CNA Training Can Launch a Nursing Career

Although the number of Registered Nurses (RNs) is greater than any other segment of the health care field, many RNs entered into the nursing profession first by taking CNA training classes and becoming certified nursing assistants.

Although training programs for CNAs vary from state to state, it’s not uncommon that prospective CNAs are required to attend about 75 hours of in-class coursework and an additional 16 hours of on-the-job instruction; the latter often referred to as clinicals.

Although CNA classes can be taken over the Internet, traditional sites for learning the trade of becoming a certified nursing assistant include community colleges, nursing homes, and other health-care facilities.

Duties assigned to CNAs can vary greatly from one place of employment to another, and yet CNAs oftentimes work alongside registered nurses and provide hands-on bedside patient care performing such tasks as changing bed sheets, assisting patients with cleaning needs and, when required to do so, helping to move patients from one location to another.

There are many different types of CNA programs, although most of them are remarkably similar in content.

One Type of CNA Training Program

Red Cross CNA training often can be secured free of charge with the exception of state exam testing fees that often run at $100. Many, but not all states make Red Cross training available for perspective CNAs. These classes follow a nationally recognized certified nursing assistant curriculum and at the same time adhere to guidelines established by individual states.

Minimum requirements to participate in any Red Cross CNA class include:

• Must be 18 years of age or older
• Cannot have any felony convictions within the past seven years
• Must be free of all communicable diseases
• Cannot be pregnant

It is recommended that any perspective CNA check with their primary care provider if they have any medical conditions or disabilities that could interfere with the sometimes physical nature of that vocational position. Although this is especially true in regards to lifting patients, a new law enacted January 1, 2012 addresses that issue in favor of the CNA or other health-care provider. This new law spares health providers from being mandated to perform such heavy lifting. Instead, the new law says health-care facilities, including nursing homes, must provide a lifting team or lifting device to spare workers such as CNAs from having to perform such lifting duties if they fear such lifting could be harmful to their health.

If one takes classes through the Red Cross, students are required to arrive at the classroom on time and miss no more than six hours of class; and any missed hours must be made up. Tests must be passed with scores of 80 percent or higher.

At the end of the Red Cross course, like any other CNA course, students are required to take a two-part exam. The student first must pass a skills test where, depending on the state, he or she must successfully perform two or more tasks assigned by an examiner. Although state examiners anticipate that students will be nervous, students are graded on specific CNA skills they should have learned during their training.

They next are given a written test. Both tests commonly are given on the same day and last a total of about 5 ½ hours.

A list of things a CNA should be prepared to demonstrate skills during this test include:

• Securing the lock on wheelchairs
• Using a gait belt on transfers
• Raising bed rails when completing patient care
• Being attentive to patient’s dignity and privacy needs
• Knocking on the door before entering a patient’s room
• Closing privacy curtains
• Keeping patients covered as much as possible
• Introducing yourself
• Identifying your patient by name
• Explaining each step of care you are providing prior to proceeding
• Putting on gloves, especially whenever coming in contact with body fluids
• Using proper hand-washing technique

CNA Training Is Available in All States, Through Many Avenues

CNA job training often is evidenced at nursing homes where, instead of gaining certification through a standard classroom-clinical program, nursing homes train CNAs as they work on the job. Nursing homes have been known, on occasions, to advertise for such on-the-job training, calling it free CNA training

In such instances, individuals with no health care experience regularly work full-time between two to six weeks in exchange for their training.

The alternative, of course, is to take classes through community colleges or the Red Cross which can extend up to six months.

As an example of the wide array of CNA classes and CNA schools in all 50 states, one can look at CNA training in Michigan. Among the many community colleges in Michigan that offer a Certificate of Achievement in Nursing Care Skills program are Henry Ford Community College, in Dearborn; Lansing Community College, in Lansing; and Washtenah Community College, in Ann Arbor.

In 2008, there were an estimated 1.5 million CNAs working in the U.S., more than a million fewer than RNs who are more highly trained, given more authority than CNAs, and paid considerably higher wages.

Like any other aspect of the health care profession, CNA salaries are contingent on many variables, including the facility in which one works and where in the country the CNA is employed. For example, the CNA training one receives can qualify individuals for salaries ranging between $9.13 an hour to $16.18 an hour in California, and between $7.94 an hour and $12.81 per hour in North Carolina.