If you are interested to choose Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) as a career then you may be delighted to know that the American Red Cross provides nationally recognized CNA training in different part of the United States. The training covers a nationally recognized curriculum and uses the requirements of each state.

According to the American Red Cross rules, a CNA trainee must attend all classes for the successful completion of the course. You must also display good performance in skill and knowledge evaluation test. The trainings can be strenuous sometimes and might require extensive physical effort, so the participants must be physically fit as well as free of any communicable disease in order to fully participate in the training classes and drills. If you have any questions regarding the medical conditions, then you must discuss them in advance before the course starts. During the course, some of the skills that the trainee learn are measuring a patient’s blood pressure, temperature, and pulse, positioning the patient safely as well as ambulating them. They are also required to maintain all the documentations, charts and paperwork. And, in a Red Cross CNA course, students also learn to take CPR to better handle emergency circumstances.

Red Cross CNA training

After successful completion of the Red Cross CNA training course, you must sit for a CNA license exam which must be successfully completed before entering a medical facility. The exam consist of two parts: the Skills Test and the Written Test. The exam takes approximately five and a half hours for completion. The trainee should first pass the Skills Test before taking the Written Test. Upon successfully passing the examination, the trainee will receive a certification stating that he or she is legally permitted to work as a CNA.

The American Red Cross training program has its own set of requirements that the CNA participants must fulfill. These are:

• The participant must be 18 years or older
• The participant should not have been involved in any kind of felony or misdemeanor within last 7 years.
• The trainee cannot be pregnant.
• The trainee must be free of all communicable diseases.

During the course of study, all students are required to:

• Arrive on time
• Attend all classes (only 6 missed hours are permitted; all the missed hours must be covered)
• Pass the final test with a score of 80% or higher

Because the nursing career is growing globally, and there is always demand of a CNA, a CNA is a good career path to choose from. If you’re one of those people who are opting CNA as a career then you must be wondering how much a CNA could earn. Well, the salary a CNA earns greatly varies from the place to place and depends on the type of medical facility he or she is working in. And besides the salary, a CNA also has other appreciable amount of benefits from this career.

The CNA salary depends upon various factors. Some of those factors which influence the salary of a CNA are experience, field and working conditions. However the average salary of a CNA can range from $15,000 to $30000 per year. How much money can a CNA make depends upon the above mentioned factors. For example, a CNA working in a nursing home shall earn more than a person working as a home aide. Similarly, a CNA working in an urban area like Florida can earn more than a CNA working in a remote location. The salary of a CNA can also vary depending upon the experience. An experienced CNA shall definitely earn more than a naive CNA. Moreover, the salary of a CNA can vary according to the medical facilities the CNA is working with. CNA can work at various medical facilities like nursing homes, hospice care agencies, and elderly healthcare homes. Different healthcare facilities have different pay structures. Thus, a CNA cannot expect a fixed salary to earn. However, depending upon the above mentioned factors, a CNA can expect a yearly income in between $15,000 to $ 30,000.