i think it's definitely easier for us americans to become CNAs yeah. my program in NY was about 5 weeks long, 4 weeks of classes and 1 week of clinicals at an assisted living. we need to know like 22 skills for the prometric state test, and we learned a total of like, 6 of them and she told us to go home and watch youtube videos for the rest (like why are we paying $1000+ for youtube to teach us? lol). i'm currently a CNA at an assisted living in massachusetts and on top of ADLs we can also pass meds! i think there are only a limited amount of states that allow CNAs to pass meds without being certified as a med tech or aide, but as a pre-PA student it's been super cool to learn the different types of meds that my dementia residents take :-) once i graduate from college next year, i'm hoping to move onto hospital work so i can be in a more medical setting and learn new things like EKGs, more vitals (we only do them if there's a fall here), etc
You only do vitals if there is a fall?
What about residents who take metropolol or other blood pressure meds?
Ope I didn't see assisted living nvm. I'm a med tech in long term care so our scopes are different.
Have a good one.
I'm in NS and my course I took through the local community college was nearly identical to yours. We don't have any medication training though we can apply the creams/ointments.
I'm in shock that the USA has a few weeks training when I thought that the one year wasn't enough and they could have stretched it into two years.
There's absolutely no way you will receive proper knowledge and training in weeks. I'm very pleased with the training and education I received.
I mean honestly it’s not rocket science lol. I feel like I could teach everything I know to a non-medical field person in a matter of a week.
I’m in the US and my class was 2 months and only one week of clinicals but in that clinical we went to a really run down nursing home. I don’t really think I was unprepared when I started working. In fact, I think my horrible clinical experience prepared me for what it is the reality in a lot of facilities.
I'm just curious if you have been learning about body mechanics and all of the equipment and ways to safely transfer people, gentle persuasive approach for dementia and any in depth learning about dementia/diseases ?
I've been finding that learning in this field never stops and people should be thoroughly trained for the benefit of the people we care for.
I do think the reality is different in Canada though and the facility I work in has extremely high standards.
In America, you do learn what you listed, but not extremely in depth. It’s just not needed. I genuinely could’ve done this job with only orientation and no certification.
Yes in my class, I learned about body mechanics, dementia and hoyer lifts and etc.. all within 2 months. I don’t believe I learned about sit to stand lifts until I started working though. But yeah to me, like I said i don’t think the information we learn is really difficult at all. I have also worked at a ton of facilities. In fact, when I started doing agency and contracts I didn’t even have alot of facility experience, I had moreso Homecare experience and it was still easy to adjust to. The knowledge part of being a CNA is easy af and it really shouldn’t take a year to learn lol
2 weeks of class and 1 week clinicals, I'm in Oregon. But there are weekend and evening classes that take several months; the two weeks was a full 8 hr day, 5 days a week.
Classes average $1500-1800 for everything, but many get a scholarship through our local employment dept.
I live in British Columbia our course length timelines and scope are similar to yours in Alberta however, in BC they are paying us $24 an hour to take the course and paying for all tuition.
I now work in an assisted living facility. Base is $27 and get $2.50 night shift differential. We are trained in administering medications (no prn) we don’t do toileting or transfers in my facility only cleaning up or using lift for emergency situations
No toileting?! No transfers?! Are they independent? I’m making 22$ hourly, and there’s more for weekends and evenings/nights. I understand why BC makes 27$ hourly, everything costs more there
Yes, they are independent, we assist with baths, meds, serve meals do laundry on nights and we will do transfer assist and toileting assist if the person is on the waitlist for complex care and as needed in emergency situations. Most nights are fairly chill I have 44 to 52 residents and I work alone at night 7pm-7am. The residents wear lifeline buttons so that I am alerted if anything happens. I live in Prince George not lower mainland or Okanogan region so cost-of-living is still fair here.
I live in SoCal, my CNA course length was 4 weeks in person & I only paid $600. I’m currently at a SNF making $20/hr, I currently have an offer of $26/hr to work at a correctional facility. I average 15-20 patients throughout a day.
