Do you want to become a certified nursing assistant (CNA)? It’s a popular career path that has been trending upward for the past decade – and shows no signs of slowing down.
It’s also a rewarding career with good compensation in a challenging environment – what’s not to like?
Before you become a CNA, you need to go through training. After all, you’re going to be entrusted with patients’ lives. There are a number of steps, classes, and training programs you’ll need to participate in before you become a certified nursing assistant. Today, we’re helping you make sense of everything you need to know about CNA training.
What Does a Certified Nursing Assistant Do?
First and most importantly, we need to clear up what a CNA actually does. Many people don’t understand the difference between nurses and CNAs, or CNAs and LPNs.
CNAs provide health care to patients in a wide variety of health care facilities. Their responsibilities range from helping patients with their personal daily needs – like bathing and exercising – to monitoring patients’ vital signs for any indication of trouble. Other CNAs help monitor patients’ diets or assist nurses in other ways.
In general, CNAs provide a variety of health care services that help patients get better. They ensure patients are treated with dignity, respect, and care throughout their time at a medical facility.
The main difference between CNAs and nurses (aside from professional education) is that CNAs do not typically perform invasive procedures – like inserting IVs.
How Much Does a Certified Nursing Assistant Make?
Certified nursing assistant pay varies widely across the country.
Nursing assistants in Alabama, for example, make an average of $11.03 per hour ($22,940 per year). Meanwhile, nursing assistants in California make $12 to $13 per hour. Nursing assistants in Alaska earn one of the highest average wages in the country, earning $16 to $17 per hour, or $34,000 to $35,000 per year.
CNA Growth and Career Outlook
As the baby boomer generation gets older, the demand for medical services will increase. Certified nursing assistant job growth has been similar to job growth in other medical professions: it’s been strong across the country in every state.
California has one of the highest average annual job growths among nursing assistants. In 2010, California employed 109,500 nurses. By 2020, that number is expected to grow to 134,100, good for a growth of 22.47%.
Typically, the states with a rapidly aging population are expected to experience the biggest growth among nursing assistants. Some of the fastest growing states for CNA jobs include Connecticut, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Michigan, and Iowa.
If you live outside of these states, then you should still be able to find a CNA job: job growth is positive across America. However, some states are experiencing faster job growth than others.
What Type of Training Do You Need to Become a CNA?
Step 1) Find A State-Specific Training Program (4 to 16 Weeks)
CNA requirements vary from state to state. Typically, a CNA training program will last from 4 to 16 weeks. Some training program stake place at community colleges, while others are led directly by local health care providers. There are also online CAN training programs you can take.
The best way to learn about becoming a CNA in your state is to check with the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. This organization accredits training programs. If your training program is not accredited, then it’s virtually useless on the job market. Make sure the training program you’re looking at is accredited.
Step 2) You Need to Pass a State-Specific Examination
The whole point of the CNA training program is to help you pass your state-specific examination. These exams are mostly the same across the country. After you pass the exam, you’re fully certified as a nursing assistant.
However, many states allow CNA program graduates to work for up to 4 months without having passed the exam. This is on-the-job training that prepares the student for the real world of nursing.
Step 3) Pass Other State-Specific Regulation Hurdles (Where Applicable)
Certain states require more than just a training program and an exam to certify you as a nursing assistant. In certain states, you’ll need to pass a background check, for example. Other states require you to take a certain number of continuing education credits every year
Step 4) Find a Job as a CNA
Once you’ve passed steps 1, 2, and 3, you’re ready to land your first job as a CNA. You’re free to apply for CNA jobs.
Regardless of where you work, you’ll be placed under the direct supervision of licensed nurses. As a CNA, you cannot work without being supervised by a certified nurse. That’s why it’s also illegal to be a self-employed CNA, or to offer your services as an independent provider. You cannot apply for home-care jobs where you’ll be the only one caring for a patient, for example.
One of most attractive parts about becoming a CNA is that the job description is expanding rapidly across the country. CNAs are no longer confined to specific hospitals, retirement communities, or clinics, for example. It’s an all-encompassing job that can be suited for a wide variety of healthcare organizations. This gives many new CNAs the flexibility to pick a job at a facility (or within an industry) that reflects their career goals.
Step 5) Continue your CNA Education
As mentioned above, some states require certified nursing assistants to continuously upgrade their skills through ongoing education. In these states, you’ll need to complete a certain number of continuing education credits each year to maintain your qualifications.
You can find these continuing education credits offered by a wide range of health care facilities and educational providers.
Types of CNA Training Programs Available
As mentioned above, you can find CNA training programs offered by a wide variety of organizations, including everyone from The Red Cross to hospitals to community colleges. Here’s a basic breakdown of what to expect from each organization:
Vocational and Technical Schools
-Duration: 4 to 12 weeks
-What You’ll Learn: These schools offer a mix of classroom and clinical learning. You’ll develop crucial CNA skills, including the fundamentals of nursing like infection control protocol, anatomy, and nutrition.
-Why Pick It: You get more of a focus on practical skills that help you quickly prepare for the job market. You leave school as a more competent, qualified, experienced, and employable candidate. You weren’t accepted to a hospital training program.
