Applicants who received formal medical services training in the health field while training or serving in any branch of the military meet the educational training requirements as long as their training was completed within the last five years. Training received through the military will require relevant work experience in conjunction with the training.

Work experience will include a minimum of one year of experience working in a health services field approved by the NHA. This period of hands-on work experience has to have been completed within the last three years.

Evidence of Skills

During your certified training course, or through your work experience, you will have to have completed a minimum of 30 successful venipunctures and 10 successful capillary sticks.

The blood draws will have to have been performed on live persons, and you will need to provide evidence of the punctures and sticks.

Certified Phlebotomy Technician Exam Outline

The CPT test is divided into five sections. You will need to have core knowledge that may be used in any portion or section of the test to assess your basic knowledge, including:

• The role of a CPT in laboratory testing situations
• The role a phlebotomist plays in patient care
• Medical terminology a phlebotomist must be familiar with
• Aseptic techniques
• The components of blood, such as serum, plasma, whole blood, etc.
• The blood grouping systems
• Anatomy and physiology of the heart and pulmonary system
• Vascular anatomy that is phlebotomy related, such as hand, foot, or antecubital fossa
• Hemostasis and the process of coagulation
• How pre-analytical errors affect test results
• Needlestick safety and prevention
• Documentation and reporting
• Verbal communication
• Non-verbal communication
• Patient characteristics that might affect communication
• Professionalism
• NHA code of ethics

Questions in each section will assess the knowledge, information, and concepts a phlebotomist must know, as well as tasks or duties that a phlebotomist must be able to perform.

I. Safety and Compliance

The Safety and Compliance section of the CPT exam focuses on the various hazards of working with blood specimens and how to be in compliance with safety regulations. Here’s a look at the details you’ll be asked about in this section:

• Adherence to regulations such as OSHA, HIPPA, operational standards, ethical standards
• Quality control
• Sharps disposal
• PPE
• Hand hygiene
• Infection control
• Exposure control

II. Patient Preparation

The Patient Preparation section of the CPT exam focuses on introducing yourself to the patient, explaining procedures, determining the best collection site, and verifying patient compliance. Here’s a closer look at the details of this section:

• Interaction with patient
• Receiving consent
• Identifying special considerations
• Determining collection site
• Instructions to patients performing non-blood specimens
• Timing requirements

III. Routine Blood Collections

The Routine Blood Collections section of the CPT exam focuses on day-to-day tasks, labeling specimens, post-procedure patient care, tourniquet application, and order of draw on a venipuncture. Here’s a look at the details of this section:

• Equipment assembly
• Following order of draw on venipuncture
• Applying antiseptic agent
• Labeling
• Post-procedure care

IV. Special Collections

The Special Collections section of the CPT exam focuses on atypical blood collections, peripheral blood smears, blood culture collections, and collections for blood donations. Here’s a closer look at what this section of the test pertains to:

• Non-blood specimen
• Skin preparation
• Volume requirements

V. Processing

The Processing section of the CPT exam focuses on the guidelines and procedures used after the specimen is obtained. Specifically, these are the main points that this section will cover:

• Chain of custody guidelines
• Handling, storage, and disposal of specimens
• Centrifugal techniques
• Input and retrieval of specimen data in the information system

Retaking the Certified Phlebotomy Technician Exam

First Retake

If you do not have a passing grade after the first attempt, you will need to wait thirty days before you will be eligible to retake the test.

Second Retake

If you do not have a passing grade after the second attempt, you will need to wait an additional thirty days before you will be eligible to retake the exam a second time.

Third Retake

If you do not have a passing grade after the third attempt, you will need to wait twelve months before you will be eligible to retake the exam a fourth time.

Fourth Retake

After the fourth attempt at taking the exam, you will have a mandatory waiting time of twelve months before you can apply to take the test again.