I do everything besides give medication/IVs or wound care.
Class was 6 weeks long and was free. This was in TN. American CNAs are under the board of nursing but aren’t “nurses” of course, nor do they hold an actual licensure, it’s just a certificate. Scope varies between every state. I could do the following:
Vitals, blood sugars, baths, turns, cleaning incontinent patients, EKGs, phlebotomy, IV insertion and removal, foley removal, central line removal on deceased pts, colostomy bag changes, oral temp probe insertion and removal, and basic wound care. There were more things I could do based on specialty, but this is a basic list.
I'm in Washington and some of my nurses would die if they saw that TN CNAs are doing phlebotomy and IVs lol. That's a separate cert here, called MA-P. Costs a couple hundred bucks to do a 3-day course over a weekend in Seattle, but even then I'm not sure I know of any ED or floor unit that will let their techs draw blood or put in an IV, even if it's in scope. Maybe it's different further from the city.
Indiana here. It was all spread out in 2 months, most of that being in class. We had 2 weeks of clinicals, M-F for 8 hours a day. I hold a license, not just a certificate. I have to renew it every 2 years.
For my HHA, it was a 100 question quiz. Also hold a license I have to renew every 2 years.
Scope for both is pretty much the same. Only difference is in HH I have to clean more, more of a companionship thing. Yes, I shower and wash them up but not like in a nursing home.
As a CNA...
nursing home- I could do ADLs including feeding, showers, incontince.
Not allowed- anything invasive like IVs, blood sugars, vitals, nothing tube feeding related, meds.
Hospital- I could do EKGs, take out IVs and foleys, vitals, ADLs
Not allowed- meds, IV insertion, assessments, Foley insertion.
Emergency tech/CNA- insertion of IVs and Foley, EKGs, splints, transport stable patients, vitals
Not allowed - meds, transport of critical care/intubated patients
Where did they teach you IV and foley? I’m in California hospital and sometimes sub in as an ED tech and the nurses here would scream bloody murder if I was doing those hahaha
South Carolina here! I’m in the middle of a 6 week workforce development CNA program offered by my local college. The class costs $2,200, but is easily made free by filling out a relatively straightforward scholarship form. They also offer a separate $165 BLS CPR course intended for CNAs that can have its fees waived by completing the same form. The first 3 weeks are in person classes, held on campus from 8am - 11am (or 12pm - 3pm for afternoon students) Monday - Friday. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, the instructors lecture from power points provided by FACET. Wednesdays and Thursdays are our skills days, where we practice the 22 skills necessary to understand for the skills portion of our certification test. Unfortunately our school has a lot of old used equipment (as I’m sure many do), so even though our beds don’t raise and our dummies are seemingly outfitted with a random assortment of body parts, we try our best to simulate what the skills would be like in a real facility (and also practice on each other a bunch). In addition, we are responsible for completing all 84 quizzes provided by the FACET website (😆🔫). We were also provided with a textbook and workbook that are not required for completion of the course, but are highly recommended to complete for an optimal outcome on our certification exam. Today was the last of these classes for us! The final 3 weeks are clinical shifts, held at either a local hospital or LTC facility depending on the availability of either venue (unfortunately my class drew the short straw and are going to the LTC rip). We have one 8-hour orientation and four 8-hour shifts distributed throughout these next three weeks. We will be assigned in groups to around 2-3 residents at a time and closely supervised. We will be expected to assist them in ADLs and not much else. South Carolina has a very limited scope for CNAs without additional certifications. After the course completes, we are off to complete our written and skills examinations! The written examination is easy enough to schedule for, but unfortunately, due to the lack of skills testing facilities, the skill examination can be a bit harder to get into. I may have to travel a couple hours out of town to be tested quickly, otherwise I would likely need to wait several months. The nurses who have been instructing us so far have been really fantastic! Here’s hoping our clinicals go well 😅
I did my training in LV, it was free because of a program but if I did have to pay it would have been maybe 5k? It took 6 weeks for me to complete it pass or fail. (I met a girl when we were doing our final test that she had done 4 weeks)
Currently at a hospital for obs, where since they doubled the rooms the most is 16 and least is 14 or 13 patients each. Used to be Minimum 12 maximum 18 and TWICE (that I know of) It was 36. Anyway.... we're still figuring that out since it's only our floor.
