Taking CNA exam Friday? Need help and advice!

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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Hello it am taking the cna exam Friday. I live in NC which is a challenge state so I took only a one day class which was to say the least very unhelpful. I only actually performed hand washing and ambulatory stocking the rest of the skills I've never performed. I was looking for some tips and advice. Also what skills you got when you took the test? Lastly when I went to the class I got a textbook thing that had stuff for written and list of skills and steps. The skills and steps are more detailed than the booklet that person vue makes so my last question is will I be find going by the Pearson vue booklet? Thanks so much in advance!

I purchased stuff for blood pressure and have been practicing I think I have that down now. Making a bed is not a skill in NC

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Thank you for being one that really answered my question and didn't criticize my choice of taking a one day class! I will check out those videos and I did buy stuff to practice blood pressure on been working on it a lot. I'll message you for anything else!

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That doesn't mean you can scrimp on your CNA skills; if anything, it means you need to pay even more attention to them because your program expects you to have some fundamental skills in place when you start. You may find yourself running to catch up.

I applied to a nursing school that requires CNA licensing as a prerequisite. The advisor explained that students were expected to begin nursing school with the CNA skills that were formerly taught in first quarter fundamentals of nursing; that is why CNA licensure was a prerequisite. Another school (the one I decided to attend) admits on a points system with significant points given for CNA or EMT licensure and experience. I applied there with a 4.0 GPA and a license without experience but I scored just at the cutoff for admittance. One less point and I would not have made it.

This indicates to me that CNA skills are vital to success in nursing school, whether you pick them up before or soon after starting. Like you, I began the process thinking I'd just check off a requirement, like statistics. However, the more I learned, the more I realized CNA skills are fundamental. I didn't want to be way behind my class, so I started working as a CNA as soon as I could. I quickly discovered that as tough as passing the state exam was, it was nothing compared to using them in the real world.

Hope you don't shortchange yourself by minimizing the importance of CNA skills!

Hmmm not sure where you live but here you can't attend two schools at once so that Knocks out the only school that would seem to pass your standard of judgment and me not short hand the task of being a CNA. If I don't want to be a CNA I don't see why it matters. I'm going to learn what I need to know in Nursing School my advisor recommended I take just a day class. I didn't ask this question for y'all two people to criticize my choice in one day class. I asked to see what skills you got and any pointers

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Remember the basics...

When entering:

knock, greet the resident, say your name and what procedure you'll be doing, pull curtain for privacy, gather supplies

When leaving:

Call light within reach, bed in lowest position, pull back privacy curtain so they can see their surroundings, side rails up, dirty linen goes in designated dirty area, wash hands

^^This applies to the skills where you interact with the resident. Learn this and then apply it to those skills, that way you can focus on the few specific steps involved with that skill instead of all 14 or whatever is listed in the Pearson Vue book. You don't need to do this for things like PPE because you stand in front of the proctor and simply put the gown on, etc.

If you're dealing with liquids/body fluids remember gloves (brushing teeth/dentures, anything with urine, bathing).

Remember the bold steps are critical and you must do them in the order listed.

When ambulating the resident make sure they have nonskid shoes on, their feet are flat on the ground, and the bed is locked (wheelchair too if needed) before you attempt to move them.

Fluids: dump in toilet, rinse, dry, container goes in designated dirty area

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um there was a reason that I pointedly asked you if you were in nursing school. Because I know that if you were it makes sence to maybe not take a 6 week course in it because like you said you will be learning this in nursing. i only was agreeing with you when you yourself said the one day class was unhelpful. My only critism was that I don't know how anyone taking a one day course and not have taken any nursing courses yet could with confidence go into the test feeling they knew what they needed to pass. That I was agreeing with you that one day is not enough. And that I thought I was being helpful to you by giving you the 4yourcna page. my little rant if you will was not directed at you only some people that think that they can take short cuts to becoming a CNA

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Remember the basics...

When entering:

knock, greet the resident, say your name and what procedure you'll be doing, pull curtain for privacy, gather supplies

When leaving:

Call light within reach, bed in lowest position, pull back privacy curtain so they can see their surroundings, side rails up, dirty linen goes in designated dirty area, wash hands

^^This applies to the skills where you interact with the resident. Learn this and then apply it to those skills, that way you can focus on the few specific steps involved with that skill instead of all 14 or whatever is listed in the Pearson Vue book. You don't need to do this for things like PPE because you stand in front of the proctor and simply put the gown on, etc.

If you're dealing with liquids/body fluids remember gloves (brushing teeth/dentures, anything with urine, bathing).

Remember the bold steps are critical and you must do them in the order listed.

When ambulating the resident make sure they have nonskid shoes on, their feet are flat on the ground, and the bed is locked (wheelchair too if needed) before you attempt to move them.

Fluids: dump in toilet, rinse, dry, container goes in designated dirty area

When you say make sure the steps are in order I have a question about that. So for like transfer from bed to wheelchair the steps go fold up rest check bed is at safe level then lock wheel chair then lock bed do I have to do it in that order? I would do it where I do the footrest up then lock the wheel chair then do the bed stuff. It would just make more sense to me

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If the pt is in a bed, always TOUCH THE PILLOW!! Our instructor said it's ok to do too much, you can't get docked for that. Good luck:)

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For the critical steps I think it means don't start brushing someone's teeth with the bed supine and then later say "oh I should have put their bed up before I started doing this." That's a safety issue because the patient could choke. As for locking everything and removing the foot rests it makes sense to me to take the footrests off, lock the wheelchair, then move to locking the bed (as long as you do those steps before you help the patient stand). I guess it just depends on how strict the proctor is. I didn't have that skill on the exam, so I am not 100% sure.

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