If you are considering a Certified Nursing Assistant certification, you will need a high school education before enrolling in the certified nursing assistant certification courses or classes.
To register for a certified nursing assistant training course, you must have a high school diploma or a general education diploma (GED).
There are several ways to receive your certification as a certified nursing assistant.
- You can take classes at a traditional learning center. These are courses offered at your technical or community college or similar classroom settings.Â
- You can receive your courses through online training.Â
- Many facilities that hire certified nursing assistants as part of their staff offer an in-house training course. After the course is completed, you can begin employment with the facility. The great thing about this course of certification is that you are being paid for the hours that you are learning your course work!
Which type of training you choose depends on what you can afford to invest, if you are located in a rural area away from a technical or community college that offers courses or if there are employers in your area that are offering employment opportunities while you earn your certification.
The majority of certified nursing assistants receive their certification from accredited programs offered by technical or community colleges within their communities. However, there is a growing segment of the industry that is receiving certification through online courses.
Online courses were originally developed for many students in the rural areas of the country who were not able to attend a local technical or community college. However, anyone can apply for and receive certification through online courses.
Online certified nursing assistant programs allow students to complete the classroom portion of training as well as the knowledge needed to pass the national certified nursing assistant exam through their online instruction.
Those students that are lucky enough to earn while they are learning are numerous in communities that have an abundance of open positions for certified nursing assistants and need to hire employees as soon as possible. Employers will typically pay for the course if the student participates in an agreement that they will work for the employer who covered their certification expenses.
It is a win-win situation for both the employer and the employee. For the students who receive their training in their actual place of employment, they are working their first jobs in their new positions in a familiar surrounding with patients and staff they have become acquainted with. The employer benefits from knowing an employee is trained in the details of their facility and working with their staff of RNs and LPNs.
Whichever venue you choose for your education and training, you will be state certified for one year. The state board will contact you once a year requesting for an update in your status as a certified nursing assistant for recertification. There are a couple of ways to recertify your license.
If you are employed, simply have your employer complete the state form advising that you are practicing as a certified nursing assistant. If you are not currently employed but have worked at least 8 hours in your profession in the past two years, you can be recertified for another year. If you don’t qualify under either of these two situations, you will not be recertified and will have to retake the course to earn certification again.
Read more of our CNA training  blog to learn  how to become a CNA.
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