Need help with Arizona State Nursing Board CNA exam

[bea777]

Jun 11 by bea777

I am preparing to take my state board exam for CNA in Arizona. As I've been reviewing my skills I was wondering if anyone could tell me if the supplies will be in the "patient's room" or outside? Will I have to knock, sanitize, greet the patient, explain what I will be doing and then leave to go get supplies and come back and put the supplies down and then resanitize before doing the skill? I thought I needed to bring the supplies with me but then how will I sanitize when I first walk into the room with my hands full? In school they had us use one of our desks as the "door" to knock on (our class was small and in the same room as the lab) and had us put our supplies on the desk when we knocked and sanitized and then picked up the supplies before "walking in the door". But the patient rooms won't have a desk or table outside the door to put the supplies on so how will I do it when taking the exam? I don't want to miss a step or do a step out of order and fail. Thanks for your advice.

[KayKaz23, LPN]

So, I am getting ready to take mine in Washington and we were told that we just imagine the supply area as being apart of the patients room. We would knock and do our intro, privacy, etc and then just grab the supplies from the table. Not sure if it is the same where you are testing. I feel like your program director or instructor would know for sure.

Where in AZ are you? I just moved from Tucson to Washington.

[bea777]

I'm in Phoenix

[danijohn]

I have been a CNA for 6 years. Massachusetts and Florida. You are on the right track and it can be confusing when thinking about technicalities. Every place is a little different when it comes to supplies. Some residents have their own wash clothes and towels and other's you have to go to a cart or linen closet. Here is what I would do:

Clean hands first always, no matter what you do.

1. Always knock. Ask permission to enter room (sometimes they may say just a minute in real life, always be mindful of privacy)

2. Introduce yourself. Name, I'm your CNA today

3.Explain what you are about to do (bed bath, oral care, position). Ask the patient if it is okay to proceed. (Every person has a right to refuse care).

At this point I would pause and simply state to the examiner I would gather my supplies from the linen closet or personal bathroom, according to the facility's guidelines. Just talk yourself through it, to them. State if you leave the patients room you sanitize hands again (that's just infection control protocol). You are not wrong for bringing supplies in with you first or doing your introduction and then getting supplies. Just make sure you follow infection control and patient rights, privacy. This is applicable to the real world, either scenario is possible. Sometimes you have to leave the room to get someone to help you ( a resident that is a 2x person transfer or position).

If you are just in a testing room, no telling where the linens are really located...

4. Pick up the linen and say I would make sure to keep them away from my body. (Infection control)

5. Take a towel and lay it down over bedside table and then I would place the rest of my clean linens down on that.

7. Set up your dirty linen bag and trash close to your working area (if needed, like during a bed bath or peri care)

6.Wash hands AGAIN, apply gloves and state I would gather PERSONAL supplies that SHOULD be in the patients room labeled (brief, basin, tooth brush, soap), provide privacy and begin care.

Talk yourself through it, out-loud, is my best advice. I hope this helps you. A lot of things are repetitious. I don't know how different it is in Arizona, but that is what I did for my test and have done when state surveyors came to examine while I was at work.

[bea777]

Thank you so much that is great advice!

[Kals89]

I just took the CNA exam for Minnesota. They had us read a scenario that flowed as if it would in a hospital or a nursing home. Each skill was done back to back. As danijohn said always knock, introduce and explain what you are doing. I can tell you that a guaranteed skill is going to be wash your hands. Check your state guide lines for how long but usually singing happy birthday twice in your head does the trick. As for the supplies in our room it was on two tables. One was a "dirty" table and one was the "clean" table. Obviously we took the supplies we needed from the clean table then walked over to our patient. Knocked on the door, introduced, verbalized that we washed our hands, then explained what we were doing. Not too bad :).