CNA training is a challenging journey.
It requires dedication, commitment, and hard work. It’s the most important decision you’ll make in your life because it will determine your future career path.
This blog post provides 10 tips that will help you survive the CNA program!
1) Go Visit the Facility Before Signing Up for Any Classes
Do not just sign up for any class or program without visiting the facility first. This way you will get to know what you are getting yourself into and if everything is according to your expectations.
Remember that even though CNA training is not particularly hard, it does take up a lot of time, money and effort so make sure beforehand that this is the path you want to be on!
2) Prioritize Your Health
You cannot expect to perform at your best when you are tired all the time!
Make sure you eat well (balanced diet), drink plenty of water, get your hours of sleep, and do not neglect your own health for the sake of CNA training.
If you feel like you need a break, go ahead and take one! A high-quality training program will understand and accommodate your needs if they know what is good for them (they want you to pass after all!).
3) Buy Your Own Supplies
Prices in training labs are always higher than when purchasing from outside.
You can spare yourself from getting overcharged by buying certain things such as gloves, nursing shoes, stethoscopes, etc on your own. Make sure to ask someone in charge about this.
4) Ignore Peer Pressure
People who think they can help might pressure you into attending certain classes while ignoring other vital ones.
If you feel like there is something wrong with how certain classes are organized or presented, do not give in to peer pressure and take matters into your own hands.
After all, it is YOUR education, YOUR future, and YOU who is going to spend the rest of your life with it so keeping some distance from others might actually be a good thing.
5) Find a Study Group and Stick With It
If you need some advice on how to pass CNA training, working with other students might be of great help.
You can find and form study groups and see who is best at what so that way you will know what you should focus on the most during your studies.
Spending time with others not only promises better grades but also fun times!
When studying together it is normal for one person to pick up the slack if someone else is falling behind. Rather than leaving them by themselves or finding another new group, just work together and get through this arduous process!
6) Keep Your Notes Organized
People tend to forget things after some time so make sure that all of your information is written down in order for you not to miss anything and let it slip away into oblivion!
Make sure all of your notes are organized by classes or sub-topics because this way you will have all the necessary information right at your fingertips. Use colors, charts, symbols, etc to make things easier for you!
7) Allocate Your Time Wisely
CNA training requires a lot of studying (obviously), so make sure to allocate your time wisely, or else exhaustion might catch up with you before the end of the day!
Make sure that all of your classes are planned out beforehand – this way nothing can go wrong and you will be able to manage your time better.
8) Ask Questions of Your Own
If you do not understand something, ask for clarification right away. Going back to the teacher, later on, will not help your case – if anything many people prefer to answer questions during lectures rather than having them asked by absent-minded students all the time.
Doing this will make teachers ignore you after asking a certain amount of questions which is bad when they are the ones who could explain everything clearly!
Keep things in your head until it is helpful for you to write them down. Do not be afraid about asking too much or annoying other students with the constant interruption – that is all part of learning!
9) Use All Opportunities For Extra Credit
There are more ways than one to get through the CNA program with great grades. If you happen to stumble upon a situation where more credit is available for you to take, why not give it a go?
For example, some people prefer to take more classes at the same time while others would rather do their lab hours in the evening instead of during the day. There are numerous possibilities and you should feel free to explore them – this way your chances of passing CNA training will be much higher!
10) Take Your Time Studying
Do not try to study from cover to cover all at once or cram everything on your last attempt – that approach never works well so learn from others’ mistakes and work through one topic/chapter ahead of time before going on.
Try not to stay up late for too long either! When it is time for bed, just go to sleep – rest well so that way you are prepared for another day of classes. Keep your body refreshed and ready to take on the task of CNA training!
11) Do Not Skip Class
It seems like a lot of students would rather skip class instead of attending it but if you do this every once in a while, how will you know what is going on? You can say “He’s missed half the stuff” but could he really have made up everything by asking his peers?
No – this is why skipping does not work out all that well because you cannot catch up with information that easy since there are no recordings or anything to study from. If you are not able to attend at least 1 class, there is no need for you to be in the program!
12) Do Not Get Discouraged
There is no point in giving up just because you faced some difficulty during the CNA training. If you feel like you are not performing as well as others, do not let this discourage you. Use your mistakes to learn from them and soon enough, things will fall into their right places! It might be hard at first but if you keep working on it, success should follow eventually.
CNA training may be difficult at times but it will definitely help you if you end up doing well enough to graduate. It is all about preparing yourself for what lies ahead of you because this line of work does not come easy, if you really want to get through it, do hard work and stay focused!