Scared of the skills test

blessedinscrubs · Mar 30, 2011

Make absolutely sure that you knock on the resident's door - loudly enough that a person with not-so-good hearing would hear you - everytime you enter the room. Knock and say "Good morning/afternoon/etc Miss/Mr. Smith/Jones/etc! I'm Yajaira, a CNA, and I'm here to help you with a shower/take your blood pressure/whatever it is you're going to do." Always, always, always remember the privacy thing. Pull the curtain/close the door. I had range of motion exercise on my skills exam, and instead of using a resident, the examiner had me perform it on another student. Because it was not a resident, I didn't bother closing the door. The examiner criticized me for that.

Peri care - be super duper careful about only wiping from the FRONT to the BACK. One single wipe in the wrong direction could make you fail that skill.

Make a big point of washing your hands before and after the skill. Even if you aren't touching a resident - even if it's just making an unoccupied bed or changing a pillowcase or whatever! Wash your hands first and after anyway. An examiner will never disqualify you for washing your hands too often, but they can fail you on the skill if you don't wash your hands!

Kitsey · Mar 30, 2011

We did our labs in class before clinicals, and never went over the skills again. I felt TOTALLY unprepared by the class for the state test. What I did was write each skill on a card, and divided the cards up into 3 levels of difficulty. I watched all the skills on youtube. Started off with the 'easy' stack until I had it down, and so on. I just kept watching over and over until I could say what they were going to do before they did it. I never actually physically practiced the skills outside of class, because I just don't learn that way.

Just find what works for you to help you remember, and you will do fine!

MurrR · Mar 30, 2011

My skills test was administered by a 3rd party company called Headmaster, and they had a study guide for the skills they test on that was specific to whatever state you're in. I printed off two copies and kept one in my bag. I read through skills waiting in line at the grocery store, on the bus, talking on the phone, etc. etc. and then I would give the other copy to somebody and make them quiz me on things.

I had to retake my skills test as I failed the first time, and you know what? It wasn't that bad. I finished my 2nd skills test with 15 minutes to spare and no mistakes. It cost me an extra $25 I think, but it wasn't nearly as awful as I thought it'd be - and I still got a huge rush of accomplishment when I got my license a few days later! Not to mention, I got about a month of study time between my 1st time when I failed and my 2nd when I passed with flying colors.

yajaira21 · Apr 2, 2011

Thank you for your replies i appreciate it .....well today was the last day of cna class test is monday i'll let you know how it goes (crossing my fingers) Im spending all day and all night studying

Queen Tiye, CNA · Apr 2, 2011

do you have a skills lab at your facility . . . to practice in? if not, you could focus on the parts of the skills that you forget, doing them is much easier than memorizing the reading.

WynetteS · Apr 3, 2011

If the skills are the problem then all you can do is practice and practice, but make sure you dont use up every last hour the day before the test, otherwise you'll go to bed at 4am and not be in any good state to either take or pass the practical.

I find repetition of the task again and again and again is the only way to feel comfortable about it in a test, you end up having practiced it so much that when the test comes its second nature and you can do it without much thinking (but still with sweaty palms!)

Good luck, I'm sure you'll do fine :)