Duration of CNA Programs

When you are aspiring to become a Certified Nursing Assistant, you need to apply for the CNA training programs. You may be concerned about the duration of the CNA courses. It is a general assumption that since the CNA courses are medical courses, they may be quite lengthy. But this is not true.

It's a fact that for becoming a nurse or a doctor, you need to put in long hours of study and need to wait for several years to get the degree. You need to obtain detailed knowledge about the healthcare and medical field and pass all the difficult examinations before you can actually start practicing as a nurse or a doctor. However, to in order to become a CNA, you actually don't need so many years. Just a simple training course is sufficient to get the CNA certification.

CNAs are not engaged in hard core medical duties. Instead they work under the supervision of a Registered Nurse (RN) to assist the patients in the hospitals and clinics in their healthcare daily routine. The requirements of CNAs is growing with time due to a rise in the medical care needs. The aging population is also growing, and hence there is a lot of work load and pressure on the CNAs. CNA is a para-medical career that aims at reducing the burden on the Registered Nurses (RNs) in carrying out the medical duties.

The responsibilities of the CNAs range from helping the patients do their daily tasks to measuring the patients' vitals. The daily tasks may include bathing, combing hair, dressing and feeding as well as moving the patients. The CNAs also need to measure and record the vitals of the patients such as their blood pressure, sugar levels, heart rate and so on. Although the duties of the CNAs are related to medical and healthcare, they do not need to possess total knowledge and information about the health-care division. The CNAs just need to develop certain skills that will help them in taking care of the patients in a proper manner.

In order to sit for the CNA certification test, the candidates need to enroll for the CNA training programs that are recognized by the National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission. The programs can also be accredited by the state's health department. It is important that the course is a recognized one, or else your CNA application will stand void.

Length of CNA training programs 

According to the U.S. federal law, it is necessary for the CNA candidates to go through a 75 hours of training. Out of these 75 hours, 51 hours are focused on theoretical or classroom study while the remaining 24 hours focus on practical or clinical skills training. The training requires around 8 weeks to be completed successfully.

In certain states, the minimum number of the hours spent on the CNA training tends to differ. Sometimes, the training hours are more than what is required by the federal law and in these cases, the CNA training program will extend for a greater duration, in that particular state.

The duration of the CNA programs also tend to vary depending upon the place, the institutes, as well as the amount of hours that you spend on training on a daily basis. If you are enrolling for online programs, the length of such programs may stretch up to 4 months as the courses are generally conducted on a part time basis.

There are many institutes which offer the CNA programs that are likely to be completed within a period of 3 weeks. However, in such cases, the amount of hours that you need to give in for the CNA training on a daily basis will be more. When you enroll for such courses, it is necessary that you are sincere and are ready for additional amount of effort required to successfully complete the CNA program.

In a CNA training program, you need to give in 8 hours on a daily basis for 4 days in a week. This completes the compulsory requirement of 75 hours within a period of 10 days. 3 days out of the 10 should be reserved for the clinical training. Majority of nursing colleges and schools provide a clinical duty of 8 hours and you need to fulfill this requirement to obtain the certification.

There is also a time period alloted for the CNA practice test which is usually three days. The CNA program is likely to be completed within a period of three weeks. Once the CNA program is successfully completed, you can apply for the CNA final examination to get the certification.

Certain nursing schools also have the facility of flexible CNA training programs. These programs may be conducted on a part time basis. Some CNA training programs also allow you more amount of hours for in-depth study and practice. Depending on the type of programs you choose, the duration of the CNA programs may range from 6 to 8 weeks. In case you choose to specialize in a certain field such as Cardiology, Pediatric or any other field, then the duration of the CNA program may extend by up to a week's time.

So, if you are really passionate about being a Certified Nursing Assistant and help the patients in hospitals and clinics, then irrespective of the duration of CNA programs, you must enroll for CNA certification.