Tampa Bay CNA Course Info anyone? :)

[FutureNurse33702]

Hi everyone!

I posted in the NA forum, but didn't get much response, so I'm hoping someone here can help. :)

I'm considering becoming a CNA for experience while I'm saving up to go back to school to become a nurse. I checked the FL Board of Nursing website for CNA courses, but the most updated list of schools they have is from 2006, and it looks like many of the courses in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area are no longer in existence. Has any one recently taken CNA courses in the Tampa Bay area, and can you recommend a school or organization that offers them? PTEC only offers them in the daytime, and I need to do evening/weekend because I work full time.

Also, do employers care where you went for the CNA prep courses, or do they mainly just look at whether you're certified? Any luck getting evening/night work?

Any replies or advice would be very much appreciated!

[hvlqodvhiniyc]

Prometric, the company that administrates the CNA application and testing, has the most up to date materials. They have a 2008 Regional Sites list.

http://prometric.com/NurseAide/FL.htm

Also the latest Certified Nursing Assistant Candidate Information Bulletin is at that above link. You need to follow the Prometric info, not the dated FL MQA BON website materials.

It depends on which type employer (Hospital, Nursing Home, ACLF, Home Health Care Provider) when it comes to what training they expect. Better pay and conditions (and more work and responsibility) at a hospital may demand one of the 140 hour training classes.

I have some health caregiver experience, so I took one of the CNA Preparation classes that prepare you for the exam. My class was 6 hours a day for five evenings and I am sure I will pass the test in a very few days /me crosses fingers.

The best advice I got was from within the preparation schools. When I called some of them, they were impossible to reach. I just wanted to drive by and look. One said they were only open only during classes and I would have to come early and couldn't stay long. The one I chose was very positive in saying "I am here 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM all week come by anytime."

Once I went to the school, I asked questions, I chatted with some of the students who were on break. Once I enrolled and went to classes I could ask lots of people about where they worked/were going to work.

Things like a current CPR certificate are helpful for CNA's and required for RN's every two (I think) years so there were actual working nurses in my classes. I talked to or eavesdropped a bit without interrogating them. You know, in-between the lines idea of where to look for work, who paid well, who reimbursed for more training (like CNA to LPN) etc.

The preparation schools usually have employers to refer you to once you pass the CNA test. The instructors at the school know the area pretty well.

For me, I wanted to get the CNA license and go to work. And I think experience and the license will trump a full training class. Especially a year from now with a year of work as a licensed CNA. I may be wrong. Check out the sites on the Prometric list at the link above and call and ask them. Also look at the list of Prometric testing locations. Sometimes you find a prep school that is also a testing site. I had good experience talking to those.