At NHA, we constantly listen to our stakeholders and clients to ensure that our certification exams and learning resources meet the industry's needs. Recently, NHA has received several comments from institutions that their students were having difficulty meeting the Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT) exam eligibility requirement that states that ten capillary sticks must be completed on live individuals. It has been noted and shared that fewer patient care sites are doing capillary sticks, creating a barrier for individual learners to achieve certification.

This topic was recently discussed at an NHA Certification Board meeting, and it was confirmed that while schools should continue teaching capillary sticks, finger sticks are more prevalent. NHA recognizes that many patient care sites still perform capillary sticks; however, the board has modified the CPT eligibility requirement to state the following:

"For the CPT certification, you must be able to provide evidence that you have successfully performed a minimum of thirty (30) venipunctures and ten (10) capillary or finger sticks on live individuals."

For more information about certification exam eligibility requirements or to review the updated language, click here to access NHA's Candidate Handbook.