Certified Nurse’s Assistant, you have to have 75 hours of state-approved training and pass a competency examination.

The exam will test both clinical skill and conceptual knowledge with a written multiple-choice section and a practical section.

Sample questions for study guide:

The following are some questions from a sample of the written portion of the CNA exam:

A resident [of a nursing home] who is lying in bed suddenly becomes short of breath. After calling for help, the nurse aide’s next action should be to:

ask the resident to take deep breaths.
take the resident’s vital signs.
raise the head of the bed.
elevate the resident’s feet.

When a person is admitted to the nursing home, the nurse aide should expect that the resident will:
have problems related to incontinence.
require a lot of assistance with personal care.
experience a sense of loss relating to the life change.
adjust more quickly if admitted directly from the hospital.

The doctor has told the resident that his cancer is growing and that he is dying. When the resident tells the nurse aide that there is a mistake, the nurse aide should:
understand that denial is a normal reaction.
remind the resident that the doctor would not lie.
suggest the resident ask for more tests.
ask if the resident is afraid of dying.

Some of the skills that may be tested include:

Personal Care: Bathing and grooming patients is a large part of a CNA’s job. This skill is very likely to be tested in the clinical portion of the CNA exam.

Use of Restorative Devices: You need to know how to use and help others use mobility aids, such as walkers, crutches, and prostheses, and devices that generally improve a patient’s functions or lifestyle, such as catheters or other bowel and urinary control or training fixtures.

Mental Health Needs: Knowing how to address a patient’s mental health needs, and how to interact with patients who have schizophrenia, dementia, or psychosocial disabilities, is crucial, especially if you plan to be a CNA in a facility that specializes in nursing care for the mentally disabled.

General Nursing Skills: Maintaining a clean environment, washing hands (yours and patients’), recognizing symptoms and abnormalities in routine; all of these are required of CNAs regularly, and should be performed by rote.