Is CNA school hard? what was your experience?

Missingyou, CNA · Nov 16, 2013

Like anything else, if you do the required reading and study, you will be fine. Don't be nervous about the clinical part, you are there to learn...and you will!!! :nurse:

mvm2 · Nov 16, 2013

It wasn't to bad at all. We had a book that we went through, and would have to read up on a chapter or two. Have a short quiz, and then talk more indepth on the subject, and of course got ready to be able to take the states test. I wish we might have been able to take a little more time on the skills portion. A few weeks later we had two or maybe it was three weeks of clinicals. My work which is a home health agency gave the classes, and mine were 6 weeks long.

You will do fine. As for trying to find out what school to go with see if you can find out some people who took the classes. Sometimes it can make a differance. See if you can see the ratio of students that passed their state exam vs those that took the class and had a harder time passing. It will help you determind if they school is good and will be worth it. You will be spending a good deal of money on this class so you want to make sure you are getting your moneys worth.

funtimes · Nov 16, 2013

CNA school is relatively easy for most people. It might be a little uncomfortable for some people who are shy and aren't used to doing hands on training and testing in front of other people. Having said that I know a lot of people fail the practical skills exam required by most states. I know a lot of RNs would probably fail the skills exam if they had to take it. The classwork and written tests for CNA are a breeze though.

Working as a CNA is the hard part.

corp2healthcare · Nov 18, 2013

It really was not so bad. Honestly doing the school work was not hard. I was unemployed and had lots of time to read. After a while I knew what to focus on when doing my readings so I read what was necessary and ignored the rest. The instructor I had was excellent. She is a nurse, so she was very encouraging. She gave us lots of review questions to go over for he written part of the test. She had us practice the clinical part over and over. I passed the exams first go around.

TiniestLights · Nov 18, 2013

There is some great, encouraging advice on this thread and I would like to continue along! My program has been awesome. It was very important to me to have a flexible and affordable course that I would truly learn from. After I finally decided to take the plunge and explore this crazy-awesome field, I researched state-approved CNA programs and narrowed down by cost/schedule/state test pass rates/etc. I went to the school that was #1 on my list, just to check it out, and the facility was clean and professional. I decided to take a CPR/First Aid class that they offered, to get a bit of a feel for the way the staff conducted themselves and taught, and it was great. Signed up right after, and now 5 weeks later I have passed my state exam and just finished my first of 5 clinical days.

Research online (BBB, Facebook page, any website reviews), don't pay too much (my class all told was about $1500- very affordable for the quality of education- there are some scams out there, so be careful), maybe try a class that you'll need anyway to get a feel (E.g. First Aid), trust your gut, study, and you will be good to go! :)

Marsha238612 · Nov 18, 2013

I'm currently awaiting my acceptance letter for nursing school (fingers crossed) however I'm doing a CNA course while I wait, and to also be comfortable with patients as I've never worked healthcare.

I find it sooo easy. I always get 90+ on all my tests and quizzes. I think it's more common sense than anything else. I hardly ever have to study/read.

Don't worry you'll do great.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

ComeTogether, LPN · Nov 18, 2013

Easy as pie in my opinion.

codeblue222 · Nov 19, 2013

My CNA program was pretty easy... I went through the Redcross in California and it was a month long program. Our teacher said that almost no one fails the written portion, which was also the case for my class... however more than half of of the class failed the clinical portion of the exam. So I would recommend really practicing your skills!

Theor23 · Nov 19, 2013

Hey crunchymama! lol

I finished my class a month ago, it was a 2 week course, one week class, one week clinical. I don't see why all these other places have classes that run 1 month or so. Do research though, you can either pay $850 like I did, or $1200+ elsewhere. What state are you from if you don't mind me asking?

As far as my experience, everyone gets really nervous when clinical arrive. You MUST review your material, it took me 3 weeks before going in for my test. You will take a computer test with 60 or so questions and then wait awhile to do skills portion. Ok, the test...it's different for everyone and some questions we never went over or could be more than one answer...would have failed if I didn't go back to change 2 of them! So just take your time on that part. As far as skills, you are tested on 3 of the 25 skill, other states its 5 skills. Our proctor was super nice, some really suck and will be really hard on you. What really helped me was saying every step out loud and everything went very, very well. Anymore questions let me know! OH! here is a great site for some practice

Free CNA Training Videos | 4YourCNA

Scheeley · Nov 22, 2013

I thought it was very easy (keep in mind everybody's experience is different). My advice is study your skills and practice them as much as possible. Also, i know your nervous keep in mind your instructor wouldn't give you anything you can't handle. Last but not least when you leave the bed in the lowest position, give the resident the call bell, wash hands, and ask if they need anything else before you leave.

besaangel, ASN, BSN, MSN, CNA, RN, APRN, NP · Nov 22, 2013

leave the bed in the lowest position, give the resident the call bell, wash hands, and ask if they need anything else before you leave.

It was very easy, especially if you've already taken Bio, A&P and Micro. The most challenging part of the CNA course is the clinicals and skills test.

These are the essential things to remember when doing the skills portion. I'd also like to add that you must always knock before entering, introduce yourself, explain what skill you will be doing, wash your hands (dont flick), explain what you're doing while you're doing it, change your gloves and wash hands if/when doing multiple skills, lower and lock beds and wheelchairs, be patient with yourself and the patient and wash hands when done.