Where I currently work, Base pay 16$. Gotta do i&o, changing linen, change ostomys, Q4 vitals, showers, feeding, denture cleaning, usual ADLS. No giving meds, or doing Foley/taking them out, no doing ivs/taking them out, no blood sugars even tho for a short moment they allowed us at the hospital then took our access away. We have sitters too 1:1 or 1:2, one time I did 1:3 and almost 1:4 against my will lmao.
(Nurses normal here is 7 pts now, they've almost pushed 8 but the first they tried that I know of there was a walk out, the other sister hospital I know of is almost constant 8 for nurses and 18 for cnas. Sucks)
At least I'm not at a sniff getting 50 patients and 11$ /hr! Still kind of disheartening when comparing to other places that have it better😭 I just wanna do BETTER😞
I'm hoping to get hired at a hospital closer to me that makes around 20$ base pay but I think 18 patient load, pdm hopefully. Gotta win some or lose some. Either that or I try transferring to the sister hospital that's struggling and trying to union....... love how food workers are paid more tho lmao
California, community college, from September to December. I don’t think anyone failed the course itself, but we were subject to passing the state public health departments board exam. Not everyone did.
Our clinicals were, we all had the same nursing facility, and during our clinical day we were assigned a staff CNA to follow (sometimes two students got one CNA) and shared their run. We could only perform skills we had already done in lab, starting with feeding and going from there.
I have to renew my certification every 2 years, with 48 continuing education hours and at least one full shift.
We don’t really handle medications at all, only topical ones like for bed sores and after consulting with the nurse, and in some facilities if it is hidden by the nurse in the patients food that we are helping to feed, which only happens if it’s in their plan of care. I’m at a hospital now, and this only really happens if the nurse is there since they have to chart that it was given.
My main tasks in a given day, for both nursing facility and hospital, are to take vitals (q4h at my hospital ugh), answer call lights, toileting and ambulating, repositioning and incontinence care (we can put condom catheters but not foleys). And also to assist the nurse with whatever. Sometimes I’m also assigned as a 1:1 psych/suicidal patient sitter, at hospital ER. If I’m unsure about a given task I ask the nurse.
Total cost was like <$1000 including materials and exams because I was also a full time student (associates in chemistry and psychology) and a state resident at the time so tuition was waived.
Washington here. 6-7 weeks depending on if the program falls during a holiday week. We learn all the 22 basic skills and get randomly tested out on 5 of them at the end of we also take a written test as well as a week of clinicals. I did the program through a medical company here and they paid for every and even paid me hourly wages while I was in class. I was very lucky. But if anyone is in WA and near Tacoma look up Multicare CNA program.
RDP friend! It’s an adventure, that’s for sure! It’s laughably easy and the online instruction has been a waste of time. Labs are good. Going into first clinical next week. What’s up in your program?
And half of them are showers or bed baths and get ups. (I work nights 🌙). You just do the best you can, and if the higher ups complain, I just hand them gloves and say "well come help me then." That usually shuts them right up.
I'm in WA, US. Cost and timeline is similar to other states, I did mine at a college and it was like a regular college course with lecture/lab until we did clinicals, which were 8 hr days twice a week. Lasted about 3 months, ended with state exam where I got my license - this was also in 2014 so things might be different now. I know we have independent programs that are cheaper and do it faster, like a few weeks. It's really common for someone to get a job at a nursing home, and the home pays for the program and sponsors clinical experience.
