Horror Stories be gone!

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Specializes in Psych, Emergency, Med/Surg.

]I've heard sooooo many HORROR stories of the ways that people can fail the state CNA exam:sofahider, I really need some positive feedback. Anything on your how your day was would be awesome. It's okay if you're from another state too, just wanna know what it was like for you. I'm assuming that "they" want us to pass and contribute our skills to the community, so I only hope that the stories of failure I've heard are only covering 2% of the CNA's out there.

]Thank you so much for sharing!:icon_hug:

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Specializes in NA.

Wow, I've been getting freaked out about that too! I would like to know the same thing! CAnt wait to hear responses!!!

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I agree there are a lot of horror stories. I took mine a few months ago. It was far easier then I thought it would be. The written was just like any other test from class. Mostly common sense stuff and nothing hard like anatomy. The skills tests took place in a nice small room that looked like a room out of an ltc. The test admin was very sweet, calm and wanting to help us in any way that she was allowed to do. She sat out of the way in the corner and filled out our evaluations in pencil. I and many others missed steps but we caught ourselves before the end of procedure. We would stop panic, say we messed something up, she would ask what and once we told her she would give us credit for it without us having to start over. She even sat on the bed with my "patient" and held the bp tool for me so I could concentrate on hearing it and getting it right. My friend took it at the same place a few weeks ago and had an even easier woman give hers. The biggest thing was you can not say "i've finished this procedure" and then go back thats a state no no. Also there are test admins that are not so nice, even where I took it, there was on test admin with a rep for failing people. Thank God I didn't get her! As for time, 30 minutes that are given may seem like a tight time but when you're in there and moving, the average time for all five skills is 15 minutes or less and thats with all steps taken. Good luck!

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Specializes in Psych, Emergency, Med/Surg.

]C'mon. :plsebeg:I know there has to be more..........................

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I took my first test in december. I passed the written and failed the skills. What i did wrong was i had write sided weakness and i did it backward. Anyway she failed me. The woman before me was freaking out saying stuff like oh no i am going to fail. And she pretty much talked the woman through it. But could not say anything to me. Kinda made me mad. When i took the second test in jan. It was the complete opposite. The woman doing the test talked to us and told us what she expected. If we missed a step she would say something like what should you do. Or she would make a jester. Let me tell it was a big difference between the first and the second. When i did the first one it was like 8 of us. 5 of us failed. I started to not redo it and my husband told me i should try again and even paid for it. It was another 70 dollars. It was nice to know i finally accomplanished something i had been trying to do for years. Now i am ready to continue and take some more class's. Good luck on your test. Hope this helped. The main thing to remember is don't let your nerves get you.

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The woman that did my test was really nice. The first skill I did was an unoccupied bed change. I talked my way through the skill, and was so proud of myself for doing perfect hospital corners (something I had battled with), that I didn't realize I left the bed up (something I never do at work). The tester looked at me and said "would you leave the bed like that." Of course I said no, and she must have gave me full credit because I passed. I think as long as you are confident and seem like you know what you are doing you will pass.

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Specializes in CNA2: Acute Care, Orthopedics.

Awesome, thanks for sharing :) I'm starting the clinical portion of my CNA training :) I'm really excited! & in early June I'll be taking my boards. I think like the person above me said, having confidence in your skills (or at least pretending, while being nervous underneath it all) will make all the difference. I can't wait to take my boards! & good luck to everyone else!

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I failed the skills the 1st time for forgetting to wash the"dummies" back,(written I passed easily) I passed the skills the 2nd time,but I basically made sure I perfected it. My friend has now failed the skills portion 3 times! and she is no dummy! we are in Florida and have been told by instructors that they are really cracking down here,because soooo many people are taking the CNA courses that they are setting the standards higher! I am not trying to give you a horror story,I just want you to make sure you give it 100%;-).goodluck....I'm sure you'll do fine if you just go in there and do it and keep the nerves in check!

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Specializes in Psych, Emergency, Med/Surg.
I failed the skills the 1st time for forgetting to wash the"dummies" back,(written I passed easily) I passed the skills the 2nd time,but I basically made sure I perfected it. My friend has now failed the skills portion 3 times! and she is no dummy! we are in Florida and have been told by instructors that they are really cracking down here,because soooo many people are taking the CNA courses that they are setting the standards higher! I am not trying to give you a horror story,I just want you to make sure you give it 100%;-).goodluck....I'm sure you'll do fine if you just go in there and do it and keep the nerves in check!

See, that's the kind of stuff I'm afraid of!!!!! The Florida test is no joke, I've heard. I'm afraid of just missing a step(that I KNOW Im' supposed to do) or something like that. How did you practice without having access to the supplies and stuff? My class ended 2 weeks ago and some of us want to pratice, but are having a difficult time thinking of ways to do it w/o most of the materials. :(

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Hey,I wasn't trying to scare you,the skills actually are not hard(as you know from doing them in school) I was only warning ya to practice. I actually practiced some at home,I made"pretend" bed pans,basins,etc... you will do fine,the thing that I think helped me more than anything was going over the skills in my head a lot.step by step...just relax and study and you will be fine!:up::up::up:

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Specializes in Psych, Emergency, Med/Surg.

I know, sometimes, though, it's good to be scared. I recorded all of the skills step by step on my voice recorder. I take it everywhere and listen to it all the time. I could probably recite each step by heart now, just fearful b/c I haven't had hands on practice in over 2 weeks. But yea, I guess the only thing we can do is use pretend stuff.

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ChunLiomyRn2b you will do fine! :) Especially if you can recite each step. Last time I did any skill was in the middle of December. Today, I pass state test without any problems. Deep breathing helps a lot! Saying aloud during exam what you are doing is helpful, too :) If you forgot about something and you are still performing the skill, do not panic. Stop and say, that you should, for example, provide privacy and you should get a point. Unless you have someone that has no mercy on poor testers ;)

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