Indiana CNA common mistakes
Indiana CNA · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Answering a resident's family member's questions about the resident's diagnosis, lab results, or care plan in the hallway, or sharing a resident's information with another resident's visitor who asks how 'the lady in 112' is doing.
Candidates want to appear helpful and knowledgeable, and they mistake 'being friendly' for 'being informative.' They also assume that because a person is present in the facility they are entitled to information.
What to do instead
Practice the redirect script: 'I'm not able to share that information, but I'll let the nurse know you'd like to speak with her.' Before any disclosure, confirm who is authorized in the care plan; route all clinical questions to the licensed nurse.
Accepting a task the aide is not permitted to perform because the nurse was busy, e.g., changing a simple dressing, adjusting oxygen flow rate, administering a PRN medication, or deciding on their own to skip a prescribed repositioning schedule.
Candidates study skills in isolation and memorize steps, so they never build a clear line between 'task I can do' and 'task I must refer.' Anxiety about seeming incompetent keeps them from saying no.
What to do instead
Learn the Indiana scope list for nurse aides and rehearse one sentence: 'That's outside what I'm trained to do, but I'll get the nurse right now.' When unsure, the answer is always to report and wait, never to improvise.
Starting a skill or transporting a resident without verifying identity using two identifiers (name plus date of birth or ID band), especially when the resident is 'obviously' the right person or is asleep.
Test anxiety plus familiar-looking setup makes candidates skip the opening steps to save time, and simulated residents in a lab carry no visible ID band, so the habit never gets built.
What to do instead
Treat identity check as the first scored step in every skill, not as optional preamble. Say the two identifiers out loud while checking the band; in practice, check bands on every interaction until it becomes automatic.
Leaving a resident's bed in the high position, wheels unlocked, or with the near side rail down while stepping away for supplies, or turning away from the resident during a transfer without a safety position.
Candidates focus on the task itself and treat 'aftercare/safety check' as the closing checkbox they will get to later. Interruptions during practice reinforce the habit of leaving mid-task.
What to do instead
Build a fixed leaving ritual: call light, bed low, wheels locked, side rail up as ordered, resident's belongings in reach. Practice it aloud at the end of every skill until it happens without prompting.
Ambulating a resident by holding the arm or under the armpit without a gait belt, and standing on the resident's strong side or reaching across rather than on the affected side.
Candidates confuse 'supportive' with 'safe' and default to the fastest grip. Weak-side positioning is taught once and easily flipped under pressure.
What to do instead
Memorize the rule as 'weak side, gait belt, waistband hold.' Physically walk through the pattern in practice with a partner standing on the correct side and be able to state which side is the resident's weak side before starting.
Performing all of the resident's self-care for them - washing the whole face, feeding by the fastest route, dressing the resident completely - when the resident can do part of it, or skipping the reminder to use the call light and personal items.
Candidates equate good care with completion and speed, and helping feels kinder in the moment than waiting through slow attempts.
What to do instead
Plan each care task as 'set up, then let them do what they can': place supplies within reach, offer one step at a time, and praise effort. State the resident's functional level and the assistance level from the care plan before starting.
Donning gloves without first washing hands, washing gloved hands instead of bare hands, or skipping hand hygiene between gloves-off and the next resident contact in a multi-step skill.
In skills practice, candidates think of gloves as the hand hygiene step and rush to the 'real' task. Under testing pressure, the two steps merge in memory.
What to do instead
Treat hand hygiene as its own scored action with a fixed trigger: 'before gloves, after gloves, between residents.' Practice a two-skill sequence back to back so the transition is rehearsed, not just the single skill.
Discarding urine or emesis without measuring it, estimating output instead of using the graduate, or recording intake as 'drank well' rather than actual amounts consumed.
Candidates see output as waste to be disposed of, and measurement feels like paperwork rather than care. They also fear holding a specimen incorrectly.
What to do instead
Say the number before pouring anything away: pour into a graduate, read at eye level, record on the intake-output sheet in the room. Remember the measuring container stays separate from the toilet and is emptied and rinsed after each use.
Noticing a change - new redness on the sacrum, sudden confusion, refusal of two meals, very dark concentrated urine, a new complaint of pain - and mentioning it to a coworker, writing it in the chart, or waiting until the end of the shift instead of reporting promptly to the licensed nurse.
Candidates underrate their own observations and fear being wrong or seeming like a complainer; they also assume the nurse will see it during rounds.
What to do instead
Use the SBAR one-liner every time: 'Mr. X, room 112, I noticed this change just now, it started about an hour ago.' Report in person, immediately, and document what you reported and to whom.
Providing post-mortem care without identifying the body by two identifiers and following facility policy, leaving dentures out of the mouth, leaving the body in a slumped position, or cleaning and bagging belongings in front of the family instead of offering privacy and time first.
Candidates are uncomfortable with death, rush to 'get it over with,' and skip the dignity and verification steps. They also misread family presence as a reason to work faster.
What to do instead
Follow the sequence: confirm the nurse's pronouncement, offer the family private time, then provide care, place the body supine with dentures in and a pillow under the head, identify per policy with a second staff member, and label belongings. Say the steps aloud in practice so the order is fixed before the emotional moment.