The CNA skills evaluation
The written test is the half most people pass. The skills evaluation is the half that fails people — and no website can rehearse it for you.
What it is
The CNA certification exam has two independent parts. The written (or oral) knowledge test is the half every page-one result builds for. The skills evaluation is the other half: on a separate day, you perform a set of nursing-assistant skills in front of a person who scores you against a fixed order. You must pass both.
Most people who fail the CNA exam do not fail the written half. They fail the skills evaluation. That is why this site practises the written half and tells you honestly that a website cannot rehearse you for the other one.
The shape of it
The evaluation selects a set of skills for you, in the moment. One skill is always hand hygiene and one is always a measurement. Each skill is scored in a fixed order, and some steps carry so much weight that missing one fails the whole skill regardless of everything else done right. The exact list and the number of skills are set by your state and vendor, which this site does not print.
The shape of a sitting
What you are given
- 01 Hand hygiene In every set.
- 02 A measurement In every set.
- 03 Skills chosen for you From your state’s list, in the moment. You do not pick them.
- How many, and which ones Set by your state and its testing vendor. This site does not print them; your candidate handbook does.
Inside every skill
Opening · critical
Privacy. Introduction. Explaining before doing.
The skill itself
Your vendor’s steps, in your vendor’s order. Not printed here.
Closing · critical
Call light in reach. Comfort. Reporting.
The middle of that diagram is blank on purpose. Those steps belong to your testing vendor, they differ between vendors, and one wrong step rehearsed here would cost you the skill. The two ends recur across nearly every skill, and they are where candidates routinely lose points — which is why this site can draw them and cannot draw the middle.
The recurring elements
These elements recur across nearly every skill’s checklist, and they are where candidates routinely lose points. Each one is a critical stop — miss it and the skill is at risk.
Privacy
The curtain is closed and the door is arranged so the resident is not exposed.
Introduction
You identify yourself to the resident before beginning.
Explaining before doing
You say what you are about to do before you do it.
Call light in reach
The call light is within the resident's reach before you leave.
Comfort
You check that the resident is comfortable when the skill is done.
Reporting
You report what you did and what you observed.
Why this site does not print a checklist
The official skill checklist belongs to your testing vendor. The checklists are controlled publications, they differ between vendors, and they are revised. Publishing a wrong one would make a candidate rehearse the wrong steps and fail on the strength of this site — so this site does not reproduce any vendor’s or state’s checklist at all.
What you get instead is the shape of the evaluation and the universal elements above, plus a route to your own official handbook. Your testing vendor publishes it, and your state’s board of nursing points you to it — the national directory of state boards is at ncsbn.org.
The Skills Brief
Every question and every explanation on this site is free. The Brief is about this exam: how to rehearse a performance test with another person, the recurring elements evaluators score on almost every skill and how to drill them, how to handle a set of skills you did not choose, what evaluators watch that candidates never notice, and the day-of sequence.
It is a rehearsal method, not a checklist. Your state’s official checklist comes from your testing vendor, and we tell you where to get it — on this page.
What the Brief holds
Nothing on this site is to be performed on a real person on the basis of this site. This is exam preparation, not clinical training. Emergency situations follow the facility's protocol and the direction of the nurse in charge.
Common questions
- What is on the CNA skills test?
- The evaluation selects a set of nursing-assistant skills for you, in the moment. One skill is always hand hygiene and one is always a measurement. Each skill is scored in a fixed order, and some steps carry so much weight that missing one fails the whole skill. The exact list and the number of skills are set by your state and vendor, so this page does not print them.
- Why doesn't this site print the skill checklist?
- Because the official skill checklist belongs to your testing vendor. The checklists are controlled publications, they differ between vendors, and they are revised — and a wrong checklist would make a candidate rehearse the wrong steps. This page tells you what the evaluation looks like and where to get your own official handbook.
- Is the skills test hard?
- It is where most candidates who fail the CNA exam fail it. The recurring elements — privacy, introduction, explaining before doing, the call light in reach, comfort, and reporting — are where points are routinely lost. No website can simulate a performance exam, which is exactly why this page is honest about it.
- What does the Skills Brief give me?
- A rehearsal method: how to practise a performance exam out loud with a partner, timed, in the order the evaluation runs; the recurring elements as a self-check; how to handle a set of skills you did not choose; what evaluators watch that candidates do not notice; and a day-of sequence. It is a method, not a checklist.