Certified Nursing assistants (CNA) began their first semester of practicals, with the goal of preparing for clinicals.

CNA also began using fellow classmates to test for vital signs, working in small groups with an evaluator, patient, and a nursing assistant.

“We’re learning together because in the near future, we are going to treat real patients,” junior Jarred Garcia said. “We are treating each other as if we are treating actual patients. We’re learning these exercises, all these skills together, so we can perform together.”

Students will use their skills to complete clinical hours toward getting their CNA certifications by acting as nursing assistants in local hospitals.

“Before we go to clinicals, we will be doing all [the] skills a CNA would [use]…and performing on real patients at Spring Valley Hospital or Centennial Hills Hospital,” Garcia said. “We’ll be treating patients like an actual certified nursing assistant student and we’re going to be monitored by registered nurses.”
Currently, students are learning to take vital signs, which include blood pressure, pulse, respiration and body temperature.

“We’ll just walk through them [the vital signs], checking their radial pulse [and] making sure their heart rate [is] well,” junior Maddison Palmer said. “While checking the pulse, we’ll check the respirations, we’ll do their height and weight on a scale and then [take] blood pressure, which is just on their brachial artery and arm.”

This opportunity has also created a sense of community among students, as they work together to learn skills. 

“I like lab [class] because I get to work in small groups and if I don’t understand, a classmate can explain it to me,” junior Agape Haile said. “I get to experience what it would be like to be the nursing assistant, but also what it would feel like to be a patient, which helps me to feel better about going to clinicals.”

Students will need to complete and pass a dedicated amount of skills before going to clinicals, and work at the bedside in the hospital for 20 hours, before testing for their certification. 

“Each of the students [are] given a role,” Nursing instructor Maria Ortega-Polanco said. “One student is assigned to be a nursing assistant student, the second person is the patient and then the last student is assigned an evaluator. They have 22 skills they have to learn and they have to [then] perform the skills on each other, to try to encourage empathy so they can learn and try to understand what the patient feels when these skills are being performed on them.”

Practicals also served as important practice for the students’ semester exams.

“For our exams, we get handwashing, a measurement skill or a vital sign to test out on,” Haile said. “Those are all pretty common skills in the hospital, so I think practicing them a lot will be helpful. The semester exam is also supposed to be similar to the CNA test because you get random skills and a time limit…I am both nervous and excited for clinicals, but I think the practicing and the experience will pay off.”