Kentucky CNA (SRNA)

It is the state's title for a nursing assistant listed on the Kentucky Nurse Aide Registry after completing approved training and passing the competency exam. You perform direct patient care under the supervision of a licensed nurse: bathing, feeding, mobility, vital signs, infection control, and observation reporting.

The written test is multiple-choice knowledge questions covering care concepts, safety, rights, and communication. The skills test is a live demonstration: you perform assigned procedures on a helper while an evaluator scores each step against a checklist, including hand hygiene, privacy, and safety habits.

Most failures happen on the skills portion, not because the tasks are complex but because steps are skipped under pressure - handwashing, knocking, explaining, draping, locking wheels, or lowering the bed. The knowledge portion rewards steady review of fundamentals. Candidates who rehearse the checklist aloud usually find the exam manageable.

Skipping a critical step. Frequently missed items include failing to wash hands at the required moments, leaving a resident unattended in an unsafe position, not locking bed or wheelchair wheels, forgetting to identify the resident, and omitting privacy measures. Any of these can end the demonstration regardless of how well the rest went.

Start with infection control, safety, and resident rights, because those principles recur across every domain. Then move through activities of daily living and basic nursing skills, since they carry the most weight. Finish with restorative care, psychosocial topics, and communication. Practice skills daily rather than in one long session.

Retake rules, waiting periods, and any limits on attempts are set by the state and its testing vendor and can change. Check the current candidate handbook on the Kentucky Board of Nursing site or contact the vendor directly for the policy that applies to your test date. Do not rely on what a classmate experienced last year.

Registry listings in Kentucky expire and must be renewed, typically through documented work hours and/or continuing education. The exact renewal window and required hours are published by the state registry and can be revised, so verify your own expiration date and requirements on the official registry site rather than assuming a fixed rule.

Bring the identification your admission ticket requires and arrive early. Wear clean scrubs or uniform-style clothing, flat closed-toe shoes, and keep nails short with no polish or artificial nails, since that alone can cost you points on hand hygiene. Leave jewelry and strong fragrance at home. Confirm specifics with your testing site.

Not verbatim, but you must perform every critical step in order without prompting. Learn the logic behind each step - why you lock the wheels, why you face the resident when speaking, why you check the water temperature - because understanding makes the sequence stick when you are nervous.

Only with the official sources: the Kentucky Board of Nursing nurse aide registry page and the testing vendor's candidate handbook. Those documents carry the current item count, time limit, passing standard, fees, and scheduling process. Third-party study sites like this one do not set or track those numbers.