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Help for the Thomson Prometric C.N.A TestWhat to Expect on your Thomson Prometric C.N.A. test day This information is for those who have ALREADY taken a state approved C.N.A training course and are now scheduled to take the state test. If you need to take a state approved C.N.A course contact your state Board of Nursing for a list of approved training programs. We DO NOT give the state test or have applications for the state test or teach the C.N.A class online. For information on taking your states C.N.A license test CALL your state Board of Nursing. THE WRITTEN TEST If your state uses Thomson Prometric as their C.N.A. testing agency (see the bottom of our "home" page to see which states use Prometric testing agency) then you can go to prometric.com and take a free practice test. If you need a copy of the skills you need to know for the test you can find it on Prometric's web site. Go to Prometric's site and from the drop down menu titled "Choose Type of Test" select "ALL". From the next drop down menu titled "Choose Testing Program" look for your state and click on it then click GO. Find the heading "Healthcare" and click on Nurse Aide or C.N.A. You will find your candidate handbook and other helpful information about your state test. The practice test is 50-60 multiple-choice questions. Of course none of the questions that are on the practice test will be on your real C.N.A test BUT the questions on the practice test are the same TYPE of questions and the same LEAVE of difficulty that you will have on your C.N.A state test. How you do on the practice test will give you a good indication on how you will do on your state test and how much more you need to study before you take the C.N.A test.
You have 2 hours (in some states 90 minutes, check your candidate handbook to see how long you have) to complete the written part of the C.N.A test. This is more then enough time so take your time, read the questions carefully. Most mistakes are from reading to fast. Remember, if you are not sure of an answer your FIRST choice of an answer is usually your best choice, DON'T go back and change it UNLESS you are SURE you were wrong the first time. After you are done with your written test you can hand it in and leave. Thomson Prometric can give you the written test orally. You have to make that choice on the application you sent into your test agency. If you did not make that choice and want to take the written test orally call your test agency and talk to them. If you are taking it orally they will give you a CD player and headphones, that is how they administer an orally test. If you don't know if you would do better orally or by reading the questions yourself, practice at home. Take a practice test (we have some you can buy below) and do it by reading and answering the questions yourself. Then take a test by having someone read the questions and answers to you. Grade them both and see which test you did better on. THE C.N.A SKILLS TEST For your skills test you will be asked to perform 5 skills (in some states it is 3 skills, check you handbook) in a closed room with only the Evaluator and someone in the bed playing your client. At the beginning of the first skill you must wash your hands. You will not be told to wash your hands you are expected to know that the first step in the first skill is to wash your hands. From that point forward you may tell the evaluator when you are washing your hands. In utilizing standard precautions it is wise to wash your hands before you became a skill on your resident and after you complete the skill on your resident. Remember after you have washed your hands for the first step of your first skill you only need to tell the evaluator when you would be washing your hands in the remaining skills. Your skills are picked at random from your skills handbook. Those skills can be ANY of the skills in your C.N.A handbook so you must study all of them. Studying the skills or watching someone else perform the skills WILL NOT be enough for you to pass the skills part of your state test. YOU MUST practice the skills for yourself. Performing the skills over and over will help you feel confident in performing them in front of the Evaluator on test day. Even if you do not have anyone willing to play the part of your client in bed you can use a doll or even a pillow and still go through all the steps of each skill. Before you begin your Thomson Prometric C.N.A skills test the Evaluator (remember he or she is a RN so act professionally) will show you where all the supplies are that you will need to perform your skills. She will show you how to use any equipment, such as the bed controls. Everything you need to perform your skills will be in the room. When the Evaluator is done showing you around she will ask if you have any questions. You must ask any questions BEFORE the test begins. The Evaluator will NOT answer any questions after the test begins. You have 25 minutes (in most states, check your C.N.A handbook to be sure it is the same in your state) to complete the skills. Thomson Prometric does not make it clear about what you can do if you make a mistake. My suggestion would be to say to the person in bed portraying your client "Oh, I'm sorry I made a mistake, I forgot to…." At that point I would explain to the person portraying your client what you did wrong or what it was