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The Complete Guide to Becoming a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant)

Are you a kind-hearted person? Do you want to help care for patients in hospitals and nursing care facilities? Read on to see if a career as a certified nursing assistant is right for you.
Certified Nursing Assistant Working

A Nursing assistant is a member of the health care team who provides personal care and related health care aid to the individuals who are disabled, ill, dependent on others, or who are residents of health care facilities. CNAs work in the hospitals, community care facilities and nursing care facilities for the aged.

There is a lot of interest found in the field of CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant). One of the main reasons behind it is that people want to perform community service and work for the welfare of the people by helping the patients. Another reason people choose this career is that the health industry is growing rapidly with time due to increase in elderly population; undoubtedly more opportunities will be offered to CNAs with the passage of time. The demand for the CNA’s is very high, particularly in those institutions that offer continuous health care and living to the elderly and aged people. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, the job prospects for a Certified Nursing Assistant are expected to increase up by 28% between 2006 and 2016. This expected growth is much rapid than the average for all professions.

Certified nursing assistants work closely with patients and they are responsible for their basic care services such as bathing, grooming, feeding, serving nutritional supplements to them, making their beds, keeping their space clean and tidy, setting up their meal trays, documenting food / fluid intake and monitoring vital signs including temperature, pulse, respiration and blood pressure. Their job is also to help the nurses with the patients’ medical equipment and to check patient’s vital signs. CNAs give patients required social and emotional care and they are also responsible to give important information on patient conditions to the nurses.

Certified Nursing Assistants usually have much more contact with the patients than any other medical staff and they have the most information about the patients’ daily statuses and conditions. CNAs can work in a variety of environments, including the ones listed below:

  • Hospital Certified Nursing Assistants
  • Home Health Certified Nursing Assistants
  • Psychiatric Certified Nursing Assistants

In order to become a certified nursing assistant, one needs to complete a training course, which can take up to four to six weeks. This time duration depends upon the person’s choice: If you are a quick learner, then you’ll take more classes online and will become a CNA within a short span of time. A longer length program might be useful for you if you are doing a job. A shorter length program might be beneficial if you are unemployed or are completely free. People those who are eager to start their career as a CNA may want to go for shorter length program as they would want to start their services as a CNA as soon as possible.

There are a lot of opportunities provided to become a CNA while there are some prerequisites in order to be eligible for Certified Nursing course. A high school diploma or its equivalent at least, is a prerequisite for the completion of Certified Nursing Assistant Certification Programme, although some home health aides may be exempted from the requirement to have a high school diploma.

Training to become a certified nursing assistant is provided by community colleges. One can easily learn and study certified nursing course there. Many schools offer training within medical services as part of their course packages as well. Almost in every city and state, the schools provide training programmes. Certified nursing assistant programs are provided online as well, in order to help people avail the training and successfully become a certified nursing assistant. Free CNA training classes are provided to those willing to become a CNA online.

The base of teachings in a certified nursing assistant program is comprised of 4 things.

It basically includes:

  1. Basic nursing skills
  2. Anatomy and physiology
  3. Nutrition
  4. Infection control

The cost is for CNA training courses is not quite expensive. The average cost for a CNA course may range from $800 to $1,500. This includes the tuition cost, the cost of the State exam, physical exam, books, uniforms, tuberculosis skin test and CPR card.

All CNA’s are required to take an examination known as the State Exam before they are classified as the qualified nursing assistants. The candidates are required to successfully pass this CNA certification test in order to prove themselves. The competency exam will test both your book knowledge and the practical skills that were taught to you during the training. It will also check your understanding of the fundamental skills and whether you have the concepts needed in order to become a Certified Nursing Assistant (Nurse Aide). Practice tests and study guides are easily available online, so studying for the test should not be that difficult. The study guides are available for free. CNA exam questions are available on the internet and many books containing them are available in the book shops.

After becoming a certified nursing assistant, you can start your job whenever you want as a CNA. With the required skills, the ones you had practised in the training, you would not have too much trouble getting a job as a CNA. After receiving your CNA certification, you could even pursue your education and become a medical assistant. You might also think about joining a nursing school to become an official nurse or a qualified practical nurse. Your experience as a CNA could prove helpful when applying to these training programs.

The average salary of the CNA ranges around $25000-27000 annually. This salary range given is based on a national average. Actual salaries merely depend upon the specialization within the certain field, location, years of experience and service and a variety of other factors.

