
No — the NCE tests applied clinical judgment across the full breadth of anesthesia practice, not memorized facts, and its adaptive design meets correct answers with harder ones. Use the cheat sheet to lock in the essentials, then build readiness with full-length, blueprint-weighted practice questions.
Click the download button or the preview card at the top of this page and the PDF opens instantly. Bookmark the page so you can pull it up again the week of your exam.
References
- 1.National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists. “NCE Resources (Handbook & Content Outline).” NBCRNA.com, 2026. ↑
- 2.National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists. “NCE Content Outline (effective for exams on or after 1/2/2024).” NBCRNA.com, 2024. ↑
- 3.National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists. “NCE Passing Standard.” NBCRNA.com, 2026. ↑
- 4.National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists. “2026 Fee Schedule.” NBCRNA.com, 2026. ↑
- 5.Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs. “Requirements to Practice as a Nurse Anesthetist in the U.S..” COAcrna.org, 2026. ↑
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