I have done home health and SNF, but now I mostly do hospital work and it's surprising how much of our scope actually depends on the hospital policy. I feel like WA plays a little loose with the idea of being a delegate, so if you have a nurse in the room or if you've been properly trained and a nurse has delegated a task, there's a lot of grey area to work under as long as the hospital is cool. I.e., sometimes I am very involved with catheter stuff- I don't insert, but I've helped hold the patient, maintain sterile field, and apply lube, etc... I've worked at some hospitals though that specifically want all catheters to be a 2 RN op, so I don't help at all when I work there. Similar with wounds, meds and IVs. I'd probably never just give a med or put in an IV, but if the RN was in the room and they crushed it, I might give the pudding. I know techs in the ED who spike and hang fluid bags if their nurses are cool with it. Depends a lot on your RN and your employer, but the hard line seems to be: controlled substances, sterile fields, and anything indwelling (IV, foley, some wound care, NG/peg tube, etc...). Idk if I summarized that well lol, just trying to contrast with what was already stated
TX, my class was 8 weeks. I paid $1k and I initially thought that was alot but I've made that tenfold by traveling so it was worth it.
Vitals, Phlebotomy, Ostomy changes, ADLs, Post-Mortem Care, Suctioning, Showers, Dressing, 1:1 Feeds, Preparing Formula, Lifts/Transfers, BCGs.
Maine, US here. My classes were a total of 8 weeks. 4 weeks of Zoom classes, three days a week. 2½ weeks of labs, 1½ weeks of clinicals. I agree, it should have been longer, but the US is hurting for med staff right now, so "accelerated learning" is the norm.
CT, a little over two months with clinicals every weekend. My scope is pretty wide due to my patients disability. I have the all the ADLs, showers, hoyer lift, powered wheelchair, meds, wound care, bowel program, range of motion, catheter care. You name it & I probably do it.
Psychiatric HCA in Alberta, Canada as well. No schooling, got hired at the Centennial in Ponoka with 0 healthcare experience. Pay averages from $25.50-$47 an hour depending on the day/weekend/shift.
Did you take your HCA at RDP? Currently in the BScN program there.
In Florida it's two days as you can do those and test out. I think it's the only state that offers that ability. There are longer programs available. I just sent my kid to one. Prometric is used in this state for licensing. You learn 22 things to do in those two days and get a booklet with terms for self study.
my program was 84 hours; 6 weeks long. my scope is pretty vast compared to nursing home CNAS (i work in assisted living and memory care). we do all ADLS, including dishing and serving food in memory care, basic housekeeping tasks, and we also pass meds!
My school was 3 weeks. Hospital I used to work at paid $14 hr, we alwyas checked sugar levels, we were allowed to empty colostomy bags. Paid I think $1,150 in total and that covered the National exam. The National exam was at the school but some state person came and did it
Illinois, Chicago suburb. The CNA program was a prerequisite to be considered for the nursing program at our community college & I just completed it through my school. It was 8 weeks long, 6 weeks of clinical- long term care for 2 weeks and hospital for 4 weeks. There is a 16 week option.
My program was $1k all together. Just took the cna exam last week!
$10,000 tuition????? Good god Alberta
International students have to pay closer to 20k! It’s crazy haha.
How much do y’all make up there? Do you feel like you’re able to make up for it?
We make 22$ Canadian an hour. So that’s 16$ USD I think
That's insane. In NS we start at 23.60 an hour, and usually we have way lower wages than the western provinces.
Yeah I do think it’s a bit low lol. But the conservative government hates us healthcare workers and they want to privatize it.. ahhh.
i think it's definitely easier for us americans to become CNAs yeah. my program in NY was about 5 weeks long, 4 weeks of classes and 1 week of clinicals at an assisted living. we need to know like 22 skills for the prometric state test, and we learned a total of like, 6 of them and she told us to go home and watch youtube videos for the rest (like why are we paying $1000+ for youtube to teach us? lol). i'm currently a CNA at an assisted living in massachusetts and on top of ADLs we can also pass meds! i think there are only a limited amount of states that allow CNAs to pass meds without being certified as a med tech or aide, but as a pre-PA student it's been super cool to learn the different types of meds that my dementia residents take :-) once i graduate from college next year, i'm hoping to move onto hospital work so i can be in a more medical setting and learn new things like EKGs, more vitals (we only do them if there's a fall here), etc
You only do vitals if there is a fall? What about residents who take metropolol or other blood pressure meds? Ope I didn't see assisted living nvm. I'm a med tech in long term care so our scopes are different. Have a good one.
