What exactly do you do in CNA school?

Nurses General Nursing

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Is a lot of anatomy covered, or do you mainly just learn how to do vital signs, turn patients, etc? Please help! Thanks!!

Specializes in ICU.

Very little anatomy. Its basic care that is covered. How to feed, dress, ambulate, toilet, document, lifts etc.

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

there is a whole website of on line cna video lessons that shows you exactly what you learn: http://deptets.fvtc.edu/nursing/index.htm

there is a forum on allnurses specifically for cnas that you might want to check out and meet other cnas:

https://allnurses.com/cna-nursing-assistant/ - the cna - nursing assistant discussions forum

I wish I would have had some CNA training prior to entering NS, but honestly, it isn't necessary.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Cath Lab, Cardiology,Neuro.

I was CNA trained thru the Red Cross and I learned the basics of pt care. Ex. feeding, grooming, mouth and denture care, turning and positioning pts, dressing, bathing, peri care, vitals, and how to ambulate a pt. I also learned how to care for a pt in home care

I learned a good bit of anatomy in my CNA class, but it was mostly review since I had already taken Anatomy & Physiology at the local college. I learned when and how to turn patients, how to take vital signs, how to perform ADL's, and help the patients take care of themselves and do what they cannot do for themselves. I recommend that anyone thinking of becoming a nurse be a CNA first, it really helps to see if you're cut-out for this sort of thing. The hardest thing to get down in CNA school for me was doing blood pressures manually. Other than that, it was not too hard.

I just finished my 10-week CNA course (required for applying to my local nursing school.) There were 10 classes, together with outside reading & supplemental online material. The outside reading and powerpoint lectures included a quick overview of very basic anatomy and physiology. This material was tested on several multiple-choice tests seeing if we could, for example, connect the word "dopamine" with Parkinson's rather than MS or epilepsy.

Almost the entire class time was on practical skills: making an occupied bed, taking vital signs, giving peri care. We practiced at least 85% of the time on skills listed for the State skills test, with occasional extras we might encounter in clinicals.

Haven't done the 3-day clinicals yet!

One thing I liked about this semester was that I also took a 2-credit Medical Terminology course. Both my CNA anatomy & the Medical Terminology course took the same "systems" approach as my A & P course will take. This gave me a smattering of the language and information I'll learn, so I feel less nervous about A & P next semester.

Dina

Specializes in Geriatrics, Cath Lab, Cardiology,Neuro.

I also learned ostomy care (trust me you'll get used to it!) and foley care (ex emptying bags into a container and measuring the I&O)

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