Radial pulse skills exam

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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Anyone have to do the radial pulse on their skills exam? Do you inform the evaluator when you are starting the minute or do they start on their own for their own full minute. I'm concerned that just saying the word "start" might put me off a count or two from them. Also, if the person has an irregular heartbeat you could easily have a different count than them. I've found that with the people I practice on some are very easy and some have heartbeats where I would worry about easily being a full 4 beats different from the evaluator. (that's how much is allowed here)

Thanks for any information!

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I'm not so sure. I do know here you're allowed to ask questions before you start your skill. Maybe you're able to as well? And have you asked your current instructor(s)?

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I'm not in class right now. It finished a month ago, but the wait to test was a month long. As far as asking ahead of time, yes I can, but I'd prefer to know ahead of time so I could be prepared.

Thanks!

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Specializes in CTICU.

I would just start by saying "1..." and start counting. That way if they are holding as well, they can start their count simultaneously.

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The poster who advised you to ask the evaluators to clarify is correct. Probably he/she will tell you exactly what they expect you to do. If they don't, it is absolutely a good idea to ask any questions in advance of a skill before beginning. This also shows the evaluator that you are concerned about details and doing things correctly. If you feel like your question is something you should already know the answer to, say it like this: "Just to be clear, I will begin counting the pulse rate when I signal, is that acceptable?" No question will count against you if you ask before beginning. I actually found that by verbalizing my concerns it helped me be more calm and in control, and seemed to help the evaluator relax as well. Remember, they don't want you to fail, so when they give you the window of opportunity to ask questions, they will not hesitate to answer.

SOOOO glad I didn't get radial pulse as a skill. Give me BP any day. The measurement skill I got was intake. As soon as I heard that, I was over the moon with relief.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/urology.
The poster who advised you to ask the evaluators to clarify is correct. Probably he/she will tell you exactly what they expect you to do. If they don't, it is absolutely a good idea to ask any questions in advance of a skill before beginning. This also shows the evaluator that you are concerned about details and doing things correctly. If you feel like your question is something you should already know the answer to, say it like this: "Just to be clear, I will begin counting the pulse rate when I signal, is that acceptable?" No question will count against you if you ask before beginning. I actually found that by verbalizing my concerns it helped me be more calm and in control, and seemed to help the evaluator relax as well. Remember, they don't want you to fail, so when they give you the window of opportunity to ask questions, they will not hesitate to answer.

SOOOO glad I didn't get radial pulse as a skill. Give me BP any day. The measurement skill I got was intake. As soon as I heard that, I was over the moon with relief.

Omg if I got that skill I would have been like . But yes, you are allowed to ask questions; if it's something like pulse, I'm assuming the proctor will tell you when to begin counting. Don't be afraid to ask questions!!! I asked close to a million questions during my skills portion ;)

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Just passed the CNA exam, and I had radial pulse. We both found the pulse on each wrist (after standard pre-care procedures), and she simply said tell me when you start. When it hit 60 seconds, i said stop and she asked me how many i counted. make sure you write it down on the slip they give you, and that was it! Simple!

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