4CNAs The Online Magazine
for Certified Nursing Assistants
The world may think you are only one person--But to one person, you may be their world.
Author Unknown.
DVD Training Helps CNA's Learn Their Skills
By Melanie Ullman
Learning the necessary skills to become a proficient certified nursing assistant takes both time and practice. Studying one's manuals and textbooks on a daily basis is one of the best ways to retain the information that is needed to become a nursing assistant and to perform duties as required. However, unlike most professions, the field of nursing requires a significant amount of technical ability. Not only do you have to be able to read and understand how to perform certain tasks, but you must also be able to prove your proficiency. Anyone seeking certification as a nurse assistant or aid is required to take both a written skills test and a practical test. Many students worry about the practical portion of the test because it involves proving one's technical capabilities. To alleviate this fear, students can purchase CNA training DVDs that are created to help nursing assistant students master their technical skills.
There are a number of instructional materials available to help students develop their technical skills outside of the classroom. These instructional materials usually include manuals and DVDs. The information in the manuals and workbooks is reinforced by the activities on the disk. A student can review the material that is provided in the manual and complete the workbook exercises and then have the DVD as a visual reference for learning how to physically perform nursing assistant duties. This is a very advantageous way to continue studying your techniques outside of the clinical environment.
Most of the instructional DVD's focus on specific skill sets individually. This makes it easier for a nursing assistant student to review the topics. The use of instructional DVDs provides the student with the convenience of reviewing and replaying certain techniques more as often as one would like until that particular technique is understood. Likewise, most instructional disks provide graphics and explanations while the subjects performs the different techniques. This also adds in understanding and retention of information.
Instructional DVD's for nursing assistants usually are separated by topic. This is very convenient because the student will be able to follow along with the different techniques such as obtaining vital signs or proper skin care without having all the information placed together. This simplicity makes it a lot easier for knowledge to be absorbed. In addition, if the nursing student wants to review a specific technique or concept for an upcoming test the instructional DVDs are usually divided into topics either with separate disks or the student can access the particular topic from the table of contents in the menu. These make it so much more convenient for a CNA student to review techniques learned in class and continue learning at home.
Purchasing a certified nursing assistant DVD for personal or classroom instruction is an excellent way to reinforce the concepts and techniques learned via books and clinical instruction. The DVDs offer the student the ability and convenience of continuing the learning process outside of the program which is important for perfecting the skills needed to become a certified nursing assistant.
