Find Certified Nursing Aide Schools: C.N.A. School Directory

Senior caregivers who are not yet Certified Nursing Aides may want to consider becoming one.  Why?  Certified Nursing Aides who are also sometimes called Certified Nursing Assistants or C.N.A.'s for short, are a required part of the staffing mix at nursing homes, assisted living communities and hospitals.  In order to be licensed to provide hands-on care, which all of these types of facilities provide, they must maintain a minimum level of C.N.A.'s based on the number of people they are caring for at any given time.

What does this mean?  It means that the law requires C.N.A.'s to be hired.  Because C.N.A.'s are a must, you are guaranteed on-going employment once you become one.

Long-term care insurance policies, which pay for senior caregiving services, also sometimes require that caregivers working in the home have a valid certificate as a C.N.A.  This is because they want to insure a minimum skill level and quality of care delivered.

Each state’s Department of Health manages the certification and licensing guidelines for health care workers.  All states require certification for nursing aides and some states offer additional certification programs for home health aides and personal care assistants.

You may take Caregiverlist's FREE Sample Nursing Aide test to learn about some of the skills nursing aides are taught.  As the state regulates the certification process, they also require any schools offering the programs to meet their training requirements.  You may find C.N.A. schools in your area, review their admission requirements and costs and contact their admissions counselor to learn when classes start.

Some communities offer scholoarships and tuition assistance programs for nursing aide classes.  Talk to the admissions officer for the school to find out about ways to pay for your classes.  In addition, sometimes employers will pay for your C.N.A. classes.

Certified Nursing Aide schools usually offer 75 to 100 hours of training and this will include field work where you will work with C.N.A.'s in a clinical setting such as a hospital or nursing home.

Once you have completed a C.N.A. program, you take the state exam to obtain your official Certified Nursing Aide status and then you must work a certain number of hours each year in order to renew your certificate.  If you do not yet have any experience as a caregiver, apply for a companion caregiving job and also volunteer in local community programs to gain experience.