CNA Training - what will you learn?

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CNA’s also know as Certified Nurses Assistants play and important role in hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation homes/clinics, Doctors offices,home care and many other locations dedicated to the care of patients. These CNA’s have specific qualifications needed to perform the tasks and duties that accompany care for patients. In order to be qualified for this type of position CNA’s will need to go through a training course. In the time during this course a potential CNA will learn many skills that will be required of him/her while working as a certified nurses assistant.

Many of the skills a CNA will learn while being trained will be hygienic in nature. Some will be safety precautions. Others will be basics in health care. Still others will be about care and concern. While other skill will be more technical in nature. As you can see CNA’s perform a very important and difficult task in providing great health care to patients.

Some of the hygienic skills and procedure are considered the most important while being trained. This would include proper hand washing, HIPPA regulations, proper procedures for preventing the spread of disease, and the like. These skills will help the CNA perform duties such as bathing a patient, changing a bed pan, or emptying a catheter with precautions meant to keep the CNA and the patient safe and clean.

The CNA also needs to know about some basic skills while performing in the health care field. Some of these skills are proper CPR and First Aid, taking a pulse and blood pressure, and assisting patients with walking or moving from bed to wheelchair and back. Other tasks the CNA will learn to that are basic health care is answering a call light, tidying and cleaning rooms, feeding patients, delivering messages, helping patients shave and monitoring a patent's overall health and noting any changes that may be significant. Basic health care may seem simple but it takes a keen observational eye and an ability to use good judgement to perform properly.

While working in patient care situations a CNA will need to know how to properly treat a patient with care and concern. During training a potential CNA will learn about sensitivity and how to apply it in situations that may arise. Also CNA’s will be trained how to set professional boundaries with patients. There is a fine line between sensitivity and crossing a professional boundary. CNA’s are trained to be aware of this line and not to cross it.

Lastly potential CNA’s will be taught some more technical tasks during their training. For instance CNA’s need to know how to chart a patients progress and note changes whether for the better or worse. Charting can also include monitoring patients daily activities, liquid or food intake/output, respiration or even just subtle movements. Many other things can be included in charting such as reporting an incident/accident and pulse rate, blood pressure, and weight. All these thing will be charted but in a CNA will also be trained how to do all these things as well as many more. Some other skills CNA’s will be trained in that are technical tasks are how to collect urine samples properly, taking temperatures with a thermometer, and helping a patients fill out intake or discharge paperwork.

The lists of demands on a CNA are many. Therefore CNA training will cover all the topics necessary to giving the potential CNA the skills necessary to live up to these demands. In a CNA training program you will be given all the information and help necessary to start working in the field as soon as your training is complete. As a potential CNA is is wise to be aware of what will be asked of you in the job as a certified nurses assistant and in the training as well. Although this list covers many of the topics there are many more as well. Contact the nursing board in your area to find a more comprehensive look at what will be asked of a CNA.