Washington CNA law

U.S.A. Washington

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Hello,

I am currently enrolled to take a CNA course this next quarter. I live in Washington state. Does anybody out know if being a CNA in Washington is different than other states like OR? I can't find any definitive answers on the internet.

What I mean is, is CNA and CNA II acute the same thing in WA or separate? I ask because I was just perusing the web for places that are hiring and just looking in general and I noticed that there are a lot of places in OR across the river from me that require CNA 2 but in WA I find only CNA jobs. I looked up training for CNA II in WA and nothing shows up except for places outside WA. Portland Community College offers CNA II but nothing in WA offers CNA II.

Do CNAs in WA get trained in acute care?

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Welcome...Hope some of our Washington State members can help you out soon.

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Specializes in ICU, Pre-Op, OR, PACU.

Since no one else has posted yet I'll at least post what I do know.

I have personally never heard of a CNA II in WA state, however there are a few separate certifications that are available after you have obtained your CNA in WA. There is a Nurse Delegation certification that also I think can specialize in diabetes as well as a specialized Dementia and Mental Health certifications. I hope this helps, what is the role of a CNA II in OR? If it is just to work in acute care, most CNA's are able to work in a hospital setting in WA without a specialized certification. However, experience and professional recommendations greatly help with your chances of getting these positions as they are pretty tough competition. (the local hospital here requires 2+ years experience, before they'll even look at your resume)

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Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

Hi, my impression from reading licensing requirements is that CNA license in Washington is very similar to the CNA 1 license in Oregon. That said, I've only been through the training in Washington. I have seen CNA II postings and CNA- acute care job postings in Washington State and the only difference between those jobs and regular CNA jobs was the expectation of more CNA experience, particularly in caring for acute care patients.

In Washington, most training beyond basic CNA training is conducted on the job by the employer - if a job requires specific knowledge for acute care, dementia care, telementy, EKG, med tech, etc it is up to the employer to provide it. (A few programs do offer certificates in Nurse Delegation, Mental Health, Memory care etc., however these do not alter the license into a different class).

Oregon however seems to have standardized training for more advanced care, particularly in areas of acute care, dementia, and rehabilitation, this course work and examination leads to a CNA 2 license. If you are close enough to the OR border that you are considering working in OR state it would make sense for you to see if you can transfer your CNA liscense from WA into a CNA 1 license in OR, and take course work for CNA 2 license in OR. Here is a list of training sites from the OR BON: https://osbn.oregon.gov/OSBNOnlineReports/default.aspx?ReportName=OregonApprovedTrainingPrograms

Having a CNA license in one state does not automatically grant permission to work in another state, so you will need to be licensed with both WA (DSHS) and OR (BON) in order to work in both states.

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Thanks for the reply. I think the role of CNA II is what Verene mentioned; acute care. I haven't found any definitive answers yet, but all of the postings I see for CNA II jobs in OR are for acute care. I have seen CNA - Acute Care in WA however minus the "II". With the replies so far, I think I can reasonably assume I will be okay not worrying about cert for CNA II in WA. Haha my classes haven't even started yet, but I am really excited to start. I would love to get a diabetes cert. My step son has type 1 and I have treated him for the whole time I have known him and went to all of his clinics. I think that would be great to become certified in. I also would love to work in acute care as well. Beside time as a CNA, is there an effective and faster way to beat the competition when applying for acute care positions in hospitals?

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