PATIENT CARE TECHNICIAN (PCT) CERTIFICATION
EXAM (NHA) COMPLETE PRACTICE EXAM QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS | COMPREHENSIVE STUDY GUIDE |
UPDATED 2026/2027
Examiner/Administrator: National Healthcareer Association (NHA)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
PATIENT CARE TECHNICIAN (PCT) CERTIFICATION
EXAM (NHA)
2026/2027 EDITION
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
COMPLETE PRACTICE EXAM
120 ORIGINAL MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
PASSING SCORE: 70%
TESTING TIME: 150 MINUTES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Safety, Infection Prevention & Standard Precautions
II. Patient Care Fundamentals
III. Vital Signs & Patient Assessment
IV. Phlebotomy Procedures
V. Electrocardiography (ECG/EKG)
VI. Specimen Collection & Laboratory Procedures
VII. Patient Mobility & Rehabilitation
VIII. Communication, Documentation & Professionalism
IX. Emergency Procedures & Basic Clinical Care
X. Ethics, Legal Responsibilities & Quality Improvement
,NATIONAL HEALTHCAREER ASSOCIATION (NHA) CERTIFICATION PREPARATION ||
ALIGNED WITH CURRENT NATIONAL COMPETENCY STANDARDS || HEALTHCARE
PROFESSIONAL STUDY GUIDE || 100% ORIGINAL PRACTICE QUESTIONS WITH
DETAILED RATIONALES || COMPREHENSIVE CERTIFICATION PREPARATION ||
PREPARED FOR PROFESSIONAL EXAMINATION USE || 2026/2027 EDITION
Questions 1–8 — Safety, Infection Prevention & Standard
Precautions
QUESTION 1
A patient admitted with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis is awaiting confirmation
testing. Which action by the patient care technician is most appropriate before
entering the room?
A. Wear clean gloves only.
B. Wear an N95 respirator after confirming proper fit.
C. Wear a surgical mask and face shield.
D. Wear sterile gloves and gown only.
Correct Answer: B. Wear an N95 respirator after confirming proper fit.
Explanation: Airborne diseases such as suspected tuberculosis require airborne
precautions, including a fit-tested N95 respirator before entering the patient's room.
Gloves and gowns may be needed depending on anticipated exposure but do not
replace respiratory protection. A surgical mask does not provide adequate airborne
protection, and sterile gloves are unnecessary for routine patient care.
QUESTION 2
While disposing of a used needle after venipuncture, the technician accidentally
experiences a needlestick injury. What should be the immediate first action?
A. Finish charting before reporting.
,B. Wash the area thoroughly with soap and water.
C. Apply a tourniquet above the injury.
D. Cover the injury and continue working.
Correct Answer: B. Wash the area thoroughly with soap and water.
Explanation: Immediate cleansing of the injury with soap and water reduces
contamination risk. The exposure should then be reported promptly according to
facility protocol for evaluation and possible post-exposure management. Delaying
reporting or continuing work without evaluation may compromise timely treatment.
QUESTION 3
Which patient situation requires implementation of contact precautions?
A. Seasonal influenza
B. Active measles
C. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus wound infection
D. Pulmonary tuberculosis
Correct Answer: C. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) wound
infection.
Explanation: MRSA commonly requires contact precautions to prevent transmission
through direct or indirect contact. Influenza generally requires droplet precautions,
measles requires airborne precautions, and tuberculosis also requires airborne
precautions.
QUESTION 4
A patient care technician notices that an alcohol-based hand sanitizer dispenser is
empty before entering a patient's room. Which action best supports infection
, prevention?
A. Enter the room immediately.
B. Skip hand hygiene if gloves will be worn.
C. Wash hands with soap and water before patient contact.
D. Use only a paper towel.
Correct Answer: C. Wash hands with soap and water before patient contact.
Explanation: Hand hygiene remains the single most effective measure to prevent
healthcare-associated infections. Gloves do not replace hand hygiene. If sanitizer is
unavailable, washing with soap and water is the appropriate alternative.
QUESTION 5
A patient with profuse diarrhea caused by Clostridioides difficile requires frequent
care. Which hand hygiene method is preferred after glove removal?
A. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer only
B. Soap and water
C. Antiseptic wipes only
D. No hand hygiene is necessary
Correct Answer: B. Soap and water.
Explanation: Soap and water are recommended after caring for patients with C.
difficile because alcohol-based sanitizers are less effective against bacterial spores.
Proper handwashing physically removes spores from the hands.