Community Colleges
-Duration: 6 to 16 weeks
-What You’ll Learn: Community colleges offer a course similar to vocational and technical schools, although they tend to focus more on classroom learning than hands-on experience. Again, you’ll learn the fundamentals of nursing, including anatomy, nutrition, and how to work effectively as a member of a team in the hospital.
-Why Pick It: You get a classroom-focused approach to CNA training, learning practical care skills mixed with traditional textbook learning. You also get more of a focus on being a successful team player. You weren’t accepted to a hospital training program.
Hospitals
-Duration: 4 to 8 weeks
-What You’ll Learn: A fast-paced, hands-on, hospital-based training regimen that focuses on putting you face-to-face with patients as quickly as possible.
-Why Pick It: You want a hands-on, fast-paced education in everything you need to know to become a CNA. You want to work with patients as quickly as possible and develop important real-world skills. Crucially, many hospitals offer this training for free. Many CNAs trained by hospitals go on to work at that hospital, or at another clinic within the hospital’s network.
The Red Cross
-Duration: 4 to 8 weeks
-What You’ll Learn: The Red Cross teaches you the art of providing nursing care. You’ll learn procedural skills like positioning, bathing, dressing, and checking vital signs.
-Why Pick It: The Red Cross is one of the world’s largest nurse training organizations. They’ve successfully trained good nurses for over a century. They’re well-known, reputable, and affordably-priced. The only real restriction is that you are typically restricted to day classes (night and weekend classes aren’t always available through The Red Cross).
How Does the CNA Certification Exam Work?
By the end of your training program, you will have learned everything you need to know to pass your state’s CNA exam.
Throughout your training program, you’ll be told what to expect during the exam. Most students start preparing for the exam soon after the training program begins. Your instructors will guide you through the exam process and explain where you need to focus your studying.
Towards the end of the training program, your instructor will likely work with students to find the closest exam center and schedule the test. You’ll want to schedule the exam for as soon as possible after your training program finishes so the information is fresh in your head.
Now for the actual exam.
There are two parts to the exam, including a writing portion and a clinical portion. Most students you talk to will say that the writing portion is easy: it’s the clinical portion you need to worry about more.
For the exam’s clinical portion, you’ll typically be required to bring someone to act as your patient while demonstrating your newly acquired skills. During this demonstration, you’ll be asked to perform many different CNA tasks, including things like infection control procedures, bathing, maintaining patient privacy, following hospital protocol, transferring patients from beds to wheelchairs, and more.
You’ll learn whether you passed the exam the day you take it. If you pass the exam, you can begin working immediately.
If you fail the test, then you’ll be able to retake it without penalty. Most states have a system restricting the number of times you can take the test in a certain period of time.
Should You Take Online CNA Classes?
When you look up CNA training guides online, you’ll find a number of websites that push you into choosing online CNA training programs.
There’s an obvious problem with these programs: being a CNA requires you to learn hands-on skills. Most of the job involves hands-on skills. When you’re reading PDF files on your computer all day, you’re not getting crucial face-to-face time with patients.
There’s also another problem: online CNA classes are often ludicrously expensive.
Remember: many hospitals have reputable CNA programs available for free. These programs provide better training and more hands-on education than any online CNA class.
That being said, there are some reputable online CNA courses and training programs out there. Look for training programs that publish their staff bios upfront. Pick programs led by real, experienced nurses or medical professionals. Be sure to read plenty of reviews online. Find an online program that sets you up with an internship or work position after your online training is completed.
Career Advancement Opportunities: Where Should You Go Next?
One of the biggest attractions of becoming a CNA is the fact that you can easily transition into higher-level nursing positions. Many CNAs use the job as a stepping stone into nursing, for example.
After you become a CNA, there are two main career advancement options, including:
-Become a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN): You’ll have plenty of firsthand experience with LPNs, because they’re the nurses that typically supervise CNAs. Their tasks often overlap with CNAs, making the transition from CNA to LPN that much easier. Becoming an LPN typically requires you to pursue a certificate, diploma, or associate’s degree, which typically takes 1.5 to 2 years. After your training is complete, you’ll need to pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses to receive your license. You can also specialize in certain areas of nursing after you become an LPN.
-Become a Registered Nurse (RN): Other CNAs choose to become RNs. Typically, becoming an RN requires you to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. These degrees take anywhere from 2 years (accelerated) to 4+ years (normal) to complete. Similar to LPNs, you’ll need to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses before you begin working.
-Other Career Options: Some CNAs decide hands-on nursing isn’t for them. Some find that they’re more attracted to certain other areas of medicine and patient care. We’ve seen CNAs go into all sorts of different professions in the medical field, including working as dental assistants, pharmacy techs, medical billing specialists, medical assistants, surgical technologists, home health aides, or physical therapy aides.
Why would you advance your career beyond a CNA? Well, all of the careers listed above have higher pay grades than CNAs. With the exception of medical assistants, all of the careers listed above have a significantly higher median salary than CNAs (which makes sense, considering you need to go through years of education).
Ready to Become a CNA?
Becoming a CNA isn’t as daunting as you may think! Check local hospitals for CNA training programs. Or, look at community colleges and local vocational schools. It’s an investment in your future – and it could be a stepping stone onto bigger and better things in the exciting world of nursing.
