Has anyone taken their CNA skills exam in Florida?

Everlasting904 · Aug 19, 2011

I challenged the exam in St Augustine Florida..it was a WHOLE lot different than i expected..the clincal room we tested in looked identical to the clinical room i did my clinicals in & also i would recommend taking a refresher course (around $50) it goes through ALL 21 skills. Remember your basics (Privacy,Call Bell, Patient is safe,Wash hands....) && you should be fine an if you make a mistake call it out & say "oops..i have to provide privacy" & she/he shouldnt mark off for it :).. I had to perform : Change of Position, Respiration & Pulse and Hair & Nail Care. When we 1st walked in the room i volunteered to play the patient so the other people had to go 1st(so i got to watch them & make sure i didnt miss anything) :) & as far as the written exam goes just try & focus on the patients rights and youll do fine. GOODLUCKK && HOPE THIS HELPS :) :) :)

sil2012 · Aug 19, 2011

Thank you so much for your reply!! :)

I couple of questions:

1)In Florida, you only have 3 skills performed in 30mins right??

2)Does the resident wear shoes during weighing?

Overall I'm feeling alright with this exam, I just want to double check on couple of points.

Thanks again for your time!

CNA/glorified maid · Aug 19, 2011

Good luck with your exam. I take mine next week in New Port Richey, FL. I was a little panicy about the skills, more so than the written. I heard the written is fairly easy. Alot of common sense questions. I did, however, read up on diabetes, as I heard they're are 10-15 questions about that. You do infact have 35minutes to perform the 3 tasks. One of my classmates said" you have approx 11 minutes per task, but you only need about 5". Well, needless to say, he failed. I am going to use that whole 11 minutes, even if its only doing the weight of a patient. I was told the patient wears non skid shoes, UNTIL, you get to the scale. ( Oh and before you walk the patient to the scale, grab a paper towel.) When you get to the scale, lay the paper towel on the scale, set both "things" to "0", and then help the patient take off their shoes and stand on the scale. No shoes, provide a more accurate reading. At least that's what I was taught in cna class. Also, read up on patient safety and rights. Hope this helps you. Good Luck !!!!!! Keep us posted!!! :clown:

yousoldtheworld · Aug 20, 2011

The thing is, all the tests I've heard of offer a certain amount of time for the whole test, not a certain number of minutes per skill. If you have 30 minutes and 3 skills, I wouldn't recommend planning on ten minutes per skill, because not all skills take the same amount of time. If you spend 10 minutes on something fairly straightforward like getting a weight or emptying a catheter, you might find that you don't have enough time for one of the more time consuming skills, like a bed bath, or even something like blood pressure that could take some time.

sil2012 · Aug 20, 2011

Thank you so much for the info!!:)

I'll make sure the resident wears shoes until getting to the scale...and I will make sure to go every step in my head. I hope I stay calm while I perform my skills and confidence what I am doing. I think is just the nerves is what gets people to fail. I know I will pass and so are you..cnahelpful

yousoldtheworld--you are right I will keep that in mind as well:)

I still have some more Q's:

1) As soon as you start performing your test...When you explain the resident what you will be doing would you let her know all THREE skills? or you simply mention each skill before you do them?

2)We are only tested on ONLY side-lying position?

3)Urinary drainage bag: Do we drain the whole bag or some?--do we record in mL or CC's?

4)Foot care: apply gloves right??

***During exam day: We only clean ONE foot and ONE hand right???

5)Nail/Hair care: During exam day: the resident will be sitting on a chair or bed?

Do you rinse orange woodstick or wipe on towel or both when you clean nails?

6)Feeding: What exactly would you write on the form? Percentage?

7)Bedpan: (Exam day)When you are waiting for the resident's call bell to ring do you stand aside w/o taking your gloves but you "verbalize' to the evaluator that you will walk into the rm and you will wash hands and apply gloves? or you "literally show" evaluator taking off your gloves and wash hands before leaving the room, and then when you walk in the rm you will do the same?--not too sure:/

Thank you guys for all your help!

Good luck to you guys!