QUESTION 6
EXAM (NHA) COMPLETE PRACTICE EXAM QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS | COMPREHENSIVE STUDY GUIDE |
UPDATED 2026/2027
Examiner/Administrator: National Healthcareer Association (NHA)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
PATIENT CARE TECHNICIAN (PCT) CERTIFICATION
EXAM (NHA)
2026/2027 EDITION
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
COMPLETE PRACTICE EXAM
120 ORIGINAL MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
PASSING SCORE: 70%
TESTING TIME: 150 MINUTES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Safety, Infection Prevention & Standard Precautions
II. Patient Care Fundamentals
III. Vital Signs & Patient Assessment
IV. Phlebotomy Procedures
V. Electrocardiography (ECG/EKG)
VI. Specimen Collection & Laboratory Procedures
VII. Patient Mobility & Rehabilitation
VIII. Communication, Documentation & Professionalism
IX. Emergency Procedures & Basic Clinical Care
X. Ethics, Legal Responsibilities & Quality Improvement
,NATIONAL HEALTHCAREER ASSOCIATION (NHA) CERTIFICATION PREPARATION ||
ALIGNED WITH CURRENT NATIONAL COMPETENCY STANDARDS || HEALTHCARE
PROFESSIONAL STUDY GUIDE || 100% ORIGINAL PRACTICE QUESTIONS WITH
DETAILED RATIONALES || COMPREHENSIVE CERTIFICATION PREPARATION ||
PREPARED FOR PROFESSIONAL EXAMINATION USE || 2026/2027 EDITION
Questions 1–8 — Safety, Infection Prevention & Standard
Precautions
QUESTION 1
A patient admitted with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis is awaiting confirmation
testing. Which action by the patient care technician is most appropriate before
entering the room?
A. Wear clean gloves only.
B. Wear an N95 respirator after confirming proper fit.
C. Wear a surgical mask and face shield.
D. Wear sterile gloves and gown only.
Correct Answer: B. Wear an N95 respirator after confirming proper fit.
Explanation: Airborne diseases such as suspected tuberculosis require airborne
precautions, including a fit-tested N95 respirator before entering the patient's room.
Gloves and gowns may be needed depending on anticipated exposure but do not
replace respiratory protection. A surgical mask does not provide adequate airborne
protection, and sterile gloves are unnecessary for routine patient care.
QUESTION 2
While disposing of a used needle after venipuncture, the technician accidentally
experiences a needlestick injury. What should be the immediate first action?
A. Finish charting before reporting.
,B. Wash the area thoroughly with soap and water.
C. Apply a tourniquet above the injury.
D. Cover the injury and continue working.
Correct Answer: B. Wash the area thoroughly with soap and water.
Explanation: Immediate cleansing of the injury with soap and water reduces
contamination risk. The exposure should then be reported promptly according to
facility protocol for evaluation and possible post-exposure management. Delaying
reporting or continuing work without evaluation may compromise timely treatment.
QUESTION 3
Which patient situation requires implementation of contact precautions?
A. Seasonal influenza
B. Active measles
C. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus wound infection
D. Pulmonary tuberculosis
Correct Answer: C. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) wound
infection.
Explanation: MRSA commonly requires contact precautions to prevent transmission
through direct or indirect contact. Influenza generally requires droplet precautions,
measles requires airborne precautions, and tuberculosis also requires airborne
precautions.
QUESTION 4
A patient care technician notices that an alcohol-based hand sanitizer dispenser is
empty before entering a patient's room. Which action best supports infection
, prevention?
A. Enter the room immediately.
B. Skip hand hygiene if gloves will be worn.
C. Wash hands with soap and water before patient contact.
D. Use only a paper towel.
Correct Answer: C. Wash hands with soap and water before patient contact.
Explanation: Hand hygiene remains the single most effective measure to prevent
healthcare-associated infections. Gloves do not replace hand hygiene. If sanitizer is
unavailable, washing with soap and water is the appropriate alternative.
QUESTION 5
A patient with profuse diarrhea caused by Clostridioides difficile requires frequent
care. Which hand hygiene method is preferred after glove removal?
A. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer only
B. Soap and water
C. Antiseptic wipes only
D. No hand hygiene is necessary
Correct Answer: B. Soap and water.
Explanation: Soap and water are recommended after caring for patients with C.
difficile because alcohol-based sanitizers are less effective against bacterial spores.
Proper handwashing physically removes spores from the hands.
QUESTION 6