Certified Nursing Assistant Salary and Job Description

The CNA job description includes a long list of responsibilities which we will be discussing one by one in this article –

-The CNA job description basically includes taking care of the patient by performing the routine checkups and communicating the health condition of the patients to the doctors on a regular basis.

-The CNA is responsible for measuring the statistics like height and weight of the patient from time to time.
Certified Nursing Assistant Job

- The assistants also help the patients with their daily routine activities like bathing, combing hair, brushing teeth, shaving, dressing etc.

-The CNA should very carefully know and follow the protocols, so as to avoid spreading of germs which might lead to other diseases in the patient and damage their condition even further. One should be very careful in such situations.

-The CNA is also responsible for checking the blood pressure, pulse and temperature of the patient.

- They also help the doctors in moving the equipments like anti embolism stockings, bladder scanner, intermittent pneumatic compression devices etc, from one room to another.

- The most important part of the CNA job description is  the right communication with the healthcare team and the patients,  because a timely communication with the  doctors can actually sometimes save the life of a patient and so there will be minimal risk in the treatment.

-The CNA should try and make the patient comfortable .One should also carry out normal conversations in order to create a healthy relationship between the two. If the patient and the nursing assistant share   good relationship with each other, it will be a win win situation for both the parties.

Detailed description on the CNA salary

CNA salary is less when a comparison with the salary of the registered nurses is done. But then the advantage of being a CNA nurse is that you do not require a training of very long duration and you are certainly paid an average salary.

The CNA salary per annum will vary between $25,000 to $34,000. So basically if you are working in a big hospital, you will be paid more as compared to the clinics. The CNA certification exam which you take does not affect your salary. You might come across some of the certified and non certified CNA’s who actually earn the same amount of money. People generally go for certification, because then even if you move out of a particular state, you will not face much problem in getting hired.

 definitely goes up as your experience in this field increases. But as a CNA you have a better chances of becoming a registered nurse, the struggle will be less and certainly you will be paid more. If you are ambitious and want to grow in your career, you should explore all the possible options. Many people continue to work as a CNA throughout their life, while others decide to pursue higher studies in the same stream and then get a better designation and a better paying job. Hard work pays you in the long run, you should not leave any stone unturned while achieving your goal.

CNA Requirements – What Are They?

In this article, we will discuss about all the CNA requirements that one needs to have –

What is the minimum qualification required for a CNA course?

The minimum qualification needed for a CNA is basically getting a degree of a High School Diploma. But this is not a necessary requirement for every school. The basic and necessary requirement includes proficiency in mathematics, general reading and writing skills. But every institution has its own specific requirements.cna certification requirements

Is there any specific age limit when you can undertake this test?

The CNA Requirements are specific to the school or university where you are enrolling yourself. In some of the schools the minimum age requirement is 16 yrs while the other schools have an age requirement of 18+.

What is generally taught in the CNA course?

The CNA course does include a combination of laboratory studies and clinical sessions because the individual should necessarily have the experience of performing the practical tasks in an efficient manner. The individual should also have enough knowledge about human anatomy, nutrition, the various rights of the patients, blood testing etc.

What are the tasks which you are expected to perform after the completion of CNA training?

Below mentioned is a long list of tasks which one expects from certified nursing assistants-

-One of the most important CNA requirements is the ability to communicate properly.

-You need to be on your toes all the time in order to ensure the safety of the patients under you.

-You should be an expert in assisting the patients in managing their basic day to day activities.

-The CNA is also required to feed the patients by making sure all the necessary supplements are supplied to the patient. The CNA should have the ability to make the diet chart for each and every patient under him.

- Cleanliness and perfect hygienic conditions for the patients is yet another important CNA requirement.

Where can the CNA’s work?

The CNA’s are authorized to work in those places where a medical assistance is required and they can only work under the licensed or high and experienced officials. The CNA will always work under the supervision of an experienced doctor. This is as per the rules and regulation of the government and the assistants should religiously follow them since it is for the benefit and safety of the public. CNA’s generally work in the Nursing homes, assisted living facilities, staffing agencies, hospitals, medical clinics, urgent care centers, home health care agencies etc.

What generally happens once your training is over?

The instructor will give you full support in scheduling a competency exam which is generally administered by the state in which you live. This exam is necessary and hence you should put all your efforts to pass this examination. This exam is a test of your knowledge and competency level. Once you clear the exam you are then certified. The exam mainly consists of a written and clinical portion. The clinical portion is considered to be tough as compared to the other part. But nevertheless clearing the exam is not impossible, you should study hard and you will certainly achieve your target.

