I passed my STNA test because of my tester..... Here is my advice and story.

So I took my STNA test 10/07/2011 and found out the next day that I passed. (I did this by calling DNS diversified because I knew I would get my results sooner) Now to the main event. My test was at 8:30 and I got there at 7:30. You’re supposed to be there 1/2 hour early so I thought I’d give myself an extra 1/2 hour to study as well. Long story short because my name wasn’t in their computer system I ended up waiting almost 5 hours before I even got to take my written test....I felt like I was there FOREVER. My nerves were fried!
The skills I got were. Hand washing, denture care, placing resident on left side, and weighing and ambulatory resident. Everything went pretty smoothly and I made very minor mistakes. It was not until the last skill that I almost made the biggest mistake of all. The dreaded bolded print mistake (Not doing the bolded print step will cause you to fail the test immediately) I went to put the resident on the scale when the tester yelled “STOP! Think about what your about to do, you’re about to miss a bolded step and fail the test. I’m only doing this because you have been here for over 5 hours and I thought you deserved it.” I of course freaked out because I obviously had no idea I was doing anything wrong or I would not have done it. Turns out you have to zero the scale BEFORE putting a resident on it, and it’s not ok to put them on it then zero it (Which I think is stupid anyways but hey I forgot and finially figured out what I was doing wrong)
It am so grateful that she did what she did or I sooo would not have passed.
I would like to post my advice in a comment below so that it's easier to read.

If I had to give advice to anyone it would be the following: STUDY, STUDY,STUDY and repeat! I did not really study my textbook because I remembered some of it from my STNA class and most of it was common sense anyways. I focused mostly on the skills portions because it requires the most memorization and costs A LOT more to retake. (Triple the cost of the written test) Also I might add the written test was A LOT easier than my finals test in my STNA class.

2. It’s good to practice with someone you’re comfortable with so you get into the habit of REALLY saying the steps out loud! I cannot stress this enough. SAY THE STEPS OUT LOUD. Even if you say something beforehand and don’t actually do it, the tester will know that you know what you’re doing and give you points anyways.

3. People always say you get more than enough time for skills. This is true….For SOME PEOPLE not all. I finished with 2 minutes remaining. Don’t rush through it but don’t forget you’re always on the clock either.

4. Try to remember if you forgot something every skill, so at the end when the tester asks you if you forgot anything in your skills you can tell her what your forgot, or what you think you forgot and then get points for doing so.
5. Know that it was confirmed by the tester that the order in which you do your skills does not matter so long as it’s in reason unless a skills specifically states that you can’t do it that way. For instance Wash hands, put on gloves, pull privacy curtain. OR, Wash hands, pull privacy curtain, then put on gloves. Either way you washed your hands, you have gloves on, and you pulled the curtain. However most of the order does matter, for instance you would not stand someone up, then put a gait belt on them lol. Or anything that's in bold print.

Hope this helped!

Tara Neel in Cincinnati, Ohio said: So I took my STNA test 10/07/2011 and found out the next day that I passed. (I did this by calling DNS diversified because I knew
Tami, thanks for the info...but don't you get 5 skills? What was your 5th skill?
I would get my results sooner) Now to the main event. My test was at 8:30 and I got there at 7:30. You’re supposed to be there 1/2 hour early so I thought I’d give myself an extra 1/2 hour to study as well. Long story short because my name wasn’t in their computer system I ended up waiting almost 5 hours before I even got to take my written test....I felt like I was there FOREVER. My nerves were fried!
The skills I got were. Hand washing, denture care, placing resident on left side, and weighing and ambulatory resident. Everything went pretty smoothly and I made very minor mistakes. It was not until the last skill that I almost made the biggest mistake of all. The dreaded bolded print mistake (Not doing the bolded print step will cause you to fail the test immediately) I went to put the resident on the scale when the tester yelled “STOP! Think about what your about to do, you’re about to miss a bolded step and fail the test. I’m only doing this because you have been here for over 5 hours and I thought you deserved it.” I of course freaked out because I obviously had no idea I was doing anything wrong or I would not have done it. Turns out you have to zero the scale BEFORE putting a resident on it, and it’s not ok to put them on it then zero it (Which I think is stupid anyways but hey I forgot and finially figured out what I was doing wrong)
It am so grateful that she did what she did or I sooo would not have passed.
I would like to post my advice in a comment below so that it's easier to read.

Tara, thanks for the info...but don't you get 5 skills? What was your 5th skill in the test?

Linda in Columbus, Ohio said: Tara, thanks for the info...but don't you get 5 skills? What was your 5th skill in the test?

Handwashing is always the first skill, then you have four others. I took mine today and had Haircare, Nailcare, partial bed bath, and positioning resident on right side.

I know, but she said hand washing was one of the four skills.
Thanks for your info though! I'm very nervous!