Registered Nurses (RN) are integral members of any medical facility. They are basically employed in hospitals, private clinics, nursing homes, residential care facilities, schools, community clinics, elderly healthcare facilities and many other places. The basic duties of a Registered Nurse includes treatment, administering medications, screening health conditions, diagnosing their conditions, completing medical charts, and providing emergency care to the patients.

How to become a Registered Nurse?

You may be wondering how to become a registered nurse. Here are the three main steps required to become a Registered Nurse:

Get the proper basic education: Registered Nurses can be distinguished from other classes of nurses by their higher level of training and education. To become a registered nurse, you must have high school diploma or a GED. For students who are still in high school, they should give attention to their science course mainly biology and chemistry because these are mainly used in the medical field. They also take the SAT or ACT exams to get admitted to a good undergraduate college.

Get the proper Advanced Education: Apart from your regular studies, you should also get the appropriate advanced education to succeed in this field. For this, there are four major paths that you can follow. They are master’s degree in nursing (MSN), a bachelor’s of science degree in nursing (BSN), an associate degree in nursing (ADN), and a diploma. Among these, the most widely used path is the ADN program. The Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) is a two year associate degree program offered by junior and community colleges. The Bachelor’s of Science degree in Nursing (BSN) is a four years course offered by colleges and universities. The diploma program is a three years course offered by hospitals and nursing homes. Registered Nurses with an ADN or diploma also choose to pursue a BSN degree which is also known as RN to BSN program that prepares student for a wider extent of nursing practice. Additionally, Accelerated MSN (Master’s Degree in Nursing) programs can also be pursued by combining a year of BSN program and two years of graduate studies to hold a MSN degree.

Pass the NCLEX-RN exam: In all the states and territories of the United States, including the District of Columbia, students wishing to work as a Registered Nurse are required to pass a national licensing exam known as the NCLEX-RN exam. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing develops and administers the NCLEX-RN examination. The NCLEX-RN examination is accepted by every state as an indicator of having passed the minimum knowledge and skills required to work as a RN. The NCLEX-RN exams are aimed in testing the knowledge and skills of a RN graduate to work effectively as a RN in medical facilities. Those students who wish to take the NCLEX-RN examination should check with the Board of Nursing in their respective state to find out what they need to do.

Paying for CNA training can be hard for many people. If so, then they must be careful in finding and applying for free CNA training programs. CNA training often cost much because of the various trainings that the course consists such as CPR training, stethoscope, scrubs and other related clinical training costs. All these costs sum up to make a huge sticker price and so it’s very difficult to get a free CNA training program. But this does not mean that there are no free CNA trainings available out there.

Receiving financial aid from the government is one of the best ways to fund your CNA training and for this unemployment is required. The US government offers educational funding to students and also pays students for their unemployment while they attend CNA classes.

Another available option for getting free CNA training classes through government’s fund is by joining community colleges. In the US, most community colleges offer CNA training classes and among those community colleges, all have government funded financial aid available for students. If the student’s family income is less than $25000, or he/she is a veteran or has children, then the student has a good shot of getting free CNA classes through government’s fund in form of grants.

Another way of getting funded for the CNA classes is by joining a nursing home. In the US, there are many nursing homes that prepare students for CNA training and examination for free of cost. Since nursing homes run on donations and are nonprofit organizations, they do not expect students to pay for their education. But they do sign a contract with the students to get the pay back in the form of service for a certain period of time.

At last but not the least, you can call local medical facilities, elderly care facilities, and even the CNA training programs and inquire to know if any kind of funding, grant or internships are available that would sponsor CNA training for a student. Although it’s a tiring job, it is worth a shot.