second career ...starting as cna cmk training

[jimmy joe]

I have decided to retrain in the health care field . The down turn in the economy has certainly been an influence since it hit my area hard . I have considered this change for about 10 years , even before it changed . I plan on starting with the cna course and hopefully the lpn cert. program but one step at a time . It is kind of like a second career for me and I am 51 this month (yikes!) . I am about 1 1/2 hours west of Chicago . The Com. colleges locally offer these courses but there is a wait and it is slow getting in . I have found a school about an hour away . It is called CMK training . I would love to hear any comments ........good or bad on them before I put down my hard earned money . I would also like to hear about other places that may be worth checking into that would meet my needs . Thanks Jimmy

[KareBear0609]

I live near Chicago.. what does CMK stand for?

[jimmy joe]

I don't know what it stands for . They are a home health agency as well . It seems they use the Allied health care courses . Not sure if this is good or not . It is not accredited but it is a Il. health board list so I assume they are ok . Any thoughts ???

[Streamline2010]

jimmy joe, if I were you, I would seriously look at doing the LPN training instead of the CNA. I'd especially avoid CNA if I had any kind of retraining money available. Once you get CNA, that could make you ineligible for any future retraining dollars. They will say you have employable skills, and will tell you to go get a job. And you will be stuck in the minwage to maybe $8 or $9 per hour pay scale, unless you can find a way to pay for LPN or get an employer to do it. Here, we have LPN programs that cost between $9500 and $11,000 total, and the the LPN pay is $15 to $22 per hour. That's a lot better than CNA, and the work is not as grubby.

Here, laid off people have a possible total of $8000 WIA retraining money, as $4000 per year. And a TAA petition for someone who lost a job to foreign competition is worth about $26,000 for full time training that lasts 2 years. And you can take only ONE training with it. So, take a cheap CNA training, and that's all they will pay for. But take LPN, and that would be possibly $4000 of money toward that. And it would be worth investing the dollars to complete the LPN training because the pay is so much better.

Check the WIA / TAA training provider list that your local One Stop (unemployment office) keeps. That should give you a fairly complete list of schools and their total cost, plus their contact info and usually a salary range that recent grads earn.

[iscore123]

CMK stands for the name of the owners children, It is a nice school and a cheap one too. The employees are very supportive and helpful when it comes to the student needs. If you have a lot of questions specially in class, the teacher will immediately answers your needs. (Just tell her first), and if you finish the course and you didnt understand some parts of the class and you need help, they let you sit in class for the next batch but you need to ask permission first.

[jimmy joe]

I forgot I had started this thread and just came across it . I took the cna course at cmk at Westmont . It is a clean safe facility and comfortable. I thought my class room instructor was good and certainly fair and a very nice person . The same goes for the clinical instructors . I passed the class room final test first try and I am set for the states this November . It is a four week course but they cover a lot of material . so you have to be willing to study and do a lot of reading in your off time . If reading and comprehending what you read are an issue I would consider a longer course . I can't forget the office people . She was helpful and always answered questions no matter how busy she was . All in all a good exp. and may take more courses there .