CNA Certification
What do you mean by CNA Certification? Why Certification is essential for working in health care facilities? A CNA Certification is awarded to a candidate when, he/she completes state and federal approved accredited nurse aide training program and passes the state Certification exam. The earning of certification offers a title of certified to a Nurse Aide, allowing legal permission to work in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, adult care centers, travel nurse, hospice, nursing homes, long term care facility, mental care centers or as a home health aide throughout out United States of America.
In America, the congress passed Legislation, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA-87), which mandated every state to initiate and approve all CNA Certification programs, Certified Nurse Aide Certification Exam and Nurse Aide Registry. The necessity for such mandates was felt for offering safe, quality and competent nursing care to ailing patients, society and public.
The basic prerequisite to obtain Certified Nurse Assistant Certification is as follows:
- Complete state and federal OBRA -87 required 75 Hours Certification program, consisting of classroom theoretical course instruction and clinical hands-on training.
- Appear for the state CNA exam, after completion of the program.
- Pass the test and earn Certification or get certified as CNA.
- Get Registered with state Nurse Aide Registry
CNA Certification Program:
Certified Nurse Aide training program features, two components, Classroom instruction and clinical experience and must have duration of at least 75 hours as mandated by OBRA.
During classroom learning, a student is instructed on Basic nursing and clinical skills, Personal Care Skills, care of ageing patients, ways to offer them mental and emotional supports, Communication and Interpersonal skills and body anatomy. They also learn about safety and emergency procedures, Restorative care, CPR, Infection control, Use of medical terminology and Nutrition.
The successful completion of the program allows a student to sit for the Certification exam of respective state. The exam may be administered by state authorized department or their partnered agency, such as Prometric, Ivy Tech College, Pearson VUE or Headmaster.
CNA Certification Test
Certification test have two segments including, a) Written Test and b) Skill Performance test. The written test consists of multi choice theoretical questions based on the subjects, instructed during the classroom learning. The Clinical demonstration portion of the test requires a student to perform 5 skills, selected from 25 skills learned during the clinical hand-on training. The skill demonstration must be completed on a on a live model/dummy.
The passing of both tests earns a student CNA Certification and gets them listed with respective state Nurse Aide Registry and they are allowed to work in numerous health care centers in the certified state.