Everyone wants a job that is emotionally fulfilling, as well as financially secured, and the profession of a certified nursing assistant is the one that meets all your expectations. Along with being a lucrative career, it can also be a stepping stone for the better and bigger career opportunities in the medical field. CNA curriculum is increasingly becoming popular and a number of universities in the U.S. offer these courses.
The CNA certification process starts with a training program followed by the examination. The exam is known by many different names, like the Certified Nursing Aide Certification Exam (CNACE), National Nurse Aide Assessment Program (NNAAP) or Nurse Aide Assessment Examination (NAAE). These exams basically test your competency through written and skill test. Every state maintains a registry of all the certified nurses, who have successfully qualified the test. The registry also maintains the information concerning to the current status of the certificate (active or inactive).
CNAs get the opportunity to offer nursing care to the sick and elderly people. These professionals don’t just work in hospital settings, but at other places too, like community care facilities, home health agencies, hospice nursing, assisted living facilities, sub-acute care facilities, doctor’s offices, and nursing care facilities.
The job responsibilities of nurse aides include assisting other nurses with medicinal equipments, providing emotional and social support to the patients, checking vital signs, keeping the environment of their patients clean, and giving critical information about the changes in the health conditions of the patients immediately to the nurses and doctors.
Why to Earn CNA Certification?
The CNA certification is a document that proves your skills, talent and knowledge in the field of nursing. It makes aspirants eligible to work in patients’ homes, community health care centers and various other medical facilities. Moreover, it enhances your chances of selection for your dream job.
CNA Certification Requirements
In order to register your name in the Nursing Aide Registryand work as nursing assistant, different states have varied requirements in terms of the minimum age of a candidate, and number of hours of classroom study and clinical training. However, the basic requirements are as follows:
- You’ll be considered eligible for nurse aide licensure only if you are of 18 years.
- You must be able to interact in English.
- You are expected to submit your fingerprints to the licensing agency.
- Ensure that you have a clean record before applying for the certificate.
- The applicant must not have any findings of neglect or abuse on the state or local nursing assistant registry.
- The candidate must complete his/her high school education.
- You will have to undergo training that fulfils theory and clinical requirements of your state.
- The licensing staff requires you to deposit an official transcript of your college curriculum.
- It’s mandatory to qualify the written and practical test conducted by the licensing authority of your state.
Where to Enroll for CNA Courses?
Before rushing out to enroll in a certified nurse aide training program, candidates must check out that the training course is accredited and certified by the recognized organizations. Candidates may inquire with the state’s Nursing Aide Registry or NLNAC (Nursing Accrediting Commission) in order to verify the legality of the offered CNA course and institute.
How to transfer the CNA licensure to other states?
After completing the training and acquiring the certificate, it’s not necessary that you’ll get a job in the same state from which; you have completed your education. Each state necessitates you to possess a local certification. In this case, you’ll have to transfer your license to the state, you are relocating to. There are two ways to transfer the CNA license:
- Certain states of the U.S. have reciprocity arrangements and they accept the certificate from other states without requiring you to take the state examination again. You’ll have to submit your background check, educational and employment proofs and social security number. The process of background check finishes in 4-8 weeks. In the mean time, when your certificate is being checked over and you are being transferred, some states permit you to carry your work.
- If the state, you’re planning to shift, doesn’t have reciprocity arrangements, then in that case, you’ll have to appear and qualify the nurse aide examination of that state. You may also have to take additional courses to appear for the exam. To know more about other requirements for transferring your licensure, it’s better to contact the licensing authority personally as the state’s website may not be current.
CNA Certification Renewal
The CNA certification has an expiry period. The license expires in every two years, which needs to be renewed in order to continue work as a professional certified nursing assistant. License holders receive the notification mail from the State Nursing Board for the renewal of their nursing certificates.
If the license stays expired for over 5 years, aspirants would need to appear for the nursing aide training program and the examination again.
How to Know the Status of Nurse Aide Certificate?
The status of the nursing assistant license can be checked online. Go to the website of the state’s CNA registry and then visit the “CNA Certification Verification” page.
After this, candidates are required to fill and submit the asked information. Then, the page will display the license name, number and the status of the certificate.
Otherwise, for locating the license verification page of the state, search can be made by the person’s name, certificate number or social security number in order to obtain the required information.
Several states have got a toll free number to help students in knowing the current status of their nurse aide license.
How to renew the expired nurse aide certificate?
The CNA license expires in the period of two years. The Nursing Aide Registry of the state sends the reminder mail to the candidates notifying them about the expiration date of the credentials. Different states have their own specific requirements to continue the activation of the nursing assistant license. Nurse aides must keep their address information updated with the Nursing Aide Registry of the state. There is a fee for the renewal of the credentials and every state imposes a different fee for this. The online facility is also available to renew the license.