What is on the CNA exam? The domains, explained
The CNA written exam tests five domains: physical care skills, psychosocial care, the role of the nurse aide, safety, and specialised care for residents whose health changes. Physical care alone is about half of the score.
The five domains
| Domain | Weight | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Physical care skills | About 50% | Hygiene, dressing, nutrition, elimination, rest, infection control, safety, procedures, data collection |
| Psychosocial care | About 13% | Emotional and mental health needs, spiritual and cultural needs |
| Role of the nurse aide | About 25% | Communication, client rights, legal and ethical behaviour, being part of the team |
| Promotion of safety | Included above | Hazards, injuries, safety devices, infection prevention, emergencies, fire |
| Specialised care | About 14% | Residents with physical or psychological changes, dying residents, post-mortem care |
What a question actually looks like
Most questions are situations, not definitions. You are told what a client is doing, and asked for the first or best action. For example: a client is found on the floor. The right answer is to call for help and stay with them, not to help them up, because moving them could worsen a spinal injury.
Notice what makes that hard: three answers are plausible. The exam is testing whether you know the safe order, not whether you have heard of a fall.
What is not on the exam
You are not tested on diagnosing, prescribing, or deciding a care plan. Those are outside the CNA scope, and any answer that has you doing them is wrong. If an option says "give medication", "change the dressing without an order" or "tell the family the diagnosis", it is almost always a distractor.
How to use the breakdown
Physical care is half the exam, so it deserves half your study time. Infection control and safety are embedded everywhere, which is why they show up in questions that look like personal care. And the role-of-the-aide questions are free points if you know the boundaries: report, never diagnose, never medicate, never restrain without an order.
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Start the free checkQuestions people also ask
Do all states use the same domains?
The names differ slightly, but the content is the same across NNAAP, Prometric and HeadMaster.
Are there maths questions?
Rarely. You may be asked to read a temperature, a weight or a fluid amount, but not to calculate doses.