CNA Courses in Maryland

A candidate who is willing to make a fulfilling career in Nursing as a CNA in Maryland must pursue the state’s Board of Nursing approved Certified Nursing Assistant courses only, because if he/she fails to do so, he/she will not be allowed to give certification exam. Several community colleges, independent facilities, and vocational/technical colleges in the state provide such courses. Students keen to attend such courses will have to undergo a minimum of 100-hour training, which involves classroom training and clinical exercises. These courses generally involve students, learning about nursing related facets and studying and performing the following topics:

• Patient care
• Restorative care
• CPR instruction
• Safety and emergency procedures
• Vital signs
• Infection prevention and control
• Promoting residents’ rights
• Documentation and reporting

Prerequisites for nurse aide courses

Although there are barely any requirements for pursuing CNA courses in Maryland, the following ones must be fulfilled in any case:

• Clean criminal background
• Passing medical and drug examination

Required skills

• Good behavior
• Good communication skills
• Proper time management
• Teamwork
• Consistency

Free or Low Cost CNA Courses in Maryland

Procedure for applying for State certification exam

Nurse aide license in the state is easily achievable, provided you successfully pass certification exam after the completion of your course. It is a 1-day exam, comprising two parts, namely written part and clinical skills evaluation part. A candidate will be required to solve 50-70 multiple choice questions during the written test, on the basis of which his/her overall conceptual nursing knowledge will be tested. Performance of the candidate will also be analyzed during the skills evaluation test in any 5 skills, arbitrarily chosen and supervised by a proctor; where his/her practical handiness will be checked. Passing both these tests is very crucial to apply for license. Once you complete this exam with passing marks, you will be required to pay $20 along with the required form/documents to get the license. Once you achieve this CNA license, you will get the privilege to work at any place as a nurse aide in any hospital, clinic, care center, rehabilitation center, nursing home, etc. in the state. This exam can only be taken thrice, but if one fails to pass in his third attempt, he/she will require retaking both, the course and the certification exam.

Renewing your license after every two years is very important to continue working as a nurse aide in your state. For renewing your license, your employment as a nursing assistant over the past 2 years, performing nursing specific duties must be proved. In addition to this, SSN (Social Security Number) and nursing license number/ nursing assistant certification number will also be verified for renewal. This renewal process costs around $40. Termed as endorsement in Maryland, transfer of an out-of-state license to the state can be done for out-of-state candidates of some states only. All he/she will be required is to prove the following entities:

• Valid certificate (not lapsed/expired) meeting the OBRA (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) requirements from the state where he/she currently works
• Good standing status with that state
• Clean criminal record track
• If not licensed by any state registry, he/she will have to pursue approved CNA course from Maryland, followed by successful completion of Maryland CNA certification exam

After verifying these documents along with application form, the candidate will be informed about the status of their transfer/endorsement. If you fulfill all these requirements, you will get a-license recognized by nurse aide registry, thus enabling you to work anywhere as a nurse aide in the state.

With shortage in nursing staff and population rising day-by-day in Maryland, requirements for health care professionals including nurse aides are bound to increase. Additionally, as the demand is very high, salary packages will rise. Generally, nursing assistants in Maryland earns $27,900 annually and $13.90 hourly on an average, which is quite good. In addition to this, it has also been reported that nurse aide job opening is expected to see a rise of around 29% in the state over the next few years, which is far much better than most of the other states. Thus pursuing nurse aide training from the state will be a rightful decision, leading them towards creating a rewarding and ever-lasting career.

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