How to Become a CNA:
Beginner Certified Nursing Assistant's Guide

In my twenty-five years running a homecare agency, I have supervised and made friends with literally hundreds of CNAs. Distilling that entire experience into a few paragraphs will be challenging. I will thus start by breaking it down as follows:The nature of one-on-one caregiving Downtime: Unlike working at a living facility or memory ward where a CNA’s tasks seem never-ending all day long, a CNA working in a private home may have a consid ...

When you have good communication skills, you can:Express your thoughts and ideas so they are understood Enjoy more meaningful interpersonal relationships in your life Receive promotions and advance your career Increase your self-esteem Be confident at work and at home Assist and influence othersCommunication is not just about speaking and listening. It’s also about using your emotions and intuition. For example, if you love animals ...

From my perch at the homecare agency From early on at the homecare agency I started back in the nineties, I cherished the enthusiasm that my younger nursing assistant recruits brought along upon entering the elder care field. To some degree, I reckoned that made up for some of their ill-conceived notions about our seniors. As my agency grew, I realized that of our care recipients who were relatively young, say in their mid to late seventies, ...

For healthcare professionals, the combination of proper hand hygiene and outside factors, such as weather, can cause skin to become dry and irritated. Learning how to care for your hands can help protect them from damage and discomfort. No skimping on hand hygiene The most important way to prevent the spread of infection and disease is by practicing good hand hygiene. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Preventi ...

Introverts and Extroverts Many of us are introverted and get edgy when in the company of new people. We simply don’t find it easy to open up and make the small talk that commonly gets a relationship going. We tend to wait for the other person to break the ice, and our body language gets all defensive, which in turn does not encourage the other person to come up with sincere and effective overtures. Others are extroverted and have an easy-going ...

Have you encountered any of these situations at work?For the third time this week, a co-worker has dodged answering call lights A group has started to exclude another team member and refuse to help her The holiday work schedule causes arguments among staff A charge nurse always gives the best assignments to her favorite CNA Every workplace has conflicts. At some point, the combination of age, culture, gender, seniority, personal l ...

Night shifts are a necessary part of healthcare. In any hospital or inpatient facility, activity slows at night, but nursing care continues around the clock. Frequently new employees will begin and remain on the night shift until a position on the day shift opens. Some facilities require rotating shifts or schedule staff to fill in for night staff vacations.Adapting to the night shift can be one of the biggest challenges for a CNA. Many of the ...

definition A CNA (certified nursing assistant) is a healthcare worker that can provide personal care to patients in a variety of settings. CNAs can be employed in nursing homes, hospitals, hospice centers, private homes, and more. CNAs help patients with a variety of tasks, including personal care, feeding, bathing, and administering medications. (CNA job description) Working as a team member, the CNA provides assistance with essential daily ...

How are your test-taking skills? Do you start to worry when it’s time to show how much you’ve learned? Does your mind go blank? Do you find yourself making mistakes even when you know the correct answers?All CNA candidates must pass their state’s written examination to get the credentials they need for a job. All the exams are multiple choice; each question has four choices for the correct answer.Many candidates find testing stressful ...