10.1 How the 5-Skill Evaluation Works
Key Takeaways
- Florida's Prometric skills evaluation tests 5 skills: hand washing is always required, plus 4 randomly selected from the remaining 21.
- You must score 100% on the skills test — every critical (essential) step must be performed correctly.
- Indirect-care steps (privacy, call light, hand hygiene, comfort, safety) are scored on every skill, not just the named procedure.
- Automatic-fail actions include endangering the resident, gross infection-control breaches, and abandoning the resident with the call light out of reach.
- An RN evaluator reads each scenario and cannot coach you once the skill begins — practice to verbal cues, not reminders.
The Florida Skills Test Format
Florida's CNA clinical skills evaluation is administered by Prometric for the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). After passing the written test, you demonstrate 5 skills in front of an RN evaluator in roughly 30 minutes:
- Skill 1 — Hand Washing — is ALWAYS tested. It is not random.
- Skills 2–5 are randomly selected from the remaining pool of clinical skills (commonly 21 others), so you must prepare every skill, not guess.
You do not pick the skills, and you cannot skip one you dislike. The evaluator reads the scenario aloud, observes silently, and cannot teach or coach you once the skill starts. Practice so you can perform from a one-line prompt without reminders.
Scoring Standard
The Florida skills test requires 100% accuracy — there is no 80% partial-credit cushion on this part. Every critical (essential) step of each assigned skill must be performed correctly. Missing a single critical step fails that skill, and you must pass all assigned skills to pass the evaluation.
Critical Steps vs. Indirect-Care Steps
Every skill has two layers, and the exam scores both:
| Layer | Examples | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Critical / essential steps | The defining safety actions of the procedure (e.g., for a transfer: lock wheels, gait belt, support the resident) | Missing one fails the skill |
| Indirect-care steps | Hand hygiene, knock/greet, identify the resident, explain the procedure, privacy, call light in reach, lower bed, comfort, hand hygiene at end | Scored on every skill, not just hand washing |
Indirect-care steps are where well-prepared candidates lose points, because they focus only on the named procedure. The Florida evaluator marks them on each of the 5 skills. Build a fixed open-and-close routine so privacy, call light, and hand hygiene are automatic regardless of which skill is drawn.
Automatic-Fail Actions
Some actions fail the evaluation regardless of how well the rest of the skill went. Treat these as absolute rules:
- Endangering the resident — unlocked wheelchair/bed brakes during a transfer, leaving a weak resident unsupported, raising the bed and walking away.
- Gross infection-control breach — performing care without washing or sanitizing hands, using the same gloves between dirty and clean tasks, contaminating sterile/clean supplies.
- Abandoning the resident or leaving the call light out of reach at the end of a skill.
- Disrespecting or exposing the resident — no privacy, rough handling, ignoring stated discomfort.
- Performing a step that injures the resident (forcing a joint past pain, water too hot, food given against precautions).
If you realize you missed a step, you may say you want to correct it and then perform it, as long as you do so before you tell the evaluator you are finished. Freezing after a mistake is how correctable errors become failed skills.
On the Florida Prometric CNA skills test, which statement is correct?
During a transfer skill the candidate forgets to lock the wheelchair brakes and begins moving the resident. On the Florida skills test this is best described as: