14 Jan CNA Exam
To work in the Certified Nursing Assistant profession, you must complete the nursing assistant course, and then pass the certification tests by the state Board of Nursing.
Passing the Certified Nursing Assistant Exam can open up many opportunities for yourself. The actual test includes many sections and different areas test different skills, so passing the exam can be a challenge.
NNAAP Exam (National Nurse Aide Assessment Program)
The NNAAP exam is a certified test used to gauge the competency of nursing assistants working in care facilities and nursing homes. NNAAP exam is used in only 25 states and jurisdictions so other states have their own requirements for the exams. However, all of them have 2 sections- written part and clinical skills test.
The states that require for you to have the NNAAP exam are Alabama, Alaska, California,Colorado, District of Columbia, Georgia, Guam, Louisiana, Mariana Islands, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Virgin Islands, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
If you pass this test, then you will be deemed fit by the State Board of nursing to perform the tasks of a nursing assistant. On the other hand, if you fail this test, you will be barred from performing any duties in a health care facility. Passing the NNAAP is therefore a very important step in the journey for being a CNA to an RN then MSM.
The federal government has mandated each state to have a state licensing board for overseeing the competence of individuals aspiring to work in health care jobs. The state licensing board does this through the CNA exam, which measures and evaluates you nursing care knowledge as well as practical application of skill learned during the training program. CNA certification is only awarded if you pass both tests. Most states follow these procedures when offering the Certified Nursing Assistant exam.
Preparing for the Test
Although there is help available, no student should think that the CNA test is simply piece of cake. The Certified Nursing Assistant examination should not be taken lightly and students must take the test in all seriousness. Why is it so important? Because it opens up such a large opportunity for all students who pass it! It is a good idea to aim not just to pass the exam, but to aim to pass the exam with flying colors, just for safety and confidence in both yourself and in a future career as a Certified Nursing Assistant.
Now, because of the sheer difficulty of the examination, there are many chances for students to practice the exam before walking into it. Students can take practice exams that can develop the knowledge and test the students before submitting their real ones.
Practice Tests Before you Take the Real One!
Practice tests and exams offer numerous benefits for aspiring certified nursing assistants. The aim of this test is to familiarize you with how the questions are structured in the written section of the certification exam.
There are a few colleges, websites and partners of the board of nursing such as Pearson Vue, D&S Headmaster and Prometric that offer CNA practice tests and exams. The exam typically comprises of written questions that you have to answer. The questions are structured to be a close as possible to those that you will answer in the actual CNA exam. Depending on the agency providing the tests, the number of question in the CNA test exam range from 50 to 70. For each of those questions, you have to choose the correct answer from the four provided multiple choices. A typical NNAAP test package consists of 70 test questions that can be downloaded and printed. Once you have the questions, you are required to answer all of them in 2 hours. You will then be provided with the answer to check your score.
Regardless of how good you are when going through the official phase of you Certified Nursing Assistant training, passing the state licensing test is your only ticket to being allowed to work legally in this profession. Not many pass this test after the first try. It is therefore not only a wise move to use CNA practice tests and exams when preparing for the official CNA test but it would also have financial benefits since you will have to keep paying for the formal CNA exam every time you do not succeed.
A word of caution though, some of the CNA practice tests and exams you may find online may be too easy compared to the challenge posed by the actual test. It is therefore important to be a little picky when choosing the practice test. One thing you have to look out for is the date the test was first published on the internet. Ideally, you should concentrate on those that were only published recently since they offer more real life scenario and are likely to be structured in an almost similar fashion as the real NNAAP exam. Having an up to date hard copy of the CNA practice tests and exams should serve as an important study guide when preparing for the real exam
What is in the CNA Exam?
The test actually consists of many sections which also vary in topic and how they are conducted. These sections include both clinical and written problems that require problem handling skills.
The certification test consists of two parts, a written test and clinical or “practical” skills test CNA (CST). Licensing takes place in the state where you expect to work in. In most cases, you will be tested in a group. The written test is usually given before the test of skills, and everyone does the test, at the same time. You need to answer multiple choice questions and are usually given no more than two hours. Written test will cover patient care and records, patient monitoring and accounting, and laboratory procedures.
Written Test
Everything in the written portion will have been covered in your training classes for CNA. It’s a good idea to review your class materials, documentation and drawings before the certification test, especially if you do not want to take it immediately after completing the course.
Clinical Skills Test (CST)
After the written part, the supervisor takes the final round, and then people will be invited to perform their CST test, one at a time. Details of the test can vary and may not be the same from person to person. You will not know what exact procedures you will be asked to do until the actual test takes place.
The skill test, usually performed on a client, dummy or volunteer, is used to test at least five skills randomly selected from a pool of 25. The time limit given for this test is usually 30 minutes though it can sometimes be increased to 45 minutes depending on the state. On the other hand, oral/written test consists of 60 to 70 multiple-choice questions that have to be answered within two hours. A candidate is deemed to have passed this tests if he/she scores 75 percent and above. If you fail to reach this mark, you are given two more chances to pass the exam. Failure to as after attempting the exam means that you have to go through the complete training program before being allowed to sit again.
You can expect the test to cover the skills that are most common. This could include obtaining measurements of vital signs– blood pressure, pulse, and respiration, demonstrate the proper way to make a bed, with and without a patient, moving or transportation of patients – helping them dress and get in and out of a wheelchair, etc., and respond to emergencies such as choking.
Getting the Results
You will not know the test results of the certification immediately, as they will be sent to you. However, if you paid attention in class and understand what you’ve learned, taking the time to study and review material before taking the test, you should have no problem in passing.
In conclusion, you are going to become a nursing assistant, so you need to represent the job with a large amount of knowledge and professionalism: dealing with both theoretical and real-life situations. Do not underestimate the exam, and you should be fine. Take the right precautions and pre-test preparation, and you should be fine. Becoming a nursing assistant is an excellent and respectable career choice- you will feel fulfilled and rewarded in this career if you really enjoy helping people. Passing the test is just the first step before your real life career starts. Once you have earned your certification, you are free to work as Certified Nursing Assistant, Home Health Aide or other in similar jobs at any hospital, nursing home in your state.