who has taken CNA classes???

help88 · Jul 20, 2007

ive took the cna classes n failed the first time but pass the second. . . i didnt quite take a class because it was part of my hs. but dont be nervous and you are just doin basic skills, more on the memorization side then understanding.

April, RN, BSN, RN · Jul 22, 2007

I took a CNA class at the Red Cross before I went to nursing school. It was CNA and Home Health Aide together. It was awhile ago now but I think it was something like 5 hours a day, 4 days a week, for 6 or 7 weeks. They gave us a book and we went through it chapter by chapter. There were chapter tests at the end that we had to do for homework but they were pretty simple. It's mostly just learning basic nursing skills like vital signs, transferring from bed to chair, bedbaths, feeding, post-mortem care, etc. After we finished the classroom part, there was skills testing where you had to demonstrate each skill learned in class and get checked off on each of them. My instructors were pretty strict about this part. We had to do it step by step how it was shown in the book in order for us to pass the skill. If you didn't pass all the skills, you didn't pass the class. I think you had 2 tries. The last week was clinical in a nursing home. We had just one patient each that we did all the CNA care for. On the last day, we had a little "graduation" where we got pins and had cake and stuff.

After you pass the class, you have to sign up for the state test to get certified. Your instructor will help you with that. There is a written test portion which isn't all that difficult, and a skills test portion. You are asked to bring an "actor" (mom, brother, whoever) and they will ask you to perform three skills on them.

That's how it was when I took the class at the Red Cross about 5 years ago at least. I hope that gave you a little insight on the class! Good luck!