Certified Nursing Assistant jobs are plentiful and will continue to grow. This is because facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living, who provide nursing care for seniors, must maintain a minimum staffing level of Certified Nursing Assistants (also called Certified Nursing Aides, or C.N.A.’s, for short). Health inspectors will drop by to make sure the faciltiies are maintaining the staffing levels and this is so important that many senior care companies hire an extra staffing firm to be on deck to staff when a C.N.A. calls in sick.
Certified Nursing Assistants assist with the “hands-on” care for seniors. This includes assisting with bathing, feeding, bathroom visits, exercises, transfers and really all aspects of care, including maintaining proper care notes.
Certified Nursing Aide schools provide training, which meets the state guidelines in each state. The C.N.A. student must complete field work where they will actually work at a facility for training and then must pass the state C.N.A. exam.
Certified Nursing Aide employment may be with a senior home care agency (assisting a senior in their home), a nursing home or assisted living community or hospice. Hospice care can be in a hospital setting or in the home.
Certified Nursing Aide schools may offer scholoarships and some employers will reimburse tuition. The course usually lasts from 6 weeks to 6 months, depending on if it is a part-time or full-time nursing aide training program. Some employers, such as nursing homes, also provide their own C.N.A. classes only for nursing aides they will be hiring.
Caregiverlist’s Certified Nursing Aide school directory provides the admission requirements and tuition costs at schools nationwide. Usually students must have a high school dipoloma or the equivalent in order to be admitted.
Caregivers who are interested in studying to be a C.N.A. may take a free sample C.N.A. test or an official C.N.A. practice test to learn about the skills taught. Once a certificate has been earned, a C.N.A. must meet state requirements to renew it, usually every 2 years.
Professional caregivers may begin their career in caregiving by working for a senior home care agency as a companion caregiver and may also obtain a caregiver certification to provide professional caregiving services through a 10-hour online caregiver certification course.
