EKG Technician Practice Test

EKG Safety, Compliance & Patient Care Practice Questions

Safety, Compliance & Patient Care makes up 16 of every 50 questions on a Tigertest EKG practice test. Here are 10 of the 64 questions on it, each with the answer and the reason.

Updated 2026-11-10 by the Tigertest team. Weighted to the NHA CET test plan. Rhythm items describe the strip in words; practice with real tracings too.

1. 1. A technician must step away briefly, and a completed 12-lead with the patient's name is lying on a hallway counter. The technician should:

   • A.Ask a passing visitor to keep an eye on it
   • B.Take the tracing along or turn it face down
   • C.Leave it, since only staff use that hallway
   • D.Black out the name and leave it there

   Answer: B. HIPAA requires reasonable safeguards, so a tracing with identifiers is never left where others can see it. Blacking out the name still leaves the record unsecured and alters a medical document.

2. 2. A technician opens the EMR to enter demographics for an ordered EKG. Under the HIPAA minimum necessary standard, the technician should view:

   • A.Any record the login allows the technician to open
   • B.The complete chart to understand the patient's history
   • C.All notes from the patient's prior admissions
   • D.Only the information needed to perform the EKG

   Answer: D. The minimum necessary standard limits use of protected health information to what the task requires. Having system access to a record does not make viewing it necessary for the job.

3. 3. After an EKG, the patient's adult daughter asks the technician whether her father's tracing looked normal. The best response is to:

   • A.Refer her to the provider, who discusses results
   • B.Describe the rhythm in simple, nontechnical terms
   • C.Tell her it looked normal so she will not worry
   • D.Show her the tracing, since she is family

   Answer: A. Technicians do not interpret tracings, and results reach family only through the provider with the patient's permission. Being a relative does not by itself authorize disclosure.

4. 4. A patient's employer calls asking for a copy of the patient's recent EKG for a fitness-for-duty file. The technician should:

   • A.Read the computer interpretation over the phone instead
   • B.Send it if the caller can confirm the patient's date of birth
   • C.Release nothing without the patient's signed authorization
   • D.Fax it, since the employer arranged the visit

   Answer: C. An employer is not part of the treatment team, so HIPAA requires the patient's written authorization before release. Knowing the date of birth proves nothing about the caller's right to the record.

5. 5. Two technicians in a crowded elevator discuss an unusual arrhythmia they just recorded, mentioning the room number but not the name. This is:

   • A.A concern only if the patient overhears it
   • B.Acceptable, because the patient's name was never used
   • C.A privacy risk, since details can identify the patient
   • D.Acceptable, because both technicians are on the care team

   Answer: C. Room numbers and clinical details can identify a patient, so case discussions belong in private areas. Being on the care team allows discussing the case, but not in a public space.

6. 6. A technician wants to post an unusual tracing in an online EKG group after cropping the name but leaving the date, age, and facility header. The technician should:

   • A.Not post it, since remaining details can identify the patient
   • B.Post it only in a private group of coworkers
   • C.Post it once the patient has been discharged
   • D.Post it, since cropping out the name makes the tracing anonymous

   Answer: A. Dates, age, and the facility name can identify a patient, and posting protected information on social media violates HIPAA and facility policy. A private group or a later discharge does not remove those identifiers.

7. 7. A technician sees on the unit census that a neighbor was admitted to the cardiac unit and wonders how the neighbor's EKG looked. The technician may:

   • A.View only the EKG, not the rest of the chart
   • B.Open the chart if nobody else is told
   • C.Look at the chart only after clocking out, on a personal break
   • D.Not open the record, since the neighbor is not their patient

   Answer: D. EMR access is permitted only for patients in the technician's care and only for job duties, and audit logs record every view. Looking at just the EKG is still unauthorized access.

8. 8. A technician realizes that an EKG report with patient identifiers was faxed to the wrong outside number. The technician should first:

   • A.Call the patient directly to explain the error
   • B.Report it promptly to the supervisor or privacy officer
   • C.Say nothing, since the recipient will likely discard it
   • D.Fax it to the correct number and move on

   Answer: B. A misdirected fax is a possible breach that the organization must assess and, if required, report. The privacy officer, not the technician alone, decides on patient notification.

9. 9. A technician is performing EKGs on two patients in a semiprivate room. Hand hygiene is required:

   • A.Only after the second patient, and only if hands look soiled
   • B.Before and after each patient and after removing gloves
   • C.Only before touching the EKG machine controls
   • D.Only when a patient is on isolation precautions

   Answer: B. Hand hygiene before and after every patient contact and after glove removal prevents cross-transmission. Gloves can have tiny defects, so wearing them never replaces hand hygiene.

10. 10. A technician has a fresh paper cut on one finger and is about to place electrodes on a patient. The technician should:

    • A.Proceed bare-handed, since electrodes are not sharps
    • B.Skip skin prep to reduce contact time
    • C.Ask the patient to apply the chest electrodes
    • D.Cover the cut and wear gloves

    Answer: D. Standard precautions call for gloves whenever the worker's skin is not intact. Skipping skin prep would cause artifact and still leaves the broken skin unprotected.