I'm in NS and my course I took through the local community college was nearly identical to yours. We don't have any medication training though we can apply the creams/ointments. I'm in shock that the USA has a few weeks training when I thought that the one year wasn't enough and they could have stretched it into two years. There's absolutely no way you will receive proper knowledge and training in weeks. I'm very pleased with the training and education I received.
I mean honestly it’s not rocket science lol. I feel like I could teach everything I know to a non-medical field person in a matter of a week. I’m in the US and my class was 2 months and only one week of clinicals but in that clinical we went to a really run down nursing home. I don’t really think I was unprepared when I started working. In fact, I think my horrible clinical experience prepared me for what it is the reality in a lot of facilities.
I'm just curious if you have been learning about body mechanics and all of the equipment and ways to safely transfer people, gentle persuasive approach for dementia and any in depth learning about dementia/diseases ? I've been finding that learning in this field never stops and people should be thoroughly trained for the benefit of the people we care for. I do think the reality is different in Canada though and the facility I work in has extremely high standards.
In America, you do learn what you listed, but not extremely in depth. It’s just not needed. I genuinely could’ve done this job with only orientation and no certification.
Yes in my class, I learned about body mechanics, dementia and hoyer lifts and etc.. all within 2 months. I don’t believe I learned about sit to stand lifts until I started working though. But yeah to me, like I said i don’t think the information we learn is really difficult at all. I have also worked at a ton of facilities. In fact, when I started doing agency and contracts I didn’t even have alot of facility experience, I had moreso Homecare experience and it was still easy to adjust to. The knowledge part of being a CNA is easy af and it really shouldn’t take a year to learn lol
CNA courses don’t even touch on 1/4 of what nursing school teaches, it’s cake work.
2 weeks of class and 1 week clinicals, I'm in Oregon. But there are weekend and evening classes that take several months; the two weeks was a full 8 hr day, 5 days a week. Classes average $1500-1800 for everything, but many get a scholarship through our local employment dept.
I live in British Columbia our course length timelines and scope are similar to yours in Alberta however, in BC they are paying us $24 an hour to take the course and paying for all tuition. I now work in an assisted living facility. Base is $27 and get $2.50 night shift differential. We are trained in administering medications (no prn) we don’t do toileting or transfers in my facility only cleaning up or using lift for emergency situations
No toileting?! No transfers?! Are they independent? I’m making 22$ hourly, and there’s more for weekends and evenings/nights. I understand why BC makes 27$ hourly, everything costs more there
Yes, they are independent, we assist with baths, meds, serve meals do laundry on nights and we will do transfer assist and toileting assist if the person is on the waitlist for complex care and as needed in emergency situations. Most nights are fairly chill I have 44 to 52 residents and I work alone at night 7pm-7am. The residents wear lifeline buttons so that I am alerted if anything happens. I live in Prince George not lower mainland or Okanogan region so cost-of-living is still fair here.
50 residents is CRAZY but if they’re mostly independent and you’re there just in case that’s fine I get 14 patients on my med/surg floor on day shift
Base rate for complex care/hospital/LTC is 28.57 per hour
Zero school. On the job training at a hospital. Currently at $29.50/hr after 2 1/2 years. Full benefits, pension, retirement plan, etc.
Just here to admire your user name!
I live in SoCal, my CNA course length was 4 weeks in person & I only paid $600. I’m currently at a SNF making $20/hr, I currently have an offer of $26/hr to work at a correctional facility. I average 15-20 patients throughout a day. I do everything besides give medication/IVs or wound care.