you forgot, etc. This way your evaluator may have the opportunity to give you credit for correcting your mistake. You have nothing to lose by doing this other than a little bit of time. Remember, you do not have to perform all the skills perfectly to pass. You can make some mistakes and still pass your test. What kind of mistakes and how many no one knows. Thomson Prometric expects you to perform indirect care which represents behaviors that are part of every skill related to communications, resident rights, safety, comfort and standard precautions (infection control). Indirect care includes greeting your resident addressing them by name and introducing yourself. Also providing an explanation to the resident before beginning and throughout the procedure. The best way to do this is after you greet your resident and introduce yourself explain to them what you will be doing (which will be the first skill the evaluator gives to you). After completeing the first skill continue to talk to the resident as you perform each step in each skill. This is how you provide an explanation to the resident throughout the procedure. Thomson Prometric will also be grading you on utilizing standard precautions throughout the procedure, promote resident comfort throughout the procedure, promote residence rights throughout the procedure, and promote residence safety throughout the procedure. Let's take these one at a time. 1. Utilizing standard precautions throughout the procedure: *After actually washing your hands as a first step in the first skill be sure to tell the evaluator that you are washing your hands at the beginning of each new skill and at the end of every skill. *Any time that you are giving mouth care, brushing dentures, perineal care, catheter care or dealing with urine you must wear gloves. These are some examples of utilizing standard precautions. 2. Promote the resident's comfort throughout the procedure: *Each time you move your resident asked them if they are comfortable or if they are in any pain. *When you are finished with your skill make sure your resident is in proper body alignment. This means they are lying straight in the bed. Their torso or limbs are not at an unnatural angle. Be sure to ask your resident if they are comfortable. 3. Promote the residence's rights throughout the procedure: *If your resident refuses any care, medical treatment or any procedure you must respect their wishes and not continue on with the procedure. *If your resident wants you to perform a skill or procedure in a certain way and it is not against policy or procedure or it is not unsafe than you need to do the procedure according to their wishes. *If a resident is unhappy with the food that is provided you must offer them something else. 4. Promoting a resident's safety throughout the procedure: *Whenever you are helping a resident to walk be sure they have on nonskid footwear and use a gate belt. *When using a wheelchair be sure to always lock both wheels on the wheelchair. *If you are using water on a resident be sure to check the temperature of the water before using. *If you roll a resident on their side be sure to use the bed rail. If there is no bed rail then you must stand on the side of the bed and roll the resident toward you. This ensures that a resident will never roll off the bed. Remember in each skill your Evaluator will be checking to see if you are following standard precautions, promoting resident's comfort, promoting resident's rights and promoting resident's safety. Above we have covered some of these issues. SKILLS TEST TIPS 1. Wear scrubs to your test. You will look more professional. If you have long hair TIE IT BACK. It is easy for long hair to get in you way while you perform your skills. 2. Take off rings (wedding rings are OK) and long earrings or large hoop earrings and bracelets. All these things could get in your way. 3. If you have long acrylic nails you need to take them off for test day. Some Evaluators will not let you test with long nails. Long nails can scratch clients. 4. As you practice your skills for your test any questions that come to your mind, write them down. The Evaluator will answer any question you have BEFORE the skills test begins. 5. You can do more steps in a skill then are in the skills handbook, example: some skills require that you provide privacy for your client, some skills do not. I don't want to have to remember which skills need privacy and which do not SO I will just provide privacy in EACH skill. I will not be counted off for doing MORE. I will only be counted off if I FORGET a step in a skill. You can do the same with putting on gloves. If you think you might forget to put on gloves in a skill that requires them then just put on gloves for every skill (except "feeding a client" no one wants to be helped to eat with someone wearing gloves). 6. Be on time for your test, if you are late you loose your test time and money. 7. You must perform every step in a skill. The Evaluator has a checklist of each step in the skill you are performing. So you must do every step in a skill. But remember, you do NOT have to do the steps in the exact order they are written. As long as you do the step the Evaluator can check it off as done. Also, you can do more steps then are in the skills handbook and you will NOT be counted off. You CAN make mistakes and still pass the test, how many mistakes, no one knows.
