It’s a bit more difficult to become a Certified Nursing Assistant in the District of Columbia than in other states. Most states require that you have a certain amount of classroom and clinical hours before you’re certified. D.C. requires at least 45 classroom hours, 30 lab hours and 45 additional hours of clinical hands on studies before you’re allowed to sit for the certification exam. Due to the requirement of 120 total training hours, CNAs in D.C. are considered to be some of the highest qualified anywhere.
Most states will recognize CNA licenses earned in other states. D.C. requires that anyone wishing to work as a CNA in that state take the same training as beginners no matter what state they were licensed in. While CNAs relocating to the D.C. area will have an easier time of repeating their training, they can’t just go in and sit for the exam. CNAs certified in D.C. are paid higher than other states because of all the extra training. They typically make about $25,000 yearly to begin with.
It’s easy to locate CNA training programs in D.C. and surrounding areas. The majority of health facilities and community colleges there offer training programs as well as vocational study facilities and hospitals. Most training facilities offer free training if you’re willing to sign a contract agreeing to work for them once you’re trained. It does sound time consuming to become a CNA in D.C. but it’s worth all the effort that goes into it.
Any hospital or nursing home in the D.C. area will have information on CNA training classes. Other places you can contact include:
- Bethel Training Institute CNA Training Course
- St. Mary’s Health Institute LLC CNA Certification Class
- Capital Health Institute Nurse Aide Program
- Comprehensive Health Academy Certified Nursing Assistant Training School
- J.C. Inc. American Institute of Professional Studies CNA Center
- Nursing Enterprises, Inc. Nursing Assistant Class
Those places should get you started in your location of the best CNA training program for you. However, there are plenty more to choose from if none of these fit. It’s also possible to get into night classes if you need that option. Finding a training program is the easy part. The rest is up to you as to how well you’ll do.