Nursing Assistant – Certification Requirements and Career Outlook

by Marybeth Bennett

Most nursing assistant programs do not require any previous education other than a High School Diploma or the equivalent.  If you are interested in becoming a certified nursing assistant early on in life you can even begin preparing during your high school years.  Classes like biology, computer education, and even algebra can better prepare students for nurse assistant jobs in the future.  However, the core of the required education and training should come from a community college, technical institute, university, or the American Red Cross.  Each type of institution has a different program but all should prepare you to take the certified nurse assistant certification examination.  Most states require that you take 75 hours of training including both classroom and clinical training.

In order to apply for all types of certified nursing assistant jobs you must be able to show proof of certification and clinical experience history.  Some facilities also require that you show proof of CPR training and TB or tuberculosis testing prior to employment.  TB testing is also needed for the clinical training in most CNA training programs because the training is done at a real medical facility.  The certification exam will test you for the clerical and procedural requirements of the position.  Part of the test is multiple choice questions and the rest is clinical trials where you will need to show how well you know basic procedures, supplies, and equipment of the field.  Certification will not be given to any students that do not pass the examination.  If you uncertain about your training, you can also enroll in online refresher courses or tutorials which can help you better prepare for the examination.

The career outlook for CNAs is currently quite good.  There are plenty of open positions with many areas of the nation suffering from shortages of qualified individuals to fill the positions.  Growth is expected in nursing assistant jobs for a very long time because many CNAs go on to study and become registered nurses.  The pay increases dramatically at that level so the extra education and certification is definitely a good investment in your future.  As the population of the world increases so will the need for caretakers and medical providers.  Rehabilitation, long term care, and home health are a few of the areas that will continue to see even more growth as life expectancy increases.  More people are living longer lives so there is a continuous increase in the need for medical care for these individuals.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Propeller
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • Twitter

Related posts:

  1. Certified Nurse Assistant Jobs – Important Requirements and Expectations
  2. Searching for Certified Nurse Assistant Jobs
  3. CNA Work Requires More Than Training and Certification
  4. Certified Nursing Assistant Jobs Vary
  5. The Demands and Rewards of Certified Nursing Assistant Work

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: