Healthcare jobs are growing rapidly
If you are considering a career as a Certified Nursing Assistant, you have come to the right place. To save you time and help you avoid some costly mistakes, we have collected the best, most current information about becoming and being a CNA. The information on this site is organized around the main topics of:
- Important facts about CNA job opportunities;
- Determining if the CNA job is right for you;
- Learning about CNA training options, costs and other considerations so you can decide what training is right for you;
- Understanding the CNA certification process; and
- Developing a long-term healthcare career plan.
Use the links at the right to get more information about these topics.
CNA and other healthcare jobs are growing
Healthcare jobs will continue to grow much faster than other job categories, so CNA jobs should be readily available in most areas. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS), the healthcare industry is expected to produce more than 4 million new jobs between 2008-2018, more than any other industry.
Quite a few healthcare jobs require less than a college degree. So these careers are very accessible for people with only a high school education or GED. The training/education for many of these jobs can be achieved in a few months to 1 or 2 years and at a reasonable cost.
CNA jobs including job titles such as nurse aides, nursing assistants, certified nursing assistants, Geriatric Nursing Assistant (GNA), geriatric aides, orderlies, or hospital attendants, are expected to grow 18% between 2008-2018. The most recent salary data reported that most nursing aides were paid between $17,790 to $34,580 per year, with an average of $25,140.
HOME HEALTH AIDES is a related job category that requires similar education and training to the CNA job but HHAs visit patients at home instead of working in a care facility. HHA jobs are expected to grow by 50% between 2008 to 2018, adding 460,900 new jobs. May, 2010 data reported that most home health aides earned between $17,900 to $29,300 per year, with an average of $21,760.
Click here to read more about Home Health Aide salaries, and which states and cities have the most HHA jobs.
Is the CNA job right for you?
CNAs and GNAs are primary care-givers who work directly with patients to monitor their health status, support the patient’s care plan, ensure the patient’s safety, and assist with daily living functions such as eating, bathing, toileting, dressing and walking or moving about. The needs of patients will vary greatly, from those who need relatively little assistance to those who literally cannot do anything for themselves.
Being a Certified Nursing Assistant can be very personally rewarding, but it can also be a physically and emotionally demanding job. Being a CNA requires tremendous caring and empathy, and often you may be taking care of patients who behave in a difficult manner because they are anxious about their condition, experiencing emotional and physical pain, or unhappy that they cannot care for themselves. Patients who have serious chronic illnesses or conditions may likely never get better, and they often suffer depression, anxiety, or display anger at their situation.
Because patients need care 24/7/365 you may well find yourself working nights, weekends and holidays. Many CNAs report suffering from burnout due to high patient workloads, low pay, and lack of advancement opportunities without additional education and training. However, many CNAs have been able to use the position as a stepping-stone to other, more advanced healthcare jobs such as Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), or even Registered Nurse (RN) positions.
Click here to read more about the specific tasks that nursing assistants perform.
CNA training options, costs and other considerations
The 1987 Federal Nursing Home Reform Act established training and care standards for long term care facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid payments. The Act established that nursing assistants in these facilities must have at least 75 hours of training and then pass a standardized exam. Rules and requirements vary from state to state. In most states, nursing positions including CNA and home health aide are regulated by the state board of nursing.
You will find that nursing assistant training programs are offered by many community colleges, technical schools, and for-profit schools. In order to insure they can get staff, many nursing homes will provide or sponsor your training, in exchange for your agreeing to work there for a certain time period afterwards. Training programs are usually offered in the evenings in order to be convenient for students who have other jobs.
Like most anything, CNA training programs vary greatly in cost and effectiveness, so we urge you to do your research and evaluate options carefully before you commit to a program.
One way to evaluate training programs is by looking at the percent of students who complete the program and the percent who pass the certification exam. High completion and exam passing percentages are commonly taken as a sign of effective programs. Training programs are also required to track the percent of their students who find a job after completing the program. These are all good ways to evaluate programs to avoid making an expensive mistake.
Click here to read more about how to find and evaluate nursing assistant training programs.
The CNA certification process and the CNA certification exam
After you complete your training program, you will be eligible to take the CNA certification exam. The exam has two parts: a written multiple-choice exam, and a skillls demonstration test where you will be required to correctly perform several procedures on a live test subject. Many states use the National Nurse Aide Assessment Program (NNAAP) for their written CNA certification exam.
Don’t worry about passing the CNA exam, because we will help you prepare by showing you what the exam covers and where to find inexpensive practice exams.
Click here to read more about how to prepare for the CNA certification exam.
Develop your long-term healthcare career plan
Before jumping into a CNA training program, many people want to know about their future career options. The CNA experience of providing personal care for people is an excellent background for many other healthcare jobs, as most healthcare jobs involve working directly with patients.
Click here to learn more about CNA healthcare career options.