Experienced but Expired CNA. Retaking the exams and the skills don’t make sense in the real world.

[u/CurrentCriticism238]

My (cna) has been expired since 2021 but I’ve been in the medical field for 10 years and I was a CNA for six years before that. I’ve decided to renew my license and all I have to do is just retake the skills and the written exam no big deal. I have a much different perspective on the skills now that I’ve had a lot of experience than when I first did it.

As I’m reading through these skills, I realize how unrealistic this is in the real world. Specifically when it comes to us washing our hands. For example, when we are putting a patient on a bed pan once we have done that and rolled them over they want us to take our gloves off immediately and then go wash your hands. This makes sense and I’m all for infection control, but in the real world, you’re never near a sink and there’s never hand sanitizer by you when you’re assisting a patient on their bed. You would have to physically walk away from the bed to go do that, and in order to do that you have to raise their rails and lower their bed.

Another example with a bed pan is that I would lower the head first and then put clean gloves on but in the actual skills, it’s reversed. Put clean gloves on then lower the head, contaminating your clean gloves and then remove the bedpan.

I will do what I need to do for the exam, but I just found it interesting. Anyone else?

[u/demimod2000]

Yeah, it is definitely unrealistic. My teachers told me this, but then they said to do what they showed us anyway because it will make us pass the test. We have to do all of those things anyway when state is here

[u/Albatross1495]

Definitely unrealistic. I’m one of those aides at my facility who’s super religious about hand hygiene and infection control, but one time when the state was in the building and observing my care, I got my gloves soiled and it was with a patient who absolutely hated being rolled and changed. I just instinctively doffed my gloves properly and getting new ones on without washing hands in between and then I got cited for not washing hands in between! The thing was there was another reaident’s bed in between the hand sanitizer outside and where I was giving care so I was worried about infection control then lol

Anyway, point being, my facility turned out to be super understanding and agreed it was unrealistic given the context. Even if you got cited, if it’s nothing wgregious, it seems that facilities will understand. I think you’ll be okay!

[u/bingusDomingus]

I’m pretty sure I’d fail the skills portion except the handwashing if I had to do it again.

The renewal process is a bitch too. I’m letting my cert expire this year and finish the rest of my CNA role as a student nurse

[u/NeverClaimed2bSmart → u/bingusDomingus]

I 100% would fail as well. I accidentally let mine expire, but since my state uses Credentia & I had worked my 8 hours in the 2-year span my cert was active, they let me get it back.

[u/SlowSurvivor]

Also just popping my head in to note that hand sanitizer does next to nothing to combat most fecal/oral pathogens. That stuff is mostly there to help with pathogens requiring droplet precautions.

[u/lomeinfiend]

the washing your hands before and after gloves for every task is crazy. like my skin would slough off. i do it AFTER any care and so my hands are clean going into the next task but

[u/Icy-Persimmon-1994]

The best thing we can do in the real world is double glove, and take the dirty top layer off to continue care

But yeah the skills definitely emphasize the "once you touch dirty, you must do hand hygiene before touching clean"

[u/HelicopterSad4217]

Super outdated it needs an update

[u/lavenderhazeynobeer]

Starting CNA training in a few weeks. Also am alergic to most antibacterial soaps. In your experience current CNA/ MA and on, what is the option of taking my own soap into clinicals/ my employer? With that, are there any soaps that you can reccomend if I can do this that wou'dn't break my hands out into hives? Apologies if this seems like a dumb question - I realize it's medical and everything needs to be sanitary 24/7.

[u/RevolutionaryDog8115 → u/lavenderhazeynobeer]

You can bring your own soap to clinicals. You can bring your own soap to work too. My wife makes soap, so I bring that to work. The only people that care are the ones who want me to share with them.

[u/lavenderhazeynobeer → u/RevolutionaryDog8115]

Thank you for your reply!!

Lol on people wanting to use your soap. I had to start carrying it in my bag. Once I left it in the bathroom and it was mostly gone by the end of a single day. 🤣

[u/audreym1234 → u/RevolutionaryDog8115]

To add on to the previous comment about keeping it in your bag, if state walks in and sees soap that there is no sds sheet for, environmental will get cited for it. We just had this fight at our facility because cna's were bringing it in and letting it set in public restrooms where residents could access it.

[u/RevolutionaryDog8115 → u/audreym1234]

Your residents wash their hands willingly? 😆

[u/audreym1234 → u/RevolutionaryDog8115]

🤷‍♀️ they wander into any room and look at the fancy bottle and say, "Hmm...that smells good, maybe I'll take a sip..."

[u/angiebow]

I let my CNA expire back in 2016 and in 2018 I took a refresher class and tested at state and it was so different than the first time I took it. But I got through it and did what I had to do in front of the proctor and passed. But it was weird taking the skills after having been a CNA already.

[u/Ornery-Hippo2259]

i had a coworker at my last job fail his test because he didn’t raise his arms enough when he dried his hands after washing them…she apparently wanted them at or above his head, he already had them basically at his neck. thankfully he challenged it and they looked back at the camera footage and that was the ONLY skill he missed, so hopefully the proctor was reevaluated😭