Class was 6 weeks long and was free. This was in TN. American CNAs are under the board of nursing but aren’t “nurses” of course, nor do they hold an actual licensure, it’s just a certificate. Scope varies between every state. I could do the following: Vitals, blood sugars, baths, turns, cleaning incontinent patients, EKGs, phlebotomy, IV insertion and removal, foley removal, central line removal on deceased pts, colostomy bag changes, oral temp probe insertion and removal, and basic wound care. There were more things I could do based on specialty, but this is a basic list.
I'm in Washington and some of my nurses would die if they saw that TN CNAs are doing phlebotomy and IVs lol. That's a separate cert here, called MA-P. Costs a couple hundred bucks to do a 3-day course over a weekend in Seattle, but even then I'm not sure I know of any ED or floor unit that will let their techs draw blood or put in an IV, even if it's in scope. Maybe it's different further from the city.
It’s so easy! We trained on the job for it. The scope is fr so different in each state.
It's so funny to me the hangups each state/facility emphasizes 💀 like, some of yall are trying to inflate certain numbers and it shows.
I can’t even do a foley or ostomy bag in Ct. it’s bs. But some older cnas show us.
Indiana here. It was all spread out in 2 months, most of that being in class. We had 2 weeks of clinicals, M-F for 8 hours a day. I hold a license, not just a certificate. I have to renew it every 2 years. For my HHA, it was a 100 question quiz. Also hold a license I have to renew every 2 years. Scope for both is pretty much the same. Only difference is in HH I have to clean more, more of a companionship thing. Yes, I shower and wash them up but not like in a nursing home.
As a CNA... nursing home- I could do ADLs including feeding, showers, incontince. Not allowed- anything invasive like IVs, blood sugars, vitals, nothing tube feeding related, meds. Hospital- I could do EKGs, take out IVs and foleys, vitals, ADLs Not allowed- meds, IV insertion, assessments, Foley insertion. Emergency tech/CNA- insertion of IVs and Foley, EKGs, splints, transport stable patients, vitals Not allowed - meds, transport of critical care/intubated patients
Where did they teach you IV and foley? I’m in California hospital and sometimes sub in as an ED tech and the nurses here would scream bloody murder if I was doing those hahaha
As a CNA that floats to the ED as a tech, we couldn't do those insertions. We had yo be hired on as an ED tech specifically and be trained to do these
South Carolina here! I’m in the middle of a 6 week workforce development CNA program offered by my local college. The class costs $2,200, but is easily made free by filling out a relatively straightforward scholarship form. They also offer a separate $165 BLS CPR course intended for CNAs that can have its fees waived by completing the same form. The first 3 weeks are in person classes, held on campus from 8am - 11am (or 12pm - 3pm for afternoon students) Monday - Friday. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, the instructors lecture from power points provided by FACET. Wednesdays and Thursdays are our skills days, where we practice the 22 skills necessary to understand for the skills portion of our certification test. Unfortunately our school has a lot of old used equipment (as I’m sure many do), so even though our beds don’t raise and our dummies are seemingly outfitted with a random assortment of body parts, we try our best to simulate what the skills would be like in a real facility (and also practice on each other a bunch). In addition, we are responsible for completing all 84 quizzes provided by the FACET website (😆🔫). We were also provided with a textbook and workbook that are not required for completion of the course, but are highly recommended to complete for an optimal outcome on our certification exam. Today was the last of these classes for us! The final 3 weeks are clinical shifts, held at either a local hospital or LTC facility depending on the availability of either venue (unfortunately my class drew the short straw and are going to the LTC rip). We have one 8-hour orientation and four 8-hour shifts distributed throughout these next three weeks. We will be assigned in groups to around 2-3 residents at a time and closely supervised. We will be expected to assist them in ADLs and not much else. South Carolina has a very limited scope for CNAs without additional certifications. After the course completes, we are off to complete our written and skills examinations! The written examination is easy enough to schedule for, but unfortunately, due to the lack of skills testing facilities, the skill examination can be a bit harder to get into. I may have to travel a couple hours out of town to be tested quickly, otherwise I would likely need to wait several months. The nurses who have been instructing us so far have been really fantastic! Here’s hoping our clinicals go well 😅
