New Jersey CNA study plan
New Jersey CNA · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Role of the Nurse Aide
Define the nurse aide's scope of practice and list 5 tasks that must be reported to the licensed nurse rather than done independently.
Explain resident rights - refusal of care, privacy, dignity, freedom from abuse and unnecessary restraint - and state your reporting duty for each.
Recite the chain of infection and demonstrate the hand-hygiene sequence plus glove and gown donning/doffing without cross-contamination.
Describe how to document and report using objective, factual, nonjudgmental language, and convert 5 subjective statements into objective ones.
Your checkpoint
Score at least 80% on a self-written 40-item quiz covering scope of practice, resident rights, and infection control; log every missed item with the corrected fact.
Role of the Nurse Aide & Physical Care Skills
Identify at least 6 safety hazards in a resident room (spills, cords, call light, bed height, footwear, side rails) and state the correction for each.
Sequence the response steps for choking, fire, and a fall, naming who is notified and in what order.
Demonstrate a bed-to-wheelchair transfer and gait-belt ambulation on a partner or pillow, verbalizing every safety check out loud.
Apply body-mechanics rules to 3 lift and transfer scenarios and name one error that causes caregiver injury in each.
Describe restraint use only under an order, including release, circulation checks, and repositioning intervals.
Your checkpoint
Perform a 10-minute mock skills run of hand hygiene plus transfer plus restraint check, self-scored against a written checklist with all critical safety steps marked correct.
Physical Care Skills
Sequence the steps for a complete bed bath, partial bath, and perineal care, including privacy, draping, and water-temperature checks.
Describe oral care for the conscious resident, the unconscious resident, and a denture wearer.
Explain how to assist with dressing, grooming, shaving, and nail care while preserving resident choice and independence.
List the steps for making an occupied and an unoccupied bed.
Describe how to measure and record fluid intake and urinary and fecal output, and name 3 output changes that must be reported.
Your checkpoint
Write from memory the full step sequence for perineal care and for making an occupied bed, then compare to a reference and correct every omitted step.
Physical Care Skills
Measure and record temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, and weight, and state when to re-measure and report an abnormal value.
Describe how to perform range-of-motion exercises and identify the signs that mean you must stop.
List early signs of pressure injury and state a repositioning schedule used to prevent breakdown.
Explain how to collect a clean-catch urine specimen and a stool specimen.
Identify at least 8 observations requiring immediate reporting, such as chest pain, difficulty breathing, bleeding, and change in consciousness.
Your checkpoint
Complete a 60-item Domain 1 practice set at 80% or better and rewrite every missed concept in your own words on one page.
Psychosocial Care Skills
Describe how to support residents' emotional needs and independence, and give 3 examples of choices you can offer during routine care.
Explain how to communicate with residents who have hearing, vision, or speech impairments.
Describe respectful care that honors cultural, religious, and personal preferences, including food and grooming requests.
Explain how to respond to resident sexual expression, anger, and grief without judgment.
Describe the aide's role in end-of-life care and list signs of approaching death that must be reported.
Your checkpoint
Record or write a 5-minute role-play of a difficult resident conversation and self-score it against 6 communication criteria, noting 2 improvements.
Psychosocial Care Skills & Physical Care Skills
List 6 behavioral symptoms of dementia and pair each with a specific de-escalation or redirection strategy.
Explain validation versus reality orientation and apply the appropriate one to a wandering scenario.
Describe signs of depression, delirium, and substance withdrawal, and state the reporting duty for each.
Identify 4 signs of caregiver stress and 3 personal coping strategies you will actually use.
Explain how to prevent resident-to-resident conflict and the reporting steps for suspected abuse or neglect.
Your checkpoint
Produce a one-page dementia behavior-to-intervention chart with 6 rows, each row checked against a reliable reference.
Physical Care Skills & Psychosocial Care Skills & Role of the Nurse Aide
Rank your 3 weakest subtopics from weeks 1–6 practice data and re-study each for 45 minutes.
Complete 40 mixed-domain questions under timed conditions and review every miss.
Recite the full step sequence for 5 high-frequency skills without notes.
Explain in one written scenario how observation, documentation, and reporting connect across all three domains.
Your checkpoint
Timed 40-item mixed set scored at 80% or better, with a written correction log covering every missed item.
Physical Care Skills & Psychosocial Care Skills & Role of the Nurse Aide
Complete two full-length timed practice exams and compare domain-level scores between them.
Review every missed item from both exams and restate the correct fact aloud in your own words.
Rehearse the skills checklist for the highest-frequency tasks until you miss zero critical steps.
Write and recite a one-page 'report immediately' list and a 'never do' list.
Your checkpoint
Score 85% or better on the second full-length exam with no individual domain below 80%, and finish a skills checklist run with zero missed critical steps.
Milestones
Week 2: Hand hygiene, transfer, and safety-response sequences recited with 100% of critical safety steps, verified against a written checklist or a study partner.
Week 4: Domain 1 practice score of 80% or better, plus vital signs measured on a volunteer within accepted tolerance on two consecutive attempts.
Week 6: Domain 2 practice score of 80% or better, plus a completed dementia behavior chart with 6 verified rows.
Week 8: Two full-length exams completed; second attempt at 85% or better overall and 80% or better in each of the three domains, with a clean skills-checklist run.