Nurse Reporter Summer 2007 - Wyoming State Board of Nursing

DISCIPLINARY ACTIONSWYOMING STATE BOARD OF NURSINGNancy Flury, RN5 year Conditional License Impairment 4/12/07Joseph Piccoli, CNARevoke Sexual Battery 6/8/07Nursing Assistant Exams –Raises for ResultsBy Toni Decklever, MA, RNCNA Exam Coordinatortonisrn@gmail.comInstant everything is the name of the game these days. The faster the better!Speed and more speed is what we want and demand. Sometimes it ispossible, sometimes not. It all depends on the reliability of the technologywe are working with.Remember the days when we had to wait six to eight weeks to find outwhether we passed our state board exam? I remember a fellow nursetelling me, “If you get something from the board of nursing in a big manilaenvelope, that’s a good thing – because it means you passed and got yourlicense. If something comes in a regular white envelope, that’s bad news.”Having to wait for things helped teach us patience – well for some of us.But, like everything else in our modern technological world, this is alsochanging. Now, nursing board exams are computerized and the candidateknows in relatively short order whether they will receive their license.The state exam for nursing assistants has also undergone changes usingcomputer technology and the speed of receiving results has improved.The process is fairly simple, but not without possible glitches.The exam for nursing assistants consists of a written and skills exam.Once completed, the answer sheets are faxed to a waiting computer,scored, and the results are faxed back to the testing site, USUALLY withinfifteen minutes of being sent. Notice the word USUALLY. USUALLYmeans – if technology is working on this end AND on the other end, thecandidate will know that day whether they passed the exam. If fax technologyis not working, the candidate will have to wait because the testshave to be sent to the testing company to be hand scored.HOWEVER, and I must emphasize again, HOWEVER – passing the CNAexam DOES NOT mean that the candidate is a Certified NursingAssistant. What this means is they have completed this portion of thecertification process. To be certified, official results from the testingagency must be sent to the board of nursing, all paperwork must be completed,and the candidate must have a clean background check. Oncethis is done, the candidate receives their certificate in the mail.A few months ago, a candidate answer sheet was faxed according to procedure.The evaluator waited longer than the normal time limit and did notreceive the results. A phone call to the help desk revealed that somethinghad happened within the system and the results would not be accessiblethat day. The exam coordinator was informed that the test would have tobe mailed and hand scored.When the candidate was told this news, he became furious and indignanttowards the evaluator. The reason for his angry outburst? His facility hadtold him he would receive a raise as soon as he had the results of hisexam. Having to wait a couple of weeks was denying him of money hewould have started receiving that day if everything had worked correctly.As the Exam Coordinator for the state, this is not the first time I haveheard about “raises for exam results.” Increasing pay once the nursingassistant becomes certified is a more common practice and is a better andfair way of implementing this benefit. Having this type of policy wouldhave prevented the above situation from occurring.As a nursing assistant exam evaluator, one of the best parts of the job ishanding the candidate the piece of paper that states they have passed theexam. They are happy and excited, as to be expected. Though, sometimesthings happen that are beyond the evaluator’s control and gettingresults might not happen that day. For facilities that have a “raise forresults” type policy, maybe this could be reconsidered to a “raise upon certification”policy. Certificates are normally issued about two to threeweeks after a candidate has tested, if the entire process is complete.As a reminder, if the candidate does not pass either portion of the nursingassistant exam, they must be removed from a patient care position andmay not return to this type of work until they receive their certification.Technology is a wonderful thing. It allows us to progress, advance, andmake improvements in record time. But, it is not perfect yet. We need toallow for that and not create situations that make the experience negativefor the all those involved.W Y O M I N G N U R S E R E P O R T E R 13