Health ProfessionsTest + Skills

Nursing Assisting

A 50-question nursing assistant test, then skills such as handwashing, PPE, bed making, transfers, vital signs and ostomy care for the top scorers.

The AI judge does not score skill stations. Use the practice test for Round One.

About this event

Nursing Assisting is a solo two-round event for the Secondary and Postsecondary/Collegiate divisions, sponsored by the U.S. Army. Round One is a 50-question multiple-choice test in 60 minutes written from Nursing Assisting: A Foundation in Caregiving (Dugan) and The Nursing Assistant: Essentials of Holistic Care (Roe). Providing and reporting care is the largest section at 30 percent, with anatomy and physiology and disabilities and disorders at 20 percent each, followed by infection control and safety, communication and culture, and the nursing assistant's roles. Top scorers advance to Round Two, a secret scenario drawn from eight skills: handwashing (3 minutes), donning and doffing a full set of PPE (4), making an unoccupied bed (8) or an occupied bed (10), admitting a patient (8), transferring a patient with a specified disability from bed to chair using a gait belt (4), measuring temperature, pulse, respirations and aneroid blood pressure (10, with accuracy checked against the judge's reading), and ostomy care (8). Bring barrier PPE and a manual watch with a second hand; a gait belt is provided or you may use your own. A 70 percent skill score is required to place; test and skill scores are added and ties go to the higher test score.

Test day

What to expect

Round One test, then skill stations

Round One is a 50-question test in 60 minutes; the top scorers advance to Round Two, the skill stations. Official format: 50-question test, 60 minutes, then Round Two skill scenarios of 3 to 10 minutes each for top scorers.

Written from the test plan

Questions follow the event's published test plan, section by section, and are written from the listed reference texts. Practice questions here are drawn in the same proportions.

How you advance

How many advance from regionals to states and on to the International Leadership Conference (ILC) depends on your association's rules. Study the official test plan: it lists each section and its share of the test.

What judges score

Skill I: Handwashing (3 minutes)Skill II: Donning and Doffing a Full Set of PPE (4 minutes)Skill III: Make an Unoccupied Bed (8 minutes)Skill IV: Make an Occupied Bed (10 minutes)Skill V: Admitting a Patient (8 minutes)Skill VI: Transfer Patient with Specified Disability from Bed to Chair/Wheelchair (4 minutes)Skill VII: Measure and Record Vital Signs: TPR and Blood Pressure, aneroid (10 minutes)Skill VIII: Ostomy Care (8 minutes)

What's on the test

Nursing Assistant Roles and Responsibilities · 6%Anatomy and Physiology · 20%Infection Control/Safety · 14%Communication/Culture · 10%Providing and Reporting Care · 30%Disabilities and Disorders · 20%

Study resources

Bookmark to save

Curated by ChapterPrep. Free unless noted. External links open in a new tab.