In Hospital Nursing Assistant Training Programs?

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Specializes in OR.

I recently heard that one of my classmates from New Jersey completed a CNA training program in a hospital back in NJ. The hospital where she worked provided a 2 week classroom orientation and 1 month floor orientation, then hired her to work as a CNA.

I've never heard of anything like this - I'm thinking maybe it's because these types of programs don't exist in Massachusetts, or am I wrong? To my knowledge the only way to get certified as a nursing assistant around here were CC programs, the red cross, or after completion of the first semester of an RN program (which was how I planned to get mine)

Does anyone know if programs like this exist around here in MA? I'm a first year student working towards a BSN in a four year program and won't get my CNA certification for another year and a half, but I'd love to have it sooner!

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Specializes in Psych; Med/Surg; Rehab.

Just like you I've been on the search for free aide training for years and still haven't found the opportunity to get mine for free. The search is hard and I really wish they would offer more opportunities for nursing students trying to get their feet wet.

I've noticed on the Partners Healthcare jobs website that sometimes Newton-Wellesley Hospital (NWH) will sometimes post positions for to train you as a CNA for 6-8 weeks and then hire you to work for them for a minimum amount of time (at least a year). The last time I saw this posted was in January of this year so they might be looking to do it again. Also try calling St. Patrick's Manor (assisted living) in Framingham; they sometimes offer free CNA training in exchange for having you work for them for a certain period of time as well.

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Specializes in OR.

Thank you! I wish they'd advertise these opportunities more.

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Specializes in Psych; Med/Surg; Rehab.

Same here. I really wish Boston, being the medical mecca it is, presented more avenues for getting CNA training for free in any healthcare setting. They are leaving it to us to do the actual research for these opportunities which only adds to our stress as students :-\

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Specializes in Pedi.

Nursing homes sometimes offer this but I've never known a hospital in Boston to offer this training. It's because Boston is the medical mecca that it is that they don't offer these kinds of trainings. They have no need to pay an instructor to teach a class where the students attend tuition free. There is no shortage of CNAs around here. And, FTR, if you are students there is no need to go through official CNA training. Once you've done clinical, most hospitals will hire you into a nurse's aide position.

Honestly, hospitals in Boston don't care about making your lives as students less stressful. That's not a concern to them.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.
Nursing homes sometimes offer this but I've never known a hospital in Boston to offer this training. It's because Boston is the medical mecca that it is that they don't offer these kinds of trainings. They have no need to pay an instructor to teach a class where the students attend tuition free. There is no shortage of CNAs around here. And, FTR, if you are students there is no need to go through official CNA training. Once you've done clinical, most hospitals will hire you into a nurse's aide position.

I attended nursing school in Boston, and my experience looking for a CNA job was the complete opposite. Even with 2 semesters of clinical under my belt, I couldn't get a CNA job without a CNA certificate. Trying to find out how to get one was like pulling teeth, without novacaine, from someone with an extreme fear of dentists.

Anyway, I've only seen free CNA training programs offered by nursing homes and home health agencies, not hospitals.

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Specializes in Pedi.
I attended nursing school in Boston, and my experience looking for a CNA job was the complete opposite. Even with 2 semesters of clinical under my belt, I couldn't get a CNA job without a CNA certificate. Trying to find out how to get one was like pulling teeth, without novacaine, from someone with an extreme fear of dentists.

Anyway, I've only seen free CNA training programs offered by nursing homes and home health agencies, not hospitals.

Interesting, not one single student that I worked with who was in nursing school was actually a CNA. Nor were most of the full-time career aides that we had working for us. It wasn't a requirement. The vast majority of our student aides were Northeastern students on Co-ops but we had students from every nursing program in the city and some outside the city too. No one who I went to nursing school with got certified as a CNA and we all worked at hospitals all over as aides.

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