CDN Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the CDN exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 CDN Exam Format at a Glance
📚 CDN Topics to Study (39)
✍️ Sample CDN Questions & Answers
1. Which erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) is most commonly used to treat anemia of chronic kidney disease in dialysis patients?
Epoetin alfa is the most widely used ESA for dialysis-associated anemia, stimulating bone marrow production of red blood cells.
2. During hemodialysis, the blood pump stops and blood is observed to be dark in the arterial line. What is the most likely cause?
Dark, de-oxygenated blood backing up in the arterial line suggests the arterial needle has clotted or dislodged, severely limiting blood flow.
3. What interdialytic weight gain is generally considered the maximum acceptable limit for a hemodialysis patient?
Interdialytic weight gain up to 3–5% of dry body weight is generally considered acceptable, though lower gains are associated with better outcomes.
4. IV iron supplementation is indicated in dialysis patients when ferritin is below what threshold despite ESA therapy?
IV iron is commonly indicated when serum ferritin is below 200 ng/mL or transferrin saturation is below 20%, suggesting functional iron deficiency limiting ESA response.
5. What is the most common cause of ESA hyporesponsiveness (failure to achieve target hemoglobin despite adequate ESA doses) in dialysis patients?
Iron deficiency is by far the most frequent cause of ESA hyporesponsiveness because adequate iron supply is essential for the bone marrow to respond to ESA stimulation and synthesize hemoglobin.
6. What is the rationale for timing the administration of intravenous antibiotics in hemodialysis patients?
Many antibiotics are dialyzable, so post-dialysis dosing prevents drug removal and ensures therapeutic blood levels persist until the next session.
🎯 Free CDN Practice Tests
📖 CDN Guides & Articles
What Practice Test Geeks adds beyond an AI chat for CDN
An AI chatbot can quiz you, but it can't reproduce the exam conditions or keep your record. Here you get:
- A timed, full-length CDN mock exam — 150 questions in 180 minutes with a 70% pass mark, modeled on the official exam's question count and time limit, followed by a score report broken down by exam domain.
- A fixed CDN question bank: the same test every attempt, so your score is comparable from one try to the next instead of changing with every regenerated quiz.
- Progress saved on your device: completed tests, scores and missed questions stay in My Progress, so you can retake only what you got wrong.
- A printable CDN cheat sheet you can print or save as a PDF.
- CDN flashcards built from the same question bank.
- Free CDN practice tests with the correct answer shown after each question.
How this page was made: written with AI tools and published by Nathan Beja, founder of Practice Test Geeks, who is responsible for its content. Exam facts are checked against the official sources listed below. Not reviewed by a subject-matter expert. Editorial policy
Sources & references
Exam facts on this page (fees, format, dates, passing scores) are checked against these official sources; the date is our last check. Editorial policy
- cnetnurse.com — Test delivery, fees, score release · verified Oct 2026
- nncc-exam.org — Score validity, passing score, registration deadline, retake policy, test dates, exam format, time limit · verified Oct 2026