Each medical facility, nursing home, and clinic will have slightly different ways they want their employees to work but there is still a need for basic licensing requirements that ensure each certified nursing assistant will have the same grounding in the basic needs of patients and clinics. For this reason, it’s important to keep in mind the basic CNA Certification requirements of any CNA before you start looking for work.

First Things First

Before you even start to look for your education, be prepared for a background check. Make sure you have your criminal record check done and verified (it can take weeks for the criminal record check and things like fingerprints to get back, so it’s a good idea to have well under way or done before you start). Facilities will look for things like harassment, felony, sexual harassment charges and other things that might pose a problem for the clinic or nursing home. You should also make sure you have your high school diploma or GED.

Education

All CNAs must undergo 75 hours’ worth of education, twelve of which should be in a clinical, real world setting. You can get your education as a CNA in a college, online or while working on the job; whatever method is best and most convenient for you. There are plenty of schools online and offline that offer this program; you just have to pick one that seems right for you. You then have to successfully prove that you understand the practices outlined in the course as well as the skills you will be taught before you can work anywhere as a certified nursing assistant.

Exam

In order to be fully certified, you have to pass a two part exam that shows you are fully qualified to work in a medical facility. The first part of the exam is the written part; a multiple choice question exam that takes around an hour, maybe two, to complete. The second part is the hands-on clinical exam in which you show that you know how to use the skills you were supposed to have mastered in a real world setting. CNA exams are scheduled by the state and are usually put on a few times a year.

If you finish your education and there is no scheduled exam in sight, you may still be able to work provided you show that you are registered to take the exam and that you did the coursework. There are many medical facilities that are willing to wait for you to take the exam if you show that you are otherwise qualified for the job. It just makes good sense all around to be patient after all.

More specific job requirements will vary from facility to facility so you have to do some job hunting and some investigating in order to know exactly what you’ll need in order to be hired. But these basic CNA certifiaction requirements give you a good foundation to work from and a good idea of what you’ll need to do before you start job hunting in order to get an edge in a competitive market.