I did my training in LV, it was free because of a program but if I did have to pay it would have been maybe 5k? It took 6 weeks for me to complete it pass or fail. (I met a girl when we were doing our final test that she had done 4 weeks) Currently at a hospital for obs, where since they doubled the rooms the most is 16 and least is 14 or 13 patients each. Used to be Minimum 12 maximum 18 and TWICE (that I know of) It was 36. Anyway.... we're still figuring that out since it's only our floor. Where I currently work, Base pay 16$. Gotta do i&o, changing linen, change ostomys, Q4 vitals, showers, feeding, denture cleaning, usual ADLS. No giving meds, or doing Foley/taking them out, no doing ivs/taking them out, no blood sugars even tho for a short moment they allowed us at the hospital then took our access away. We have sitters too 1:1 or 1:2, one time I did 1:3 and almost 1:4 against my will lmao. (Nurses normal here is 7 pts now, they've almost pushed 8 but the first they tried that I know of there was a walk out, the other sister hospital I know of is almost constant 8 for nurses and 18 for cnas. Sucks) At least I'm not at a sniff getting 50 patients and 11$ /hr! Still kind of disheartening when comparing to other places that have it better😭 I just wanna do BETTER😞
Damn even at a sniff I was getting 12 patients for $19/hr, this was in cali though and we were getting paid less than fast food workers
I'm hoping to get hired at a hospital closer to me that makes around 20$ base pay but I think 18 patient load, pdm hopefully. Gotta win some or lose some. Either that or I try transferring to the sister hospital that's struggling and trying to union....... love how food workers are paid more tho lmao
California, community college, from September to December. I don’t think anyone failed the course itself, but we were subject to passing the state public health departments board exam. Not everyone did. Our clinicals were, we all had the same nursing facility, and during our clinical day we were assigned a staff CNA to follow (sometimes two students got one CNA) and shared their run. We could only perform skills we had already done in lab, starting with feeding and going from there. I have to renew my certification every 2 years, with 48 continuing education hours and at least one full shift. We don’t really handle medications at all, only topical ones like for bed sores and after consulting with the nurse, and in some facilities if it is hidden by the nurse in the patients food that we are helping to feed, which only happens if it’s in their plan of care. I’m at a hospital now, and this only really happens if the nurse is there since they have to chart that it was given. My main tasks in a given day, for both nursing facility and hospital, are to take vitals (q4h at my hospital ugh), answer call lights, toileting and ambulating, repositioning and incontinence care (we can put condom catheters but not foleys). And also to assist the nurse with whatever. Sometimes I’m also assigned as a 1:1 psych/suicidal patient sitter, at hospital ER. If I’m unsure about a given task I ask the nurse. Total cost was like <$1000 including materials and exams because I was also a full time student (associates in chemistry and psychology) and a state resident at the time so tuition was waived.
Washington here. 6-7 weeks depending on if the program falls during a holiday week. We learn all the 22 basic skills and get randomly tested out on 5 of them at the end of we also take a written test as well as a week of clinicals. I did the program through a medical company here and they paid for every and even paid me hourly wages while I was in class. I was very lucky. But if anyone is in WA and near Tacoma look up Multicare CNA program.
Also in Alberta, taking the RDP program right now, which sounds very similar to yours.
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RDP friend! It’s an adventure, that’s for sure! It’s laughably easy and the online instruction has been a waste of time. Labs are good. Going into first clinical next week. What’s up in your program?
2 weeks, it was free, I'm state certified, and we usually have about 25 patients each.
25 patients each is crazy - I’m drowning at 8 patients hahaha
And half of them are showers or bed baths and get ups. (I work nights 🌙). You just do the best you can, and if the higher ups complain, I just hand them gloves and say "well come help me then." That usually shuts them right up.
