Colorado CNA Practice Exam

The appropriate action for a nursing assistant to take when greeting a resident is to perform hand hygiene. This is a crucial step that promotes infection control and ensures the safety and health of both the resident and the caregiver. By performing hand hygiene, the nursing assistant helps prevent the spread of germs and maintains a clean environment.

While it can be helpful to explain procedures to residents or engage them in conversation about their day, these actions are secondary to ensuring proper hand hygiene before any interaction. Checking a resident's medical records is also an important task, but it typically should not be part of a greeting and does not directly relate to the immediate interaction.