Question 1
Where should a nurse aide apply a transfer (gait) belt?
The CNA skills test, step by step
On the skills evaluation you perform five skills in 30 minutes for a nurse aide evaluator. Hand hygiene is always first on the list, one skill is a measurement, and you must pass all five.
| Skills | 5, chosen from 23 |
|---|---|
| Time | 30 minutes, with a 5-minute warning |
| Always tested | Hand hygiene |
| To pass | All 5 skills satisfactory |
How the evaluation runs
- The room is set up like a care setting, and the evaluator shows you the equipment first. Ask your questions then: the evaluator does not answer them once you start.
- Another candidate plays the client. Talk to them as you would to a real client, in English.
- You must actually do each step. After the first hand washing you may say when you would wash your hands instead of washing each time.
- If you make a mistake, say so and correct those steps before you start the next skill. You cannot go back to an earlier skill.
- For a measurement skill you record your reading, and it must be accurate.
Critical element steps
Some steps in each skill are critical element steps. Leave one out or do it wrong and you fail the skill, even if every other step is right. Doing the critical steps alone is not enough either: you must also complete enough of the other steps.
Habits that carry across skills
- Introduce yourself and explain what you are going to do.
- Give privacy with a curtain, screen or door.
- Put on clean gloves whenever you may touch body fluids, and take them off without touching your skin.
- Before you leave the client, put the call signal within reach and the bed in its low position.
The 23 skills
The handbooks list the skills below; some states leave a few out. Pennsylvania's handbook says it does not test the bedpan skill or the electronic blood pressure skill.
- Hand hygiene (hand washing), always tested
- Applying one knee-high elastic stocking
- Helping a client walk using a transfer belt
- Helping a client use a bedpan
- Cleaning an upper or lower denture
- Counting and recording a radial pulse
- Counting and recording respirations
- Putting on and removing a gown and gloves
- Dressing a client with a weak right arm
- Feeding a client who cannot feed themselves
- A modified bed bath (face, one arm, hand and underarm)
- Measuring and recording blood pressure with an electronic machine
- Measuring and recording urinary output
- Measuring and recording the weight of a client who can walk
- Passive range of motion for one knee and one ankle
- Passive range of motion for one shoulder
- Positioning a client on the side
- Catheter care for a female client
- Foot care on one foot
- Mouth care
- Perineal care for a female client
- Transferring from bed to wheelchair using a transfer belt
- Measuring and recording blood pressure by hand (manual)
Try 3 questions
Question 2
The care plan says a client wears knee-high elastic stockings. When is the best time to put them on?
Question 3
A nurse aide pours urine into a graduate to measure it. How should the aide read the amount?
Next step
Questions people ask
How many skills are on the CNA skills test?
Five, chosen from 23 in the skills listing. Hand hygiene is always one of them.
How long is the CNA skills test?
30 minutes for all five skills. The evaluator tells you when 5 minutes are left.
What is a critical element step?
A step that must be done correctly to pass the skill. Missing one fails that skill.