How Do You Find the Best CNA Classes Online

Getting trained as a Certified Nurse Assistant is therefore the right way to start a career in healthcare. Also in situation, if you have less time and if you plan to utilize your time to the maximum, the best way is to enroll in the CNA classes online as this way you will save a lot of time in travelling and the second benefit is that you can learn at your own pace and in your comfortable zone as such.

Few tips for finding the best CNA Classes Online

Do a good research, don’t make a quick decision
CNA Classes Online

Make sure that for enrolling for the CNA training online, you spend a good amount of time in doing research about it online. Even if you are enrolling for an online class, you will have to spend few weeks in order to complete the training. If you come across some of the courses which make promises to complete the entire training in just few hours, never trust such classes, there is certainly something fishy about such classes.

Ensure that the class has proper accreditation

The first thing which you need to pay attention when you are all set for CNA training online is that the training meets all the requirements and criteria’s completely. For extra precautions, it is always advisable to actually do a check with the nursing board before you go ahead and finally sign up for these classes.

Be very clear about the different offerings of the online classes

If you are doing CNA classes online, then you have various options of choosing the schools and these schools can be in any part of the world. So the biggest benefit is that you can even opt for the best school if it is in the other part of the world. Make sure that you take all the classes seriously and make complete use of the school offerings because you should get complete worth for your money.

Get in touch with your instructors

When you are taking the CNA classes online, you do not have the advantage of raising your hands and clarifying your doubts at that moment. But this does not mean that your doubts will not be clarified at all. So in such situations, you should opt for the school that gives you the benefit of contacting your instructors any time whenever you are stuck with a problem.

Choose the future subjects carefully

Once you have completed your initial certification, you have the right to select the subjects which you want to learn in the future. All the reputed classes online, do offer a good range of options to their students like they can study subjects related to anatomy, physiology, infection control and the other patient care techniques etc.

Due to the advancement in technology and the increasing power of computers and internet, these online classes have become very popular and demanding amongst the youth of this century in the past few years.


The Advantages of Being a CNA Nurse

The certified nursing assistant is basically the first and the most important line of contact between the patients and the doctors. If your ambition is to become a CNA, it is very essential that you start with CNA training. This training is very much in demand and hence you will find many reputed universities and schools where you can enroll yourself .Though you can also opt for an online course, but if you have time ,then it is always advisable to take classes.

Following are the advantages of being a CNA Nurse –male nurse

Growing demand

As a Certified nursing assistant, you can basically explore different kinds of work opportunities. Once you have completed the training, you are eligible to work anywhere in the health industry. So your career will actually boom and there is no looking back.

Helping others gives you satisfaction

As a CNA, you have the benefit of working with many people who need help. So this is one profession which gives you complete satisfaction.

Explore all the options

When you choose to become a certified nursing assistant, you will have lot of work environments and so you can choose the best one according to your skills and interest. Like for example, home health careers is a very good option in the field. You also have the opportunity to choose your own working hours be it night time or day time, whereas this privilege you do not get with any other profession where the time is fixed from 9am to 6pm.

Additional benefits offered

As a certified nursing assistant, where you do not spend a huge amount of money in the completion of the training and also moreover the certification is completed in just few weeks, but in spite of all these factors you are still entitled to enjoy all the benefits which are offered by the company which hires you and all these benefits are apart from your salary. Some of the big hospitals also offer the benefit of tuition assistant or even hundred percent reimbursements for actually taking classes to become a Licensed Practical Nurse or a Registered Nurse as such.

You are exposed to prior nursing experience

As a certified nursing assistant,   by working in this field for some time, you can decide for yourself if you would want to continue with this career or switch to some other field. No doubts, this field is challenging and it is not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you have the right skills to communicate and if you love to serve people, than this is the field for you. You will definitely succeed.

Offers flexibility

As a certified nursing assistant, you are always in demand. So irrespective of your location, even if you need to move very frequently, you will have absolutely no problem to find a job for yourself in the new place. This is an evergreen field which is always in demand, because without the CNA’S , the hospitals cannot function properly, the assistants have a very crucial role to play.

 

What are the Duties of Certified Nursing Assistants?

