FAST & EASY !! BECOME A STNA FAST !!!

This is for OHIO ONLY. I had to write this essay for my college ENG-101 course

The Steps of Becoming a STNA

             STNA stands for Stated Tested Nursing Assistant. Generally, one becoming a STNA will someday go on into the nursing field. Becoming a STNA is one step closer to becoming a LPN or RN. Most LPN or RN programs require a STNA certification. I decided to take the necessary steps in order to become a STNA in August of 2010. I came to this decision because I wanted to become a RN. I did the research of the requirements to get into the RN program and found out that becoming a STNA was a must. I found a local class site. In my research, I found there are requirements to start the program, the actual class, and the final test to receive my STNA certificate.

To start the STNA classes, some things were required, including: showing completion of high school, having an up to date physical, showing up to date vaccinations, getting a two-step TB test, and getting a criminal background check. Some programs I found do not require a high school diploma or GED.  Having a physical prior to starting the STNA classes shows if someone is capable of doing the tasks required of a STNA. Being up to date on vaccinations protects not only the patient, but the caretaker. At my program site, they gave a TB test if someone needed it. TB stands for tuberculosis, an infection in the lungs. TB can be spread from person to person in the air. This TB test is a two-step process. A certified person will inject a needle into the surface of someone’s arm. Then in twenty four to forty eight hours the test will be read. If the injection site is bruised greater than 5 mm, the test will be considered positive. If the TB test comes back positive, someone’s STNA classes will be put on hold. TB can be spread very easily, which could put patients at risk for infection.  After all of that was completed, one is one step closer to becoming a STNA.

The STNA class itself requires at least seventy five hours of training with a minimum of sixty hours between the classroom and clinical experiences. In the classroom portion, we learned orally and hands on. Everyone in the class received a nursing assistant care guide. Every day we had assignments we were expected to complete. At the beginning of class, we would have a quiz over the previous night’s homework. One has to at least pass the all the quizzes with a seventy five percent or that could automatically drop someone from the program. We also received twenty five skills, including hand washing, abdominal thrust, ambulation, applying stocking, output of bedpan/fracture pan, denture care, dressing resident, emptying a urinary drainage bag, feeding, hair care, making an occupied/unoccupied bed, mouth care, nail care, partial bed bath, perinatal care, positioning resident, range of motion, transfer from both bed to wheelchair, vest restraint, viral signs, and weighing an ambulatory resident. We practiced all of these skills over the course of the STNA classes. In my specific training class, Fridays is when the clinical portion of my class took place. My STNA program only took three weeks, seven am to three pm Monday through Friday days. After the program was completed, I first became a CNA. CNA stands for certified nursing assistant.

D&S is the Ohio STNA certification headquarters to become certified. After completing the STNA classes, the class instructor will send proof that one successfully completed the STNA classes.  To become a STNA, there is a multiple-choice written test and a preforming skills portion. The written portion will have seventy nine multiple choice questions that one must complete in ninety minutes. During the STNA class, there are twenty five skills which the students learned. In preforming the hand on skills portion, there will be five skills that will be tested in no more than thirty five minutes. One of the five skills will be hand washing. If one safety step is missed, one would automatically fail the hands on portion. An example of a safety step would be locking the bed or wheelchair wheels before trying to move a patient. The states give a person three times to pass both the written and hands on test.

In conclusion, there are many steps to receive the STNA certificate. However, this is a lifetime change. Depending on if someone is trying to pursue a nursing degree, they’re one step closer. Having a STNA certification is the foundation of the nursing degrees. Take what was learned in the STNA classes and apply it to everyday life.