This EKG Technician cheat sheet distills the NHA Certified EKG Technician (CET) test plan into a printable rundown of the facts examiners test 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 EKG Technician toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
EKG Technician exam at a glance
- Certifying body: National Healthcareer Association (NHA), awarding the Certified EKG Technician (CET)
- Questions: 120 items (100 scored + 20 unscored pretest)
- Time: About 2 hours
- Passing score: Scaled 200–500; you need a 390 to pass
- Cost: ~$117 exam fee (dated anchor — verify on the NHA application; cert maintenance ~$8/month)
What’s on the EKG Technician cheat sheet
- EKG Acquisition (44%) — cardiac anatomy and conduction, the 10-electrode 12-lead layout and V1–V6 positions, skin prep and standardization, artifact troubleshooting, and Holter/stress/telemetry — the largest domain.
- Safety, Compliance & Coordinated Patient Care (32%) — HIPAA and PHI, scope of practice, infection control and standard precautions, the two-identifier rule, and emergency response.
- EKG Analysis & Interpretation (24%) — the P-QRS-T waveform, intervals and segments, the three rate methods, and recognizing sinus, atrial, junctional, and ventricular rhythms plus AV blocks.
How to use it in your final week
- Front-load EKG Acquisition — it is 44% of the scored items. Drill the 10-electrode 12-lead layout, the V1–V6 chest positions, and skin-prep and standardization values until they are automatic.
- Burn in the rate shortcuts: memorize 300-150-100-75-60-50 for the 300 method, and the 6-second method (QRS in a 6-second strip × 10) for irregular rhythms like atrial fibrillation.
- Run the artifact trio from the sheet — wandering baseline (slow drift), muscle tremor (fuzzy spikes), and AC 60-cycle interference (uniform fuzz) — naming each by its look and its fix.
- Read the sheet the morning of the test for a final pass on the safety hooks: two patient identifiers (name + date of birth, never the room number), never recap sharps by hand, and the technician reports rhythms but does not diagnose.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your EKG Technician 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.
EKG Technician cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the EKG Technician cheat sheet is 100% free to download as a PDF, with no sign-up required. It's part of Career Employer's free EKG Technician toolkit alongside the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
It condenses the highest-yield facts the NHA CET tests into a printable quick reference: the cardiac conduction pathway, 10-electrode 12-lead placement, EKG paper and standardization values, the three heart-rate methods, common rhythms, and the safety and HIPAA essentials — grouped by the three official domains.
It's built around the NHA Certified EKG Technician (CET), the most widely recognized credential, but the core facts — lead placement, rhythm recognition, intervals, and patient safety — transfer almost exactly to the NCCT National Certified ECG Technician (NCET) and the AMCA EKG Technician Certification. Prep with the sheet and confirm your board's specifics before you apply.
It's built from the current NHA CET test plan and standard cardiology references, and we review it regularly. Question counts, fees, and policies change and differ by board, so verify your exam's details on the certifying body's site.
No — the cheat sheet is a review and last-week cram aid, not a substitute for working practice questions and drilling lead placement. The NHA CET reports a scaled score from 200 to 500 and you need a 390 to pass, so use the sheet to lock in facts and the practice test to build readiness.
References
- 1.National Healthcareer Association (NHA). “Certified EKG Technician (CET).” nhanow.com, 2026. ↑
- 2.National Healthcareer Association (NHA). “Certified EKG Technician (CET) Test Plan.” nhanow.com, 2026. ↑
- 3.National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT). “National Certified ECG Technician (NCET).” ncctinc.com, 2026. ↑
- 4.National Institutes of Health / National Library of Medicine. “StatPearls & MedlinePlus (ECG, cardiac anatomy, arrhythmias, lead placement).” NIH/NLM, 2026. ↑
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