Certified Nurses Assistant In Pennsylvania
To become a certified nurse’s assistant in Pennsylvania, you need to be able to sit for the certification exam. To be able to sit for, or take the certification exam, a nurse has to meet one of five requirements. These five requirements are, you must be a nurse who has passed the exam previously in Pennsylvania and allowed certification to lapse, you must be a nurse who has passed the exam in another state and allowed certification to lapse, or you must be a nurse who holds a current Certified Nurses Assistant Degree in another state.
The other ways that a nurse can become eligible to take the exam is by completing a state certified course in preparation. Students who already have the academic credits can also sit in on the exam. Different states have different regulations regarding the hours of study a nurse must complete before being able to take the Nurses Assistant exam. A nurse may find themselves taking one or two classes to catch up.
The state course to become a certified nurses assistant is offered through various community colleges, you can also take the course at various medical facilities and nursing homes throughout the state. It is a simple matter to find the one nearest you. One of the leaders in Certified Nurses Assistant graduates is Lehigh Carbon Community College. This class is also offered through the Pittsburgh Job Corps.
The cost of taking the nurses assistant course may vary from place to place, but compared to other degree programs, this is one of the cheapest alternatives out there. In all certified nurses assistant programs there is a federal requirement of seventy five course hours that must be met. After that it is up to the individual states to decide how much training the nurse will require before being able to take the certified nurse’s exam.
Nursing assistant courses prepare the nurse for the certification exam that they will have to take, but it also serves another purpose. A good nursing assistant program will prepare its students to be able to move right into entry level positions after taking their examinations. Each state decides the number of hours required by the student after the federal requirements are met. The state also administers the certified nurses assistant examination to students who have completed all the required coursework.
Getting certified as a nursing assistant is one of the job requirements for working in such places as nursing homes, hospice and hospital wards, or any kind of medical rehabilitation facility. The length of the course, the entrance requirements and the cost of the course may vary from facility. However the state of Pennsylvania has enacted legislation that requires facilities to reimburse students that become employed as nurses assistants within a year of taking the examination.
No matter where you take the course, there are many long and hard hours of study and work ahead for you. And that is just the beginning. Nursing is a profession that should be only taken up by those dedicated to caring for others, the job requires a serious personal and professional commitment.
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