Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

Wow, what a great feeling! After months of hard work, I have just obtained my Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Certification! It certainly was a challenging experience, but it was so rewarding to finally gain my certification, and I know now I am ready to being my career as a Nursing Assistant.

My CNA training school might be a little different from other institutions and those in other states. As with all things, if you’re thinking of gaining your CNA certification like I did, it’s probably a good idea to check out what exactly you are getting for your money, before you commit yourself for months of training. Check out you will cover in the training and compare subjects and costs for each course you’re thinking of doing. Remember, too, that doing subjects you are interested in will make the hard work seem a lot less… well, hard, you’ll get through the course easier. If you choose a cna training course that covers the subjects you are interested in, it will probably be better for your career as well, as it will lead you is a path you will find more satisfying. I thought of this course as investment in myself and my future, and it’s paid off.

In my course I learnt a lot of Health and Safety: how to move patients properly without causing injury to them, or to yourself; controlling infections; checking vital signs of a patient; how to bathe and dress a patient properly; what to do in an emergency (such as CPR); how to ensure that sick people don’t get any worse and how to prevent their illness from spreading to other patients and staff. I really enjoyed learning how to save lives, and knowing that I can care for a patient. That’s the main reason I did this course – because I want to look after people. I also learnt common medical terminologies, Anatomy and Psychology, and how health documentation and medication is used.

As my classes were held in a certified CNA training school, I got to interact with people and I made a lot of new friends. You can also get cna certification online, if you a need flexible schedule, but I thrive on a social learning environment. One woman in my class, Marie, has a friend who did her training through the Red Cross nursing home – a hands on experience, I’d imagine!