Certified nursing assistants are an important part of the day-to-day care of patients across the healthcare industry. If you’re looking to get your start in healthcare, you might be wondering how to become a certified nursing assistant?
Nursing assistant careers aren’t easy, but they’re extremely rewarding. Read on now to find out what you need to know to gain your certification and begin working today.
How to Become a CNA
While different places have varying requirements, they typically follow the same guidelines. Depending on the area you’re in, the amount of time it takes you to complete the training program can be anywhere from 2 months to 1 year.
In these nurse aide training programs, you’ll learn things like medical terminology as well as the techniques you’ll use to care for your patients once you’re in the field. After you’ve completed the necessary hours of training, you’ll sign up to take your final test to obtain the certification license that allows you to begin working.
There are two portions to the certified nursing assistant exam that test-takers will receive. The first is a sit-down written exam that asks a variety of questions for applicants to answer.
The second part of the exam is known as the clinical skills exam. During the second part of the exam, applicants will perform various skills they learned during training in front of a test proctor.
The skills you’re tested on will be given randomly, and you’ve got 30 minutes to perform each skill from beginning to end, proving that you’re competent.
What Do CNAs Do?
CNA stands for certified nursing assistant; therefore, the basis of a CNA’s job is assisting the nurse when there are things that need to be done. Your job is to tend to patients that are injured, ill, disabled, and aren’t able to care for themselves.
Your duties are known as daily living activities, but they can differ depending on the healthcare setting you’re working in. For example, if you work in a rehabilitation center, your job would focus on helping patients when they need help doing things like getting dressed or brushing their teeth.
However, you will stand by and motivate them to do as much as they can themselves as a part of their rehabilitation treatment. If you’re working with patients in a nursing home, you might find yourself helping them more with bathing or eating because as they’ve gotten older, they aren’t able to do these things as efficiently as they once were.
Duties You Might Perform
While we gave a summary of the things that you’d be responsible for while working as a CNA, here’s a more in-depth version of what you can expect on a day-to-day basis.
- Repositioning patients that are bedridden to prevent bedsores
- Taking vital signs
- Gathering supplies that nurses and doctors need to perform specific procedures
- Cleaning and dressing wounds
- Documenting changing medical and health issues of patients in your care
These are just a few of the responsibilities you’ll find yourself tasked with as a working CNA. You will often go through extra training programs provided by your job as a refresher for things you might need to be trained on again.
How Much Will You Make?
The amount you make yearly working as a CNA will differ depending on the state that you live in. The average hourly wage of a CNA ranges from $10-$14.
This means that the salary you can expect to make can range from $22,000 to upwards of $30,000 a year. Of course, some aspects can change this number, like overtime and the shift you choose to work as there is something known as shift differentiation.
Someone that works the third shift will earn a couple of cents to dollars more than someone that works the first shift.
Is There Room for Advancement?
Some people that begin working as CNAs struggle trying to find advancement opportunities. If you’re looking to advance in the healthcare industry and obtaining a position that pays more, you would need to continue with other education and training.
With this extra training and certification, you can work your way towards a registered nursing degree or make a move to becoming a healthcare administrator.
How Often Does Your License Need to Be Renewed?
Unlike other types of licenses, you don’t have to pay to renew your CNA license. When you’re renewing your license, you’ll need to use an online renewal service.
Your license is only valid for two years. If you’re actively working, you’ll need to submit proof that you’re working. If your license has been inactive for more than six months, you’ll need to take the time to fill out a renewal form and submit it for reinstatement along with your name and certification number.
How to Become a Certified Nursing Assistant
We’ve given you an in-depth guide about how to become a certified nursing assistant. The first step in obtaining your CNA license is completing a training program and taking the two-part written and skills competency exam.
Once you’ve obtained your license, you can move forward with working in the healthcare facility of your choice. And if your license is ever inactive, the process of renewing it is easier said than done.
We hope that this post offered everything that you were looking for in a need-to-know guide. If you’re looking for more information about this topic or others that we’ve written about, don’t hesitate to scroll through the other posts published in this section.
