New York CNA

Two components: a written knowledge test made up of multiple-choice questions, and a hands-on clinical skills demonstration. In the skills portion you perform assigned procedures on a simulated resident while an evaluator watches and scores each step. You must prepare for both - strong recall alone will not carry you through the skills handwashing, glove use, or transfer steps.

Those specifics are set by the state and the testing vendor and are not published on this page, so treat any number you see elsewhere with suspicion. Get the current question count and time limit from the New York State Department of Health or from your approved nurse aide training program before test day.

The passing standard is not documented on this page, so we do not state one. Ask your training program or the testing vendor for the current passing score and how the written and skills results are combined. Aim well above the minimum regardless, since near-miss written scores are a common reason candidates repeat the test.

Retake rules, waiting periods, and fees are administered by the state and the testing vendor, and none of those details are confirmed here. Contact the Department of Health or your program for the current retake policy. In practice, candidates who miss only the skills portion usually focus their retake prep entirely on observed technique.

Start with safety and infection control, because hand hygiene, glove use, and standard precautions appear inside almost every other skill. Then move to personal care and basic nursing skills, followed by mobility, transfers, and nutrition/hydration. Finish with communication, resident rights, and psychosocial care, which are easier to absorb once the technical routines are automatic.

Skipping hand hygiene at the start or end of a skill, contaminating gloves during removal, forgetting to explain the procedure or provide privacy, failing to lock wheelchair wheels or lower the bed before a transfer, and omitting measurement or reporting steps. Most of these are critical-step errors rather than knowledge gaps, which is why rehearsing skills out loud matters.

Rehearse each procedure on a partner or a pillow while narrating every step in order, using the exact sequence your training program teaches. Time yourself, and have someone read the scoring checklist back to you. Say safety steps out loud - hand hygiene, privacy, bed height, call light placement - because evaluators score what they see and hear.

Validity periods and renewal or reinstatement requirements are set by the state and are not confirmed on this page. Contact the New York State Department of Health or your employer's education department for the current rule, and keep your training completion records in a safe place, since you may need them to document eligibility later.

No. This is an independent study resource with practice material only. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the New York State Department of Health, and it does not handle applications, scheduling, fees, or score reporting. Use the Department of Health website or your approved training program for all official transactions and confirm every figure there.