The Importance Of Nursing Assistant Certification

You have not finished your nursing assistant training and think that you should be able to find a job, but you should first get your nursing assistant certification before you apply anywhere. 

In this post, we will be looking at the nursing assistant certification exam and why this certification is not only recommended but vital to your employment.

 

Nursing Assistant Certification Prerequisites

Before you can qualify to take the nursing assistant certification exam, you will need to enroll and pass a nursing assistant program. Your training can be completed through any accredited program such as online, community colleges, vocational or technical schools and even some healthcare facilities like nursing homes, assisted living homes or the American Red Cross (which offers free CNA classes, to name a few. Your training program will take upwards of a year including the required clinical practicum of trailing a certified nursing assistant in an on the job training. The combination of learning techniques will be a major help when it comes time to take the nursing assistant certification exam which you will need to start your career.

 

Exam for Certification of Nursing Assistants

The nurse assistant certification exam is divided in to two sections, the written and the clinical demonstration. The written portion of the exam is normally composed of multiple choice questions covering most of the key information learned during the training program. It is to prove to the staff that you have a good comprehension and memory skills. The clinical demonstration is the second part of the exam which will allow you to show your hands-on competency by completing five randomly selected tasks that are common for nursing assistants.

It is important to know that you must pass both the written and clinical portions of the nursing assistant certification exam in order to be employed. You may retake the exam up to three times before needing to go back to a training program. Also, completion of the exam must be done within two years of graduation or, once again, you would need to go back to a training program.

 

The Importance of Nursing Assistant Certification

Once you have successfully met the examination requirements, your name will join the certified nursing assistant register. The CNA register is kept by your states Board of Nursing and will be a record of your employment as a certified nursing assistant including the places you have worked, any problems of note, your certification status and anything else that is needed for public safety. The major benefit would be that potential employers can look at your status in the CNA registry while making decisions on employment. So you can see, nursing assistant certification is a necessary component to being gainfully employed and letting others know that you have the skills and knowledge to get the job done.