Serving the humanity and helping the unhealthy people might be your dream since childhood but you may have failed to become a physician. You must be thinking what to do next. So what if you can’t be a doctor there are still many ways to help the people. All it requires is your passion and enthusiasm, and then nothing will seem difficult. You can be a nursing assistant.
A nursing assistant is a professional who help the doctors in hospitals and clinics to provide basic care for patients. The job profile of a nursing assistant includes lifting the patients, feeding them, making and changing their beds and to help the patients to bathroom who can’t help themselves. They are responsible for their cleanup too. The basic qualifications required to be a nursing assistant vary from state to state. Specific requirements vary by state. To begin with you need to first complete your schooling along with qualifying all the required exams at school level. Some states require a high school diploma, others do not. Federal law requires all CNAs who work in a facility which accepts Medicare funds to receive 75 hours of training, and 16 hours of supervised clinical training. The training can be provided by the employers or one can obtain the training in vocational high schools, community colleges, and independent agencies. The costs vary from $300 to $600 for a program. Financial aid is often available for those who can’t afford the entire fees. Each school will have financial aid requirements. One can obtain the list of the accredited courses in their area from the state’s agency that provides the CNAs license.
The next step is to obtain your certification. The level of certification required is controlled by the state law. For this, once you have completed your training, you have to appear for a qualification test. You need to contact your state nurse aid registry to know the specific requirements and you have to provide all the documentation of the training. But the keep in mind that your license is only valid for that state only. If you want to work in some other state you need to apply for reciprocity. For that you need to get in touch with state agency from which you received your license, tell them where you’re moving, and ask for an “Application for Enrollment by Reciprocity”. Then, you need to contact the state agency of the area where you are moving and ask them about their procedures. Along with the application you’ll also need to include a copy of your social security card, your driver’s license, your current state approval, as well as documentation of work experience, such as a pay stub from the facility you were previously employed by.
After obtaining the license you can start working as a CNA. You have to send resumes to home health agencies in the area. Home health is often the primary employer for CNA’s. You can also work for more than one agency to acquire the number of hours desired.