Certified Nursing Assistant

Deciding to do your CNA Certification training online is an important decision and one that must be carefully thought through. Each individual is different and their unique circumstances might dictate if doing their CNA course online is a better option rather than doing their CNA training at a nursing school or community college.

There are many students aspiring to do the CNA course along with their other academic courses. This leaves them with very little time to dedicate to their CNA training. The online CNA courses offered by various institutes makes it very convenient and becomes the perfect alternative to fulfill their desires in charting a career as a Certified Nursing Assistant.

There are many institutes offering online CNA courses. There are a few that even offer free CNA online courses too! They train you completely free of charge. Students who have financial constraints can look into this option to allow them to pursue their career ambitions as a CNA.

Every thing has its own pluses and minuses and doing your CNA training online too has its own pluses and minuses, advantages and disadvantages.

Online CNA Training Advantages

A student saves lot of time commuting to and fro to the campus. He or she can do his regular college course and do this as a part time course simultaneously.  The online training provides all the critical necessary training to guide each student on the best practices for various tasks of the patient care like measuring blood pressure, pulse, proper movement of patients etc. Most of the theoretical part of the course is taken care off in the online course and is very similar to a campus CNA course. The students have the convenience of preparing at home and at their convenience. Live support and assistance is provided with enough assistance with materials. It becomes easy for the students whose certificate has expired or invalid. The extra benefit being the total training hours can be extended or shortened depending on his capabilities to handle activities, which enables the student to graduate sooner.

Online CNA Training Disadvantages

The major disadvantage is, in the classrooms of the campus training institutes, hands-on training is provided, which is lacking in the online training. The exposure of the students to the practical and real-world settings, which increases their skill and confidence to a great extent, cannot be obtained in online training. However, there are some online training courses, who might help the student to work with the local hospital or nursing home to acquire that experience in clinical training by working as an apprentice or a volunteer. Since the exposure in the field is less, their performance is lesser than those who come from a university campuses. They also do not meet the needs of the 100 hours of ‘on the field’ training of the Federal nurse aides training regulations.

One should keep all the pros and cons of the online training vs. Campus training before they choose what they want. Students who are really hardworking and unable to attend the campus training may take the online course and can still acquire the CNA certification and go on to do really well in this profession. Since they lack practical exposure, one must plan for a few days of hands on exposure. This is important as this will even the playing field and make up for the disadvantages they faced in their online CNA training.

To begin a career as Certified Nursing Asistant or CNA for short, the completion of the CNA course or CNA training is just the beginning. You must be state certified before you can actually apply your skills on the job. Every state requirements for CNA Certification is slightly different. It is only by obtaining this certification that one qualifies as a CNA.

As mentioned before, each state has its own requirements. The basic requirement according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), for the CNA certification is that a person MUST have a minimum of 75 hours of state approved classroom and a minimum of 100 hours of practical training in basic health care, medical ethics, health law, etc. Some states may even have further requirements and it is advised that potential students check those before preparing for the certification exam.

Even the CNA Training program for obtaining your certification varies from state to state ranging from 4 weeks to about 18 weeks depending on the background and exposure of the student in the medical field.  The first step though should be to find out a CNA school in the desired location and get enrolled. Finish the training program for the required number of days and then apply and appear for the State certification exam. Every CNA is required to clear the state certification examination to obtain a license and certification. This state exam is conducted to test the abilities, knowledge and skills of the CNAs to assist the patients with their daily activities.

Once an individual completes both the theory and practical parts, the Board of Nursing will announce their results. On successful clearance of this exam, the individual’s name is registered by the state. Some of the states even provide a card for the nursing assistants.

If a person who has an experience in this field or has done the regular nursing course and wants to clear this exam for certification without the course, he has to get an approval letter to face the exam without the course. Here, he or she may have only one attempt to pass the exam. In case he or she fails to clear the exam, he will have to take the CNA course.