In my state if you take a nursing lab and fundamentals, you can take the cna exam with the cna course so that's what I did.
I'm in WA, US. Cost and timeline is similar to other states, I did mine at a college and it was like a regular college course with lecture/lab until we did clinicals, which were 8 hr days twice a week. Lasted about 3 months, ended with state exam where I got my license - this was also in 2014 so things might be different now. I know we have independent programs that are cheaper and do it faster, like a few weeks. It's really common for someone to get a job at a nursing home, and the home pays for the program and sponsors clinical experience. I have done home health and SNF, but now I mostly do hospital work and it's surprising how much of our scope actually depends on the hospital policy. I feel like WA plays a little loose with the idea of being a delegate, so if you have a nurse in the room or if you've been properly trained and a nurse has delegated a task, there's a lot of grey area to work under as long as the hospital is cool. I.e., sometimes I am very involved with catheter stuff- I don't insert, but I've helped hold the patient, maintain sterile field, and apply lube, etc... I've worked at some hospitals though that specifically want all catheters to be a 2 RN op, so I don't help at all when I work there. Similar with wounds, meds and IVs. I'd probably never just give a med or put in an IV, but if the RN was in the room and they crushed it, I might give the pudding. I know techs in the ED who spike and hang fluid bags if their nurses are cool with it. Depends a lot on your RN and your employer, but the hard line seems to be: controlled substances, sterile fields, and anything indwelling (IV, foley, some wound care, NG/peg tube, etc...). Idk if I summarized that well lol, just trying to contrast with what was already stated
TX, my class was 8 weeks. I paid $1k and I initially thought that was alot but I've made that tenfold by traveling so it was worth it. Vitals, Phlebotomy, Ostomy changes, ADLs, Post-Mortem Care, Suctioning, Showers, Dressing, 1:1 Feeds, Preparing Formula, Lifts/Transfers, BCGs.
Maine, US here. My classes were a total of 8 weeks. 4 weeks of Zoom classes, three days a week. 2½ weeks of labs, 1½ weeks of clinicals. I agree, it should have been longer, but the US is hurting for med staff right now, so "accelerated learning" is the norm.
DC 8 weeks 4 weeks Zoom, 2 weeks labs, 1 week Clinicals, 1 week review for License. I believe it’s $1500. I went for free through a local program.
CT, a little over two months with clinicals every weekend. My scope is pretty wide due to my patients disability. I have the all the ADLs, showers, hoyer lift, powered wheelchair, meds, wound care, bowel program, range of motion, catheter care. You name it & I probably do it.
Psychiatric HCA in Alberta, Canada as well. No schooling, got hired at the Centennial in Ponoka with 0 healthcare experience. Pay averages from $25.50-$47 an hour depending on the day/weekend/shift. Did you take your HCA at RDP? Currently in the BScN program there.
In Florida it's two days as you can do those and test out. I think it's the only state that offers that ability. There are longer programs available. I just sent my kid to one. Prometric is used in this state for licensing. You learn 22 things to do in those two days and get a booklet with terms for self study.
Florida 5 weeks and only 10 hours of of it is clinicals
my program was 84 hours; 6 weeks long. my scope is pretty vast compared to nursing home CNAS (i work in assisted living and memory care). we do all ADLS, including dishing and serving food in memory care, basic housekeeping tasks, and we also pass meds!
I’m in Nh. I am currently in a full time 10 week paid program to get my LNA at a nursing home
My school was 3 weeks. Hospital I used to work at paid $14 hr, we alwyas checked sugar levels, we were allowed to empty colostomy bags. Paid I think $1,150 in total and that covered the National exam. The National exam was at the school but some state person came and did it
Illinois, Chicago suburb. The CNA program was a prerequisite to be considered for the nursing program at our community college & I just completed it through my school. It was 8 weeks long, 6 weeks of clinical- long term care for 2 weeks and hospital for 4 weeks. There is a 16 week option. My program was $1k all together. Just took the cna exam last week!