Certified Nursing Assistants have a very important role to play and so they are basically responsible for many medical duties which are completed under the supervision of a senior doctor or an experienced heath care professional.CNA Duties

In this article below we will discuss some of the important CNA duties in details –

Feed and dress the patients- Feeding, bathing and dressing the patients are some of the very basic CNA responsibilities. The patients who require such care are generally the ones who are suffering either from stroke, the elderly residents, the individuals who have met with a serious accident or patients who have undergone serious injuries etc.

Keep a record of the patients vital signs – The other CNA duties also includes,  measuring the temperature or the blood pressure and keeping a regular record  for each patient. Also the CNA has an important role to play in creating a good impression on the patients who visit the hospital for the very first time.

Cleanliness and serving meals to the patients- The CNA responsibilities is to meet the basic needs of the patients completely and to make the patient feel comfortable by actually serving meals, cleaning the bed, putting on fresh bed sheets and keep the room completely clean and hygienic. So in this way the CNA gets to spend a good amount of time with the patients and a good bond is also created between the two as a matter of fact.

Setting up the important medical equipments and assisting the doctors – The CNA is also responsible for storing, setting up and shifting the medical equipments from one room to another because the requirement of every patient is different. Also during the surgeries, the CNA also assists the doctor.

Observe the changes in the behavior of the patient – Since the CNA gets the advantage of spending time with the patient and so they can actually observe the behaviors   of the patients even better than the doctors. They are then capable of noticing even a slight variation in their behavior. They are in true sense actually the backbone of the hospitals and the doctors, as they have a very crucial role to play by helping the patients to recover fast and resume their normal routine.

Sample collection and wound care – The CNA is also responsible for collecting the samples of the urine, stools and  sputum for further investigation and apart from that the CNA duties also includes cleaning and dressing the wounds of the patients.

Help the patients with the different exercises as per the doctor’s instructions – The CNA also helps the patients to carry out certain exercises   which are very important in order to bring an improvement in their health.

Dietary care – Apart from serving meals to the patients, the CNA is also responsible for providing the patients with the right amount of essential nutrients as per the prescription of the doctor.  So they actually make a complete diet plan for the patient which definitely includes the fluid intake which is indeed necessary.

Useful Tips for Passing Your CNA Certification Test

If your ambition is to work as a certified nurse assistant, then the very first essential step is to prepare and pass the certification test so as to achieve your long desired dream. You should not panic by taking these exams, try and keep yourselves calm and you will see that everything ultimately turns out to be perfectly fine. Now as we move forward in this article we will discuss some of the essential tips which are necessary for passing the CNA certification exam.

Basic, but essential tipsCNA Certification Exam

When you are all set to take the certified nursing aide examination, make sure that you reach the examination center few minutes before the exam starts, you should carry all the essential things which you would require during the exam. Also in case you have a query, never ask your fellow colleagues, raise your hand so that the invigilator can clear your doubts. Also if the student has some health issues and is not comfortable writing the exam, you should talk to the invigilator about it and explore the other suitable options. Above all be calm and confident, this solves half the problems. 

Explore various options for the study material

Make sure you do not stick only to the text books, but explore all the options like the internet, cover the same topics by reading books from different authors, explore the options available in the library. Try and get maximum information of a particular topic from all your resources. It will indeed be very helpful and you will actually gain more knowledge and you will feel confident while taking the exam.

Communication is the basic key

Communication is the key for the CNA certification requirements, because during the exams you will actually be evaluated on two main things, firstly your knowledge and secondly how you deal with your patients. You should always make sure that the patients around you are comfortable and then only the patient will be able to communicate the problem in a better way. Your examiner will keep a close watch on you and observe how well are you communicating with the patient. Your communications should make the patient feel secure.

Be thorough and keep practicing

If you have enrolled yourself in a reputed class, then you will be given all the right tips, study material, in fact the classes will provide you will all the essential skills which are required to pass the exam. Make sure that you thoroughly go through all the practice tests and study guides. The more you practice, the better it will be for you and your confidence will keep rising.

If possible take the CNA certification online

The training program which is covered online also covers both the components the written and the clinical skills test. For a written test, you will actually be exposed to lot of multiple choice questions and for the second component you might also get a chance to actually treat the actual patients, so you need not be surprised in such a scenario. Basically the CNA test online is generally very tiring, but you will as a CNA will have to experience such tiring situations almost every day. 

Talk to experienced people of this field

Try and get in touch with a person who is already a CNA, so that they can share certain tips or experiences with you which might be helpful in the near future or if you do not get lucky in finding an experience person of this field, the best alternative is to Google and you can join some of the discussion forums or read some blogs which might be extremely useful.

