Introduction To CNA Training

You can have a rewarding career helping others by working as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA).  As a CNA, you will help people who are sick or injured.  You will work with the nurses  and other healthcare professionals to provide care for those individuals.  A CNA often works in a hospital or continuing care community setting.  You can also find home health jobs providing care for individuals in their own home.  In order to become a CNA, you will need to have training.

There are a variety of ways that you can receive training as a CNA.  Many healthcare facilities offer programs for those who want to become certified as nursing assistants.  You can also find programs through the Red Cross and other community based organizations.  Many community colleges and vocational schools offer CNA training.

The Length of time it takes to complete a CNA training program will depend on the program and whether you are attending classes and clinical experience on a full-time or part-time basis. Some programs can be completed in several weeks while others will take several months. Nursing Assistant training programs will include both class experience and clinical experience.

You will learn a great deal in a CNA training program.  The program will teach you how to provide quality care for your patients.  You will learn how to take vital signs and identify potential problems that should be reported to a nurse or doctor.  When training to become a CNA, you will need to learn how to help patients with their daily activities.  You will often be helping to feed, dress and bathe patients.

CNA training will teach you how to provide excellent bedside manners for your resident.  You will learn how to effectively communicate with your patients in order to provide them the highest level of care.  As a CNA, you are often the person who will have the most contact with the patient throughout the day with nurses and physicians checking in less often.

In order to become certified as a nursing assistant, you will need to learn basic life support skills including CPR.  You will need to know how to act quickly in order to help save a patient.  You will learn how to provide safe and effective care for your patients. You will also need to pass a CNA Certification test.

Some of what you learn will be covered in classroom.  You will learn some basic anatomy and physiology in order to help you to understand how to care for your patients.  Your classroom instruction will help you to be better prepared when it comes time for your practicum studies.  During your clinical based training, you will receive hands on experience caring for patients.  You will put much of what you have learned in the classroom to practice.

You will probably learn the most during your hands on experience.  This is when you get a better feel for what it is like to take care of patients on a daily basis.  Even after you become a CNA, most states require additional training each year to keep you well trained in your field.