The course will combine information on lecture instructions, patient procedures, patient privacy and other related topics.

There will also be a practical component of the course that your course will help you train for. You will role play with other students to learn the best way to complete your tasks. You will play both the carer and patient to get an understanding of what people are going through.

There will also be videos that will help you with your training. You will learn how to deal with nurses and how to best care for patients. You may even get the opportunity to practice your skills on real patients in some courses. These will take place at healthcare facility and nursing home (under supervision) to get a real feel for the role that you will be playing.

You will get good results if you study hard, pay attention during class and ask questions when they arise. On a side note, students who do their training through the Red Cross seem to do very well in the exams.

CNA Certification Exam

You can’t work as a fully qualified nursing assistant until you have taken both parts of the certification exam. The test includes two sections: a writing section and a practical section. The written section includes a set of multiple choice questions regarding information that you learn during the course. This section of the exam will test questions about procedures, patient surgery, patient privacy and patient protection.

After the written part is the practical portion. During this section of the test you will be asked to demonstrate the practical qualities that a nursing assistant must have. Most of the exams will make you perform three to five skills completely. You must have all parts of the test under control before you demonstrate your skills in their full entirety.

You should be aiming to pass with full marks. You may make a few mistake due to nerves, but make sure you take your time and relax as you are doing the test. If you don’t pass either part of the exam, you will get the chance to complete the test again.

Renewing Your CNA Certification

Once you have got your certified nursing assistant certification there will be a time in the future when you will have to renew it. Mostly the registration should be completed once every two years. There will be a small fee and some paperwork to renew your certification. In order to keep your registration current you will need to complete a refresher course and do a little bit of continuing education and perform a certain number of hours annually. Mostly these days renewal can be done over the phone or internet.

CNA Recertification

There will be times when you have to get re-certified due to changes in laws and procedures. This doesn’t mean you have to complete your full course again, just the relevant sections that you need to get up to date on. You will mostly be notified your employer of the recent changes.

However if you let your certification completely expire you may have to go back and complete the full course again. However this varies from state to state so it is best just to keep up to date on your certificate.