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Discussion

CNA question?

One of my teachers said during Fundamentals class that passing the class means your are trained to be a Patient Care Tech. It seems like PCT and CNA are interchangeable to some people. I have passed Fundamentals of Nursing and live in Alabama. I'm trying to get a job as a PCT or CNA while in nursing school but I don't know if I should apply for CNA positions that require you to be "certified". Is there any way I can become a "certified" nursing assistant without having to take a CNA course? Is there a national or state test I can take?

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    Speak with your Fundamentals instructor. Once we completed that course we were given paper work where we could apply to take our state's exam for CNA.

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    Most hospitals will allow nursing students who have completed clinical rotations to work as an NA without certification. The hospital I did it at called us "SNAs"- student nurses' aide. Most of the hospitals in my city call them PCAs, PCTs, clinical assistants or something of the sort. On my floor, we hire nursing students regularly into the aide role- none of them are certified.

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    At my hospital, we call them Student Nurse Externs. They have to have completed their first round of clinicals in a hospital to be qualified and are not CNA. However, I belive in my state (IN) after completing a first round of clinicals you can challenge the CNA exam.

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    My understanding is that (at least here in CA) once you've done the fundamentals class you can challenge the CNA exam. If you're going to go that route (or even can in AL) see if you can get a nurse assistant training book & thumb through it. Heard some "interesting" stories from one of our instructors on that topic - some challengers couldn't get past hand washing, let alone anything more complicated.

    While it's possible (again, here in CA) to get a gig without the magic (smirk) letters "CNA" after your name, having the certification certainly doesn't hurt especially in the current job market. Worth it, IMO. YMMV.

    ----- Dave

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