A CNA career belongs to a certified nursing assistant, one of several types of personnel that help out around a hospital, clinic, or other medical facility under the supervision of a nurse. These people have trained in their field, and receive recognition of that training in the form of a certificate granted those who pass a specialized exam.

The training that CNAs receive is variable in length, but is usually about three months long. These courses are most often provided by community colleges, but some medical organizations offer them, too. They encompass various lecture and practice modules that teach the future assistant how to do their duties. At the end of the training, students are eligible to take the certification exam.

Only students who graduate from programs at accredited schools will be allowed to take the exam, so check with the school before enrolling to make sure that it is accredited. Most programs are, but if you were to complete a course of study and find out that your school is not, you could be required to take the program all over again at another school before you were allowed to take the exam.

Appropriate study materials are available to students about to take the exam, and are highly recommended. Intended to be rigorous, the exam includes both a practical and a question section, and covers many different topics. Practice exams are available from the organization that offers the test, and can also be used to study.

CNAs work in many different locations, such as hospitals, clinics, doctor’s offices, and assisted care facilities. Their duties generally depend on where they work, so a CNA working at a clinic may do mostly paperwork and blood draws, while a CNA working at an assisted care facility will have a wider range of duties. These may include bathing or feeding patients, reading to them, and more.

Depending on where they work, salaries for those in a CNA career vary, but most are between $ 28,000 and $ 33,000 a year. Those working in the corrections field and as caregivers may make a bit less on average, while those working in hospitals and long term care facilities generally make amounts towards the upper end of that range.

Starting a CNA career isn’t terribly time-consuming or expensive, and can be a rewarding choice of jobs for people who enjoy helping others. It’s also a great way to see if you are suited to working in the medical field before investing years and thousands of dollars in a nursing or medical degree. For those who can’t afford that time or money, it can be a way to do what you love, without going broke.