NHA CET Practice Questions 2026: 8 Exam-Style Items Explained

Answer: A — The right and left arm electrodes are reversed

Swapping the arm electrodes turns lead I upside down, swaps aVR with aVL and lead II with lead III, and leaves the chest leads untouched. A negative lead I with an upright aVR but normal precordial progression is the classic signature. Check the electrode labels, correct them and repeat the tracing before it goes to the provider.

• B. Dextrocardia also inverts lead I, but it causes loss of R-wave progression across V1-V6; here the chest leads are normal.
• C. A loose ground electrode adds noise or AC interference across the tracing; it does not cleanly invert lead I.
• D. High V1-V2 placement changes only the chest leads; it cannot invert a limb lead.

Answer: A — Somatic tremor (muscle) artifact; have him remove the gum and relax

Skeletal muscle activity, including chewing, talking, shivering and tremor, adds irregular, jagged deflections to the baseline. The fix is to remove the cause: take out the gum and have the patient lie relaxed, warm and supported. The timing with jaw movement points to muscle, not to the equipment.

• B. Wandering baseline is a slow up-and-down drift of the whole tracing, usually from breathing, lotion or loose electrodes, not fine fuzz.
• C. AC interference is a uniform, regular thickening of the line (60 cycles per second) that does not change with patient movement.
• D. An interrupted baseline shows gaps or sudden breaks from a broken wire or detached electrode, not continuous fuzz.

Answer: B — Tilt her toward her left side with a wedge or pillow under her right hip

Late in pregnancy, the uterus can compress the inferior vena cava when the patient lies flat, reducing blood return to the heart and causing supine hypotension. A left lateral tilt with a wedge under the right hip relieves the compression while keeping her close enough to supine for a standard tracing. Note the position on the tracing.

• A. Staying supine keeps the vena cava compressed and can worsen her symptoms.
• C. Chest electrodes stay at their anatomic landmarks; moving them onto the abdomen changes the tracing.
• D. A simple position change usually resolves supine hypotension; delay only if her symptoms persist or she is in distress.

Answer: B — 4th intercostal space, left sternal border

V1 and V2 sit on either side of the sternum in the 4th intercostal space: V1 at the right sternal border, V2 at the left. Find the 4th space by locating the sternal angle (angle of Louis), which is level with the 2nd rib, and counting down. Placing V1 and V2 too high is one of the most common acquisition errors.

• A. That is V1, the mirror image of V2 across the sternum.
• C. That is V4.
• D. That is V6.

Answer: B — 0.20 seconds

At 25 mm/sec, each 1 mm small box equals 0.04 seconds. A large box is 5 small boxes, so it equals 0.20 seconds, and 5 large boxes make 1 second. That is why 30 large boxes make a 6-second strip.

• A. 0.04 seconds is one small box.
• C. 0.50 seconds is two and a half large boxes.
• D. 1 second is five large boxes.

Answer: A — Inferior wall

Leads II, III and aVF view the inferior wall of the left ventricle, which is usually supplied by the right coronary artery. ST elevation there, with reciprocal depression in I and aVL, points to an inferior STEMI. The technician stays with the patient, calls for help and gets the tracing to the provider immediately.

• B. Anterior injury shows in V3 and V4.
• C. Lateral injury shows in I, aVL, V5 and V6; here I and aVL show reciprocal depression, not elevation.
• D. Septal injury shows in V1 and V2.

Answer: C — Report the wheezing and inhaler use to the supervising provider before the test starts

Adenosine can trigger bronchospasm, and active wheezing in a patient with asthma is a reason to reconsider the agent. Whether to proceed, delay or use a different stressor is the provider's decision. The technician's job is to gather the information and report it before the drug is given.

• A. Wheezing today means her airways are reactive right now; proceeding without telling the provider ignores a known adenosine risk.
• B. A fixed waiting period is not a protocol, and timing decisions belong to the provider.
• D. Changing the type of stress test changes the order, which is outside the technician's scope.

Answer: A — Stop the treadmill, call for help, and check breathing and pulse

Loss of consciousness during exercise is an emergency, so the exercise stops immediately. Following AHA BLS, the rescuer shouts for help and activates the emergency response, then checks breathing and a pulse together for no more than 10 seconds. If there is no pulse, start CPR and get the defibrillator.

• B. Running the protocol on an unresponsive patient is never appropriate; the test ends at once.
• C. Watching the monitor for 30 seconds delays help and CPR; a pulse check takes no more than 10 seconds.
• D. Finishing the protocol ignores a life-threatening emergency.