Colorado CNA study guide
Colorado CNA · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Colorado Nurse Aide (CNA) Competency Examination is the evaluation a nurse aide candidate must pass to be certified to work in Colorado. It is intended for people who have completed a state-approved nurse aide training program - or who otherwise qualify to test - and who plan to provide direct resident care in long-term care and other health care settings. The Colorado CNA study guide has 6 sections and about 1,912 words.
01Basic Nursing Skills
Basic nursing skills cover vital signs, infection control, safety, observation, and specimen handling. Know adult ranges: temperature about 97–99 °F oral, pulse 60–100 beats per minute, respirations 12–20 per minute, blood pressure under 120/80, oxygen saturation 95% or higher.
320 words, about 2 min02Personal Care Skills
Personal care includes bathing, oral care, denture care, grooming, shaving, nail care, perineal care, dressing, toileting, and skin inspection. The core principles are privacy, dignity, safety, and independence: close the door and curtain, drape the resident, explain each step, and let the resident do whatever they can do for themselves.
347 words, about 2 min03Mental Health and Social Service Needs
Residents bring grief, depression, anxiety, fear, anger, cultural beliefs, religious practices, and sexual needs into the facility. You are expected to know basic psychosocial care: treat the resident as a whole person, respect culture and religion, protect privacy during intimate moments, and communicate with open-ended questions, active listening, silence, and empathy.
304 words, about 2 min04Care of Cognitively Impaired Residents
Dementia is chronic and progressive and includes memory loss, poor judgment, wandering, confusion, and personality change. Delirium is different: it comes on suddenly and is often caused by infection, dehydration, medication, or pain, so a new or rapidly worsening confusion is a medical report, not just dementia.
314 words, about 2 min05Basic Restorative Services
Restorative care means helping residents keep or regain function: range of motion, positioning, transferring, ambulation, assistive devices, splints, and bowel and bladder retraining. The guiding rule is use it or lose it, so never do for a resident what they can do for themselves; provide set-up and supervision instead.
330 words, about 2 min06Resident Rights
Federal law, through OBRA, guarantees residents' rights. Residents have the right to dignity and respect, privacy, confidentiality, choice, and self-determination.
297 words, about 1 min