Nursing Assistant/Registered Exam: Skills and Written

After much worry about successfully passing the NAR exam, especially the skills portion, I can happily report ! I have done so ! and can now begin nursing school for the RN degree on schedule.
The written portion of the exam, for the most part, is common sense as most of the incorrect options are just plain silly. The passing score is 78% (I assume this is the same no matter in which state you take it). I got no questions related to abbreviations, which I had presumed would be the only thing I'd have to review before taking the exam.

I'm not sure how a passing score is determined for the skills exam, but I'll explain how I prepared for it and what it was like. Since I took training in an extended fashion (over 4 months time instead of three weeks time), I had a tough time retaining the skills. A couple weeks before the exam, I sought additional training through another provider, but still left feeling frustrated that the steps weren't becoming second nature. I had ordered the Avanza DVD (see http://avanzaedu.org/) and had looked it over, but without simultaneous practice, it didn't seem very useful.

As test day approached and on two separate occasions, I roped my daughter and mom into acting as patients to assist me and point out missed or incorrect steps. This practice gave me the most confidence and competence with the skills, especially since we worked together shortly before the exam and the skills were fresher in my mind for testing.

During the skills test, of course I got assigned my most dreaded skill, peri-care. This skill seemed to be the most complicated of them all somehow, but now, in hindsight, that was primarily due to the fact that two pair of gloves are needed, unlike the other skills; the skill itself was pretty straightforward. I needed more washcloths that we were taught in training (4 vs 2) since you use one for soap and one for rinse in each of the two areas being cleaned. I didn't think about keeping one hand clean while the other is considered dirty, but it didn't seem to matter.
My nervousness definitely showed in testing, but the evaluator was understanding and, given the 90+% pass rate on this exam, she may also have been fairly lenient with me as well as others. That said, if I realized I had missed steps (and I did), I said so and she gave me credit. I had read though that you can only miss a certain number before you fail the skill and, consequently, the exam.

My patient for testing was a fellow student (we had both thought a volunteer would serve as the patient, but not so). She was testing out having completed no training beforehand (minimal requirement of her nursing school) and prepared for the test by reading the skills sheets and viewing YouTube videos, which she said were very helpful. She thought she could not have passed if she hadn't actually seen the skills being performed.
I'm glad the test is behind me and I can focus on what lies ahead. I plan to pursue a non-clinical oriented career as an informatics nurse (see http://healthinformatics.uic.edu/nursing-informatics/), but we'll see what happens. At 51 years of age, I'm hoping my previous background in analysis and project management will help me secure an even higher wage than starting nurses. I'm looking forward to the prospects!

Please feel free to weigh in on your experiences and what has worked for you as you prepare for this important exam.