Once the CNA certification and license is acquired, Federal regulation wants the individual to do an 8-hour-job without a break of 2 years to remain active.  The certification is no more valid, or it expires once the individual takes a five-year break in employment.  In such case, the person has to show employment proof or take the CNA course again. If the break is for 2 years, the CNA certificate becomes inactive and he or she is required to take the examination once more to reactivate it. With a 5-year break, the CNA certificate expires.

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing also conducts the licensing examination, which is accepted by 21 states. Aspiring students may also obtain certification through this council. Similar to the individual state examinations, this examination also has written and oral sections, which test the students knowledge theoretically as well as skills in areas like disease control, hygiene of the patient, mental health nursing, ethics of medicines, vital sign collection and other therapies like rehabilitation etc.

There are additional certifications for CNAs with extraordinary skills.  These options allow you to work in specialized areas and improve your value and earnings as a whole. Some of the additional certifications that a CNA can choose to do are the GNA – Geriatric Nursing Assistant certification( which enables CNAs to work in long-term care facilities) and the HHA – Home Health Aide certification. There is also a CMA-certified medicine aide certification for which a CNA must have taken a 60-hour medicine aide course, which is approved and must have at least one-year experience as CNA.

CNA Overview

There are thousands of patients who are bedridden or need assistance to take care of their day-to-day basic needs. Though there are professional nurses who can help them to a certain extent, the patients do need assistance in their daily routines. The needs of these people who assist are increasing in hospitals as well as personally by the patients who are aged, handicapped, or diseased and are at home.

Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) are people who are trained by various CNA institutes and certified to become nursing assistants. Once they are trained, they are professionally ready to take care and assist patients who need monitoring or help. They normally work under an LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) or RN (Registered Nurse) to help provide assistance to patients who cannot take care of routine tasks like bathing, eating, grooming etc. They also assist the nurses in handling equipment and checking the patient’s conditions and getting the patient’s vital information.

A Certified Nursing Assistant(CNA) are also called as orderlies, patient care technicians, Patient Care Assistant (PCA), Nursing Assistant-Registered (NA/R), or State tested Nurse Aid (STNA). In other countries such as the United Kingdom, CNAs are also referred to as Nursing Assistant (NA), Patient Care Associate (PCA), Auxiliary Nurse (Aux-N), Health Support Worker (HSW), or Clinical Support Worker (CSW).  At the end of the day, irrespective of the designation, they all do the same job.

An ideal candidate to become a CNA are students who want to involve themselves in social activities like serving people, who enjoy taking care of others, find this the best way to serve the society as well as earn for themselves. People with passion to serve others find this very interesting as this includes taking care of elderly, handicapped, depressed patients including pediatric and Alzheimer patients.

This job not only requires the compassion and care for the patients, but also needs responsibility and skill to handle other tasks like preparing the room for the surgery, monitor the patient’s condition and report to the nurse, to transport the patient in a wheel chair or stretcher, maintaining the patient’s cleanliness as well as the surroundings, helping the patient exercise, apply dressings if necessary, having a watch on the patient’s intake as instructed by the doctor or nurse, turn the position of the patient having bedsore, etc. Attentiveness and alertness is very essential in case the patient is not able to talk and shows only actions.

The duration of the CNA courses vary. One can choose according to their experience and qualification already existing. There are full time courses up to 18 weeks, which provide hands-on experience and elaborate study. For students who are new to this field, such courses are ideal. Whereas, if the student already has some experience or basic qualification in the nursing field, there are quick 4 week courses too.

The CNA courses cover all topics like Medical terminology, infection control, basic nursing skills, measuring vital signs, emergency care, patient safety, basic human anatomy and physiology, record keeping, etc., which are very essential for his profession.

Federal government regulations demand that every CNA has to obtain a license. To obtain this license, there is a state certification examination and one has to clear this exam. The rules and regulations of states differ and one has to check with the respective State Nurse Aide or Licensing Board, to have a thorough knowledge of the state mandated requirements to ensure that he or she meets the required criteria.