14.2 Last-Week Review Map
Key Takeaways
- The final week is for consolidation, not new material — anchor on high-yield STNA domains: infection control, safety, basic care skills, communication, and resident rights.
- Lock in normal vital-sign ranges and the fixed order of care for the most common skills before exam day.
- Rehearse the five most-tested skills physically every day of the final week, not just by reading.
- Day before: confirm logistics, review your error-log rules and critical elements, and rest — no late-night cramming.
14.2 Last-Week Review Map
The final week is for consolidation, not new learning. Use the Ohio skills list, your error log, and your timed-practice scores to decide what to review. Do not pick up a new textbook or a fifth practice app — that scatters attention right when it should be narrowing.
Prioritize the high-yield domains
The written test draws heavily from a few areas. Spend your time proportionally.
| Domain | Why it is heavy | Memorize cold |
|---|---|---|
| Infection control | Highest single source of skill failures | Handwash 20 sec; glove/gown order; standard precautions |
| Safety & emergencies | Falls, choking, fire | Gait belt at the waist; RACE for fire; abdominal thrusts for choking |
| Basic nursing skills | Most-tested skills | Vital ranges; bed bath; transfers; intake/output |
| Communication & resident rights | Frequent applied items | Privacy, dignity, consent, refusal, abuse reporting |
| Restorative/ROM | Promotes independence | Move to point of resistance, never force a joint |
Numbers and sequences to lock in
Missing a normal range costs easy points. Commit these adult values to memory: temperature ~97.0–99.0°F oral, pulse 60–100 bpm, respirations 12–20 per minute, blood pressure roughly 90/60 to 120/80. Report anything outside the range to the nurse — the aide never adjusts treatment.
For sequences, drill the order of care: knock/greet, identify resident, wash hands, explain procedure, provide privacy, raise bed to working height, perform care, return bed to lowest position, place call light within reach, wash hands, report and record.
A 7-day countdown
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| Day 7–5 | Weakest high-weight domains from your error log; one short set each |
| Day 4–3 | Mixed timed sets at full 79-question length; build pacing endurance |
| Day 2 | Physically rehearse all 5 likely skills; review critical elements |
| Day 1 | Logistics (ID, location, time), normal ranges, error-log rules; rest |
Mixing domains and rehearsing skills
The real written test does not label questions by domain, so practice switching between infection control, safety, communication, and basic-care items without warning. A common late-week mistake is reviewing one topic at a time until each feels easy, then freezing on the exam when topics interleave. Take at least two full-length 79-item mixed sets in days 4–3 to build that switching stamina.
The five skill tasks you are most likely to draw
From the 21-task Ohio skill pool, these appear repeatedly and should be flawless by day 2 (you will be assigned only 3 or 4 on test day):
- Handwashing — turn on water, wet, soap, lather and friction for at least 20 seconds, clean under nails, rinse fingertips down, dry, turn off faucet with a paper towel.
- Measuring vital signs — radial pulse for a full 60 seconds, respirations counted unobtrusively, blood pressure recorded to the nearest 2 mmHg.
- Transfers and ambulation — gait belt snug at the waist over clothing, lock wheelchair, shoes/non-skid footwear on, stand on the count.
- Bed bath / perineal care — check water temperature, wash from clean to dirty, perineal care front to back, keep the resident covered for privacy.
- Positioning and ROM — support the joint above and below, move slowly to the point of resistance, never force.
What to stop doing in the final week
Stop adding resources, stop memorizing rare conditions, and stop late-night cramming. Sleep affects both reaction time on the timed written test and the steady hands you need for the skills station. If a topic still feels shaky on day 1, review only the one error-log rule that fixes the most misses for it — then close the book.
Tie clinical numbers to actions, not trivia
The written test rarely asks a number for its own sake; it asks what you would do with it. Practice converting each value into the aide response. If an adult pulse is 48, you do not slow the resident's medication — you are not allowed to — you report it to the nurse and continue to observe. If a blood pressure reads 168/96, you recheck after a few minutes, document, and report. If respirations are 8 and shallow, that is an emergency cue: stay with the resident, call for the nurse, and do not leave. Drilling the value-to-action link in the last week is far more useful than re-reading the ranges a tenth time.
Rehearse documentation and reporting language
Many missed items in the final review are really reporting questions in disguise. The aide observes, records, and reports but never interprets or diagnoses. So an item that offers "tell the resident they probably have an infection" is wrong even if the signs fit — the correct action is to report the observations to the nurse. Spend a few minutes each day of the final week rehearsing this distinction, because the exam tests it across infection control, vital signs, skin changes, and behavior changes alike. When you can reliably separate observe and report from assess and treat, a whole cluster of scenario questions becomes easy points.
Practicing the exact phrasing you would use — "I noticed the resident's left heel is reddened and does not blanch; I reported it to the nurse and repositioned per the care plan" — also primes you for the skills station, where examiners listen for whether you would communicate an abnormal finding rather than ignore it.
Which set of adult vital-sign ranges should an STNA know cold and report deviations from to the nurse?
When using a gait belt to assist a resident with ambulation, where is the belt positioned?