Teaching Testable CNA Skills with Nurse JAR

On October 27, 2022, CNA Simulations hosted a webinar featuring guest speaker Nurse Julie Reynolds LVN, C-NM, QCP, aka Nurse JAR, who gave a talk about clinical nursing assistant instruction and learning how to train CNA students on testable CNA skills. Throughout the 75-minute session, Nurse JAR discussed how to best help CNA students build critical skills they will need in testing and the field. The webinar was attended by CNA Instructors and administrators from states across the nation and the District of Columbia. During the presentation, Dr. Charlene Brown introduced Julie Ann Reynolds, a military veteran and nurse for 19 years, who shared her accomplishments as an author and YouTube micro-influencer.

The 7 C’s Framework for Instruction

Nurse JAR introduced her 7 C’s framework for instruction and evaluating instruction, stressing the idea of the inimitable instructor. This concept suggests that an instructor's students’ outcomes are the reflection of the training and leadership of the instructor. The following table summarizes the 7 C’s as described by Nurse JAR:

“If you stand in front of a podium or stand in front of a projector screen just reading off bullet points one after the other, you're going to lose your students. You need to find a creative way to keep them engaged.” - Nurse JAR

Also included are three reflection questions for each of the 7 C's that can be used as an assessment for instructors to evaluate how they are performing in each category and what things they may need to improve on.

5 Steps to Training Testable Skills Consistently

Relating to the C of consistency, Nurse JAR spoke about how you and your students need to be consistent in the classroom to produce the best results. She outlined five specific steps:

1. Identify: Identify your state's authorized administrator and testing requirement, and inform the students of it.
2. Supplies: Make sure your facility has the supplies for your students to practice and consider allowing students to check out supplies.
3. Communicate: Communicate and give positive feedback to your students and constructive criticism.
4. Identify: Determine which skill steps are most commonly challenging for your students.
5. Observations & Evaluations: Routinely observe and evaluate your students, and use appropriate documents for evaluation.

Setting Goals for Success

Nurse JAR also spoke about how to set goals for student success. “The power behind setting goals is allowing your students space to grow and improve,” she stated. For instance, an Example SMART goal would be: Students will perform opening procedure within 3 minutes with 90% accuracy.

The Class Council Setup

Nurse JAR shared the class council setup she uses in her CNA courses to maintain student engagement. This system operates through a specific hierarchy of peer learning:

• Instructors train ambassadors, then ambassadors train the leaders with the instructors’ oversight.
• That’s how the instructors know how well they understand the skill.
• Then the leaders train the peer coaches who train team members.

This structure helps students struggling with testable skills because it allows the instructor to focus attention on those students while not neglecting others. Empowerment by class ambassadors helps maintain student engagement throughout the training process.