I failed my CNA skills test today. I need some test taking advice.

[enileg]

I passed my written test that I took today at ARC but failed 1 out of the 3 skills that I picked which was donning/removing PPE. After the test, I was told that I did very well on all the other skills except that one. The reason why she failed me was because I touched my "contaminated" gown after I removed my gloves. And I did not even realize that I did that because I was so nervous. But she still failed me for that miniscule mistake. So now I feel pretty angry, confused, and discouraged. And I wanna make sure I don't fail the next test again and pay another $55 for a retest after I already paid $1,400. So allnurses, I'm gonna need your opinions, advice, tips, etc. on how to pass a CNA skills test.

[oldeddieboy]

what i did was just get someone to hold the book and act like the patient/procter. they let me know when i left something out and this meant starting over. i might have spent 30 minutes on just one skill. after you do this enough you'll know the steps backward and forward. even when i laid down to go to sleep i would imagine doing a few of the skills in my mind.

[FutureRNGreen]

I watched youtube videos and got a friend to go over step by step with me you will get it the next time trust me i failed my written portion the first time and passed the skills which i was very happy with so all i had to do was just study for the written

[enileg]

what i did was just get someone to hold the book and act like the patient/procter. they let me know when i left something out and this meant starting over. i might have spent 30 minutes on just one skill. after you do this enough you'll know the steps backward and forward. even when i laid down to go to sleep i would imagine doing a few of the skills in my mind.

that's a really good idea. I will ask my bf to be my proctor! lol

[oldeddieboy]

i got my gf to be my patient and proctor. :) big difference between memorizing from the book and having a real person playing the role of patient and proctor!

[mintygirl]

I had to re-test awhile back after I let my CNA expire (biiig costly mistake) with that said I passed, but the group that the American Red Cross trained had all failed a portion of their skills test with me. We were the first group and yes, I fumbled a lot more than I should have. Just remember that they realize that you are nervous - not everything has to be perfect in the sense that you are moving with the grace of a swan.

Just get the skills portion "right" and think to yourself - how did you not see you touched your gown? The biggest issue I can already hear is that you were nervous: you studied, you know all this by now and should have to practice to your classmates you could do it easily.

A good way I found to calm myself (unfortunately its not kind) is that I didn't look at the test as something grandure - because when I put too much emphasis of "being a nurse" or "getting my nurse cert back" it did make me nervous. So I told myself "Oh here I go, just need to pass this skills test so I can hurry up and wipe butt." Yes, CNA is much more than that, but be realistic with yourself too - there will be many more tests in the future and this is just a stepping stone.