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These are really great videos. Watching them is a great way to refresh yourself on any skills that you may need a little extra help with.

There are a lot of people who work as a CNA while attending nursing school (I'm one of them), but there are also a lot of people who make being a CNA their career. I work with several CNAs who have made it their career and love it. I am perfectly happy as a CNA, but for me, I don't want to stop here. My ultimate goal is to become an LPN, and I am starting LPN school in the fall. :)

I actually started working before I took my state board. It was about three to four weeks after I applied for the job when I was hired, but that was because the facility was new and not slated for opening quite yet. I would imagine that it would be a more quick turnaround in a nursing home, especially if the nursing homes in your area are as shorthanded as the nursing homes in my area.

I just took my CNA board on Feb. 3, so I can answer your questions from recent firsthand experience. :) 1) For me, this wasn't true at all. The RN evaluator was incredibly nice and incredibly patient. She allowed us to ask as many questions as needed before the skills evaluation and was so understanding of us all being nervous. She was great and very helpful. 2) I actually had to do a bed bath for one of my skills, and yes, I had to use water and soap and actually give my partner a bed bath. It was modified, meaning I only had to wash/rinse/dry his face, arm, underarm, and hand, but I did have to do it exactly like I would with a real patient. Test the water temperature with your forearm, similar to how you would test the temperature of a baby's milk, or your elbow. The RN evaluator took us into the testing room two at a time, and we were each other's "patient." 3) I had to perform 5 skills, as well. Are you from VA? The skills I had to do were handwashing (everyone does this one), count/record respirations, feeding, give a modified bed bath, and ambulating. I completed my skills in 16 minutes out of an allotted 25. All in all, the exam was not that difficult, but I was extremely nervous. The written part was more or less common sense. I had one measurement conversion question, which I would have missed if I hadn't had a med tech class a couple of months ago as a refresher, lol! I was shaking very badly during the skills part...in fact, I almost dropped the cracker off the spoon I was using to feed my "patient"! I know I made a few little mistakes, but I did the best I could. I did pass (just got my results in the mail today), so that's a huge relief! My tips are just to take a deep breath and do your best. It's not the end of the world if you don't pass the first time; you can always try again. Don't cram the night before/the morning of, because there's no sense in that - if you don't know it before then, you're not going to learn it in a few hours/minutes. DO practice, practice, practice, though. I suggest taking time sometime the week before to go through all the skills you may possibly have to perform and first list all the equipment you need to perform the skill, and then go through each and every step. As you are actually doing the skills exam, think everything through as you are doing it. Just pretend that you are really working and are just doing your regular ol' job duties! :) The big things to remember while testing are SAFETY, first and foremost (leave the bed in low position if you are ambulating a patient or transferring, etc., don't leave the bed in high position if you are going to be leaving the patient), providing privacy by drawing the curtain, and always make sure to leave the call light within the patient's reach.

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I had my interview today and I think it went fairly well. I really want this job, so I hope and pray that I will hear something about it soon.

Thanks :) I'm just really nervous and I don't do well with interviews because of how nervous I get. I hope it goes well. :)

I'm new here! I'm currently finishing up my last week of clinicals in my certification program and hoping to begin work within the next two-three weeks. I got my first call back for an interview for a CNA job and hope to get that going as soon as possible. I will be taking my state boards in December, so wish me luck! I don't plan on stopping at being a CNA; I will be beginning the RN program in fall 2007, and I'm very excited about that!

I just found this forum and was thrilled to find it with such perfect timing. I am currently enrolled in a nurse aide certification program and have one week of clinicals left before I take my final exam for the class, and I will be taking my state boards in December. I'm both very excited and very nervous about this, but I can't wait to start working as a nurse aide. I actually applied for a job in health care facility yesterday evening, and received a call back for an interview today (!!!). I was very surprised to have been called back so quickly, but very excited to hear the news. I have to call them again tomorrow morning/afternoon to set up the interview since I wasn't home when they called. My question is what should I expect when going for this interview? My only other interviews have been for jobs in retail, so I'm really in the dark as far as what types of questions may be asked in the health care industry.