Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Exam Legal and Ethical Behavior Summary

Nurse aides do not give medications. Report the request and the resident's pain to the nurse, who will assess the resident.

Wrong choices

• Give the resident one pill from the cart: Giving medicine is not part of the nurse aide's role.
• Tell the resident pain pills are not allowed: Only the nurse and doctor decide about medicine.
• Give the resident a pill from the aide's own purse: Giving any medicine is outside the aide's role and unsafe.

Neglect is failing to provide the goods and services a resident needs to avoid harm, pain, or distress, such as not giving toileting help, food, water, or repositioning. Report any neglect you see.

Wrong choices

• Encouraging a resident to drink water: This is good care.
• Helping a resident walk to the dining room: This is good care.
• Respecting a resident's choice to skip an activity: This respects the resident's rights.

Accepting money or gifts from residents can look like taking advantage of them. Politely thank and refuse the tip, and tell the nurse if the resident insists.

Wrong choices

• Accept it and share it with coworkers: Sharing does not make accepting money acceptable.
• Accept it but give the resident extra attention: This is still accepting money and creates unfair care.
• Accept it so the resident is not offended: Accepting money from residents is not allowed.

Negligence is an unintended failure to act as a careful, trained person would, such as forgetting to lock wheelchair brakes, that causes harm. It differs from abuse, which is done on purpose.

Wrong choices

• Talking with a resident about the weather: Friendly conversation is not negligence.
• Taking a resident's money: Taking money is misappropriation or theft.
• Purposely hitting a resident: Purposeful harm is abuse, not negligence.

Resident information, including photos, is private. Never post about residents on social media or talk about them outside of work. Share information only with team members who need it for care.

Wrong choices

• Closing the door during care: This protects privacy.
• Charting the resident's vital signs: Charting is part of the legal record of care.
• Reporting a change in condition to the nurse: Sharing with the care team for care is allowed.

Threats, humiliation, and intimidation are forms of mental or verbal abuse. Withholding food or care as punishment is never allowed. Report this behavior immediately.

Wrong choices

• Physical abuse: No physical harm or force was used.
• Negligence: This was a deliberate threat, not a careless mistake.
• Good limit setting: Threatening to withhold food is never acceptable limit setting.

Misappropriation means taking or using a resident's belongings or money without consent, even temporarily. It is prohibited by federal rules and can be listed on the nurse aide registry.

Wrong choices

• A gift from the resident: The resident did not give the money.
• Neglect: Neglect is failing to provide care, not taking property.
• Acceptable, as long as it is paid back: Taking a resident's money without consent is never acceptable.

Diet orders come from the doctor or other licensed provider, often with the dietitian. Nurse aides do not change orders or the care plan. Vital signs, personal care, and reporting are within the aide's role.

Wrong choices

• Helping a resident bathe: Personal care is a core nurse aide task.
• Measuring vital signs: Measuring vital signs is a basic nurse aide skill.
• Reporting changes to the nurse: Observing and reporting is an important nurse aide duty.

Under 42 CFR 483.152, an approved program must have at least 75 clock hours, including at least 16 hours of supervised practical training. States may require more hours.

Wrong choices

• 16 clock hours in total: 16 hours is the supervised practical part, not the whole program.
• 40 clock hours, all in the classroom: The federal minimum is 75 hours, and it includes supervised practice.
• 120 clock hours, with no practical training: Practical training with residents is required.

The state nurse aide registry lists people who have passed the competency evaluation, along with any confirmed findings of abuse, neglect, or misappropriation. Federal rules do not allow facilities to employ individuals with such a finding.

Wrong choices

• Only in the resident's medical chart: The finding about the aide is recorded on the state registry.
• In the facility's newsletter: A newsletter is not an official record.
• Nowhere, if the aide resigns: Resigning does not erase a confirmed finding.