Find and room with a bed, it can be your own bedroom. If no one is willing to play the part of your client put a doll or teddy bear or pillow in bed. If you are practicing at home gather some supplies to use as props such as a bowl to use as a bedpan and a bowl or pan to use for water. Have several towels, washcloths, wipes, and gloves within reach of your bed. If you don’t have actual latex gloves use any pair of gloves. The idea is to go through the motions of putting on gloves at the proper time in a skill. You may also want to pin up a piece of fabric on one side of your bed to simulate a privacy curtain. For the call light (signal device) you can use an old computer mouse or a block of wood. Use a marker and write on it "call light". Be creative in setting up your room with everything you need to help you practice each step in each skill. To save time instead of actually going to the bathroom to get water just pretend to get water. If you are using a bed where the head of the bed does not raise or lower, take a piece of paper and draw 2 buttons on it (an up and down button) and tape it somewhere within reach and when the step is read to raise or lower the head of the bed you can touch those buttons. Once you have practiced the skills over and over then you can actually get water for washing or real food to feed to someone or really put toothpaste on a toothbrush and brush someone’s teeth, etc. When you feel confident with your skills choose the amount of skills your state will require you to perform (some states it is 3 skills, some states it is 5 skills). Set a timer for the amount of time your state gives you to perform the skills and then go through your skills. When you are done check and see how much time you have left. This will help you feel at ease knowing how fast you need to work to finish your skills in the allowed time. Most people find they can work at a comfortable pace and finish on time. We wish you good luck. Thank you, Avanza Education
IF YOU NEED HELP PRACTICING FOR YOUR THOMSON PROMETRIC SKILLS TEST CHECK OUT OUR VIDEO BELOW OR ON THE HOME PAGE. The video demonstrates each skill in the C.N.A Candidate Handbook step by step, slowly and clearly narrated so that the C.N.A student can follow along in their handbook as they watch the VHS or DVD as often as necessary. Watching it several times the day before the nurse assistant test has proven to be very helpful. There are twenty-four C.N.A. skills demonstrated in the video:
Video and Priority 2-4 day shipping $58.95 with a 7 day refund Send Money order to: Avanza Education NEWProduct Ordering PageThree practice tests for the written part of your C.N.A test. $15.00 Plus 3 Bonuses. The practice tests are made up of 70 multiple choice questions. These tests come from the NNAAP (National Nurse Aide Assessment Program) who are the ones that provide the test questions that all C.N.A. testing agencies use. None of the questions you will receive will be on your actual C.N.A. state test. These questions are examples of the type of questions and the level of difficulty of the questions on your state test. If you do well on these practice tests then you KNOW you will pass your state test. You will receive 3 separate tests,70 questions on each test, with the answer sheet + an explanation on why the answer is correct. Example of a test question: An example of a special device to help prevent contractures is a (an):
Answer: A handroll is placed in the palm of the hand to prevent the hand and fingers from contracting in the flexed position. These tests will give you ample opportunity to test your knowledge and help you see how prepared you are for your state test. PROVE TO YOURSELF THAT YOU ARE READY FOR YOUR C.N.A WRITTEN TEST. WE WILL ALSO INCLUDE FREE: COMMON MEDICAL ABBREVIATIONS and THERMOMETER READING TEST and READING AN ANEROID SPHYGMOMANOMETER Three Practice Tests, 70 questions on each test, with answer sheet Plus the Common Abbreviations and the Thermometer and Aneroid Sphygmomanometer Resding Tests: $15.00 There are no refunds on the practice tests. Abbreviation Example: NPO-nothing by mouth. qhs-every hour of sleep. We will include 81 more common medical abbreviations You will use medical abbreviations when you chart for your clients and you will need to know them to understand what other staff members have written about your client. Medical Abbreviations are like short hand. They are used throughout the medical community. Practice Tests and Bonuses, shipping: $15.00
Avanza Education Skills Video copyright 2008. Pearson VUE is a trademark, in the U.S. and/or other countries, of Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliate(s). Helpful hints on practicing the skills at home
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