CNA state exam in about 1 week

[nictheonedaynurse]

I live in Texas and on November 17th I am taking my state exam. Needless to say I am shaking in my boots. The main reason I am nervous is because during my clinical the very first skill my instructor placed me on a male peri care. The instructor had no prior knowledge of how messy this peri care was, but when she saw it she said it was extremely messy. Where I messed up was that there was no incontinence pad under the resident prior to starting the peri care and I was so nervous and caught up in my first skill that I forgot to send one of my classmates to grab one. Also on my last day of clinical the class was running a tad late and I had to get to work right after clinical, but my teacher wanted us to do vitals on each other. I nailed all of them except for blood pressure, I just caved under the pressure and did a bad read. I'm not even sure what happened , I have my own stethoscope and blood pressure cuff and I can get a good reading every time and while I was in the classroom and my instructor was on the dual stethoscope with me I got it right every time as well. Everything else went well with my clinical, but I am still nervous. My last day of clinical was October 25th and I have been going over my CNA state handbook and textbook everyday since then. I also have been practicing my blood pressure reading on my family so much that they go into hiding every time they see my bp cuff lol. Am I worrying about nothing? Will I be okay?

[neuron]

It seems like you will do fine on BP. Do not rely on the handbook, memorize the steps. Only my advice. Good luck!

[Caitlin3]

I just recently passed my state boards as well, and it really wasn't too horrible. I was an anxious wreck the week leading up to it, but once I started my first skill the nerves dissipated a little. Just memorize the steps and always think about SIDPIC (Safety, Independence, Dignity, Privacy, Infection Control, and Communication.) When you are doing your skill and it helps you remember a step you might otherwise have forgotten. Good luck, I'm sure you will do fine! :)

[nictheonedaynurse]

lovebug: I never really thought of it like that. Since you said I've gone through the book and looked at each still and gone through the steps in my head before reading through them to make sure I've got them and that has made my confidence level go up

Caitlin: I've never heard that acronym either, I like it! I'll have to be sure to memorize that one. I'm glad to see I'm not the only nervous one, for minute there I thought I was unprepared because of how nervous I really am. It just seems that this is all going by extremely fast lol.