Personal Care Training for CNA?

[NurseNotRatched, ADN, BSN, CNA]

Ok, I had been desperate to get my foot in the door with a Nurse Aide course. I went to a couple of local community colleges. The first one had open registration beginning at 8:30AM. I called myself getting there pretty early only to find a line extending outside of the building. As it turned out, 350 showed up for 96 spots. I tried the other community college and they had spots available, however it would require class/clinicals from 7:30AM-4:00PM EVERY Saturday and Sunday for 2 months in addition to night classes two days a week from 6-10pm. This presents a problem because I have 2 small children and a husband that works most weekends, and also is in the Army reserve.

I was flipping through the classified ads of a newspaper when I saw a home health agency that offered a Personal Care training course ($349 for a month long class that meets 4x per week for 5 hours each evenings/2 week class/2 week clinical in a LTC facility). They stressed that this training meets the need for students to take the state exam to get a CNA. I was so excited. I ran over the next day and registered and paid a deposit. The agency was really a house but I observed a class in action (it was their last day and they were having a "graduation"). There were only 2 spots remaining and I grabbed on of them.

My question is this: Does it matter where the nurse aide training comes from? I know that requirements will vary by state, but I did check w/ my state (North Carolina) and one is eligible to be listed on the CNA registry if they either pass the competency exam or recieve training from an approved 75-hour course and also pass the exam. My hope is to get my CNA and then gain employment in an acute care setting since I'm going to nursing school. Will training w/ an agency leave any training out that a technical school would cover? Or does it matter? Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks guys!!! :redbeathe

[adorblepuppy]

Good luck with your search.

[ohiogyrl]

I'm not sure but it seems like as long as you pass your state exam - skills and written you're okay. To me the actual course is just like a prep course you're not certified or anything until you pass state. But it wouldn't hurt to just call and double check. Just google your state and put cna and you should be able to find something. try hdheadmasters.com your state might be listed there. Good luck to you in this journey!

[caliotter3]

As with lots of things, the certification you get in the end is what matters. That is what employers are concerned with. Anything you need to know that wasn't covered in school, will be taught to you on the job if you ask for help.

[NurseNotRatched, ADN, BSN, CNA]

Thanks for the responses! I better now but at first I thought, this is too good to be true. I appreciate it.