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Free CNA Training Classes – Your Guide to Getting a CNA Certification

A certified nursing assistant is a very important member of the healthcare facility in which he or she works. The CNA can help patients in many different ways. He can, for example, assist them with their basic needs such as feeding, bathing and dressing. The assistance provided by the CNA differs from one patient to another; it all depneds on the individual needs of the patients. In addition to helping the patients, the CNA can be of great service to the nurse as well.Certified Nursing Assistant Job

In order to become a CNA, one needs to get the required training. This can be done by enrolling at a medical center or at some college and completing the appropriate certificate program. The duration of the training can vary due to a few factors. It is possible to get your certificate in a matter of a few weeks. However, some CNA training programs can last for a year. It all depends on how much material is covered in the program and the requirements of the state in which the CNA training course is being conducted. The number of hours taught per day is another factor that can affect the duration of the training.

The basic fundamentals of patient care is an integral component of all CNA courses. Taking proper care of the patients is a critical part of a CNA’s job. A certified nursing assistant is usually placed under the supervision of a licensed nurse. The supervision takes place both during the training and throughout the employment of the CNA. Not only does the CNA program teaches you how to care for the physical needs of your patients but also how to attend for their psychological needs. All CNA trainees need to pass the Certified Nursing Assistant exam successfully before they are granted a CNA license. Your training program will usually cover most of the topics that you are going to need in order to pass your CNA exam.

The certified nursing assistant course usually involves two important and complementary parts. The first part has to do with learning materials from CNA books and the other part is mainly hands on training. The materials in the textbook will make you familiar with the terminology used in your field and give you information that you will need to fulfill your CNA duties. Besides, the textbook will also cover some of the information that you are bound to come across in the CNA exam questions. Communication skills are also covered in the textbook since they are an integral and critical part of a CNA skills. If you would like to become a polished nursing assistant, you need to work on your communication skills. You will eventually need to use these skills on a daily basis when dealing with patients, their family and your colleagues in the medical facility.

The practical or hands on part of the training will give you the chance to put what you have learned into practice. All CNA classes pay great importance to this portion. To help get the closest experience to a real situation, you will be given special medical manquins to practice on. You will for instance practice helping the manquins with their basic needs like you would later do with real patients. You also learn how to take vital signs and apply it on manquins that are made specifically for that. If you were wondering about what does a CNA do? Then, this was the answer.

The CNA trainees will also be given the opportunity to deal with real patients in a real working environement during their training program. Most CNA training programs are conducted jointly with healthcare centers. This allows the CNA candidates to experience for real what a day in a CNA job looks like. This section of the curriculul is termed clinicals. In this section, you will be given the responsibility of attending to some patients under the supervision of a licensed nurse or some other employee in the medical facility. This is where you will start to put all the knowledge that you have acquired into practice.

A lot of students feel uneasy about the clinicals portion of the CNA course. However, this is actually the best way in which you learn and get fully acquainted with your new job as a Certified Nurse Assistant. The common practice in training programs is to split students into small groups for the clinicals portion. These number of students in each group range from two to six. And as I said earlier, the training takes place in a real facility. There are no medical manquins. Since this training is for your own benefit, do not expect to get paid for it.

You do not have to get intimidated about the clinicals because the medical staff are friendly and know for sure that you have not yet got the experience they developed over the years. The nurse under whose supervision you work will explain what she is doing to you right on the spot so that your understanding of the processes involved will improve. However, you should never hesitate about anything that you do not understand. Discuss it with the nurse until you fully grasp it. After all, the staff are there to help you with this portion of the training.

This part of the training can open the doors of employment for you. Since this portion is conducted in a healthcare facility, the facility will usually be on the look for those students that stand out from the crowd. They will be watching out for things like punctuality, attention to detail, attendance, a willingness to learn and a positive attitude. If you radiate these qualities, you may end up being selected for employment in the facility. This could save a lot of time and frustration that you could spend looking for CNA jobs after getting your CNA certification.

This is like killing two birds with one stone. You get the job and in addition, you are already familiar with workings of the facility because you got your clinical training inside it. There is some variation between the work flow of a CNA in the different medical facilities. The basics of the job remain unchanged regardless of where you work though. However, you should be willing to adapt and adjust to the work settings of whatever facility you end up working at. You should trigger questions about the CNA job description during the interview for any facility that you consider working for.