In the world of the Internet and smartphones, online CNA programs are preferable to the physical options, one can complete their studies and work at the same time!
Online programs are a great way to save your time and energy from hectic classes on campus where you are completely dependent on your instructor’s mercy.
If you are interested in helping people and have compassion for those who are ill then becoming a nursing assistant is the one thing that you need. By training for a couple of months, the CNA program enables you to enter the healthcare field.
If you facing trouble in choosing a good online CNA program in Florida or if you still have not decided which college to choose for your online CNA training, then you are at the right place because I am here make your decision easier as I have short-listed some of the best colleges offering online CNA program in Florida.
TOP 4 COLLEGES OFFERING ONLINE CNA PROGRAM IN FLORIDA
Below are the top 4 colleges offering online CNA programs in Florida, where you can learn with ease in a peaceful environment.
1. Indian River State College
Indian River State College is a public college that offers its students multiple degree programs, one of which is a nursing assistant study program.
The college is popular for providing different nursing education programs, you can choose whatever suits you the best.
The curriculum of the nursing assistant program at Indian River State College consists of a total of 165 credit hours during this time duration, the students are encouraged to increase their knowledge in nursing care and practice nursing assistant skills.
To make it easier for you to manage the time for your studies, the curriculum is designed in such a way that students take online theory classes at home, while they have to attend on-campus labs and practicals. The in-person clinical skills of the curriculum are held at the nearest clinic, health care facilities, or nursing home.
The college is located in the Florida Treasure Coast city of Fort Pierce. To get admission to the nursing assistant program at this college, you are not required to have a GED or a high school diploma.
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2. Santa Fe College
Santa Fe College is a public college located in Gainesville, Florida.
The college offers students with different nursing programs along with a nursing assistant program. To get enrolled in this college, you must have a basic life support certificate and a cardiopulmonary resuscitation certificate as well from American Heart Association, also you must have a good passing score on the PERT test.
For the residents of Florida, one can expect a total cost of $2,071 for the whole nursing assistant program.
This estimated cost is inclusive of the tuition fee, lab costs, laptop, exam fee, nursing uniforms, and books. The admissions are usually given on a first come first served basis, so you better hurry up if you want to get admission to Santa Fe College.
The nursing assistant program at Santa Fe College consists of one semester only which has a total of 165 study hours that includes theory hours and lab practical hours as well.
The college prepares its nursing assistant students to become successful CNAs and prepare them well for the CNA exam. The curriculum here is designed in such a way that the students take their coursework online, while lab classes are performed at the campus and the clinical hours are completed at any local nursing home which is approved by the college.
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3. Florida State College at Jacksonville
It is a very well-known college when it comes to nursing assistant education in Florida, the college is extremely devoted to its students.
The main aim of this college is to help its students learn and ace different nursing skills in a friendly yet productive environment.
The nursing assistant program at this college contains two courses, the students are encouraged to learn about basic healthcare for the first five weeks.
This course helps them to get an understanding of medical terms, medicine delivery systems, nursing care delivery, and different other medical teams.
After taking the basic healthcare knowledge, the students are promoted to take nursing aid training, which has online coursework along with on-campus lab hours, the students are also given in-hand clinical skills at the nearest nursing home, this helps them to deal with the patients in their future.
The students are usually given clinical hands-on skills at St. Vincent’s hospital in Jacksonville. Here at the hospital, the students are encouraged to take care of the patient so they can get patient skills and learn to make decisions on critical occasions.
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4. Tallahassee Community College
Tallahassee Community College is one of the most well-established colleges which offers its students an online CNA training program along with other nursing programs as well.
By attending the CNA training program at Tallahassee Community College you can attain a nurse assistant PSAV certificate which is of great value in the nursing assistant world. To be able to secure admission here, one must possess a GED diploma or a standard high school diploma.
A cardiopulmonary resuscitation certificate and basic life support certificate are also required to complete the admission process.
Before getting enrolled, you are also required to clear the background check in which the university checks whether you have any previous criminal records or you were involved in criminal activities or not.
The nursing assistant program offered here consists of a total time duration of 120 hours, these study hours are broken down into two parts, 80 hours are reserved for the coursework and labs where the students learn about basic nursing while the remaining 40 hours are dedicated for clinical skills.
The clinical skills are completed in the form of an internship at any local health care facility, hospital, or nursing home approved by the college.
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WHAT TO EXPECT FROM AN ONLINE CNA PROGRAM IN FLORIDA
Becoming a nursing assistant is no easy task, it requires hard work and enthusiasm to serve others! You are meant to work and study endlessly throughout tiring days and restless nights as well.
You can not become a nursing assistant at home by only studying online, instead, you have to learn patient skills at a hospital or nursing home. An online CNA training program consists of two types of classes.
Online Classes
With online classes, most of the coursework is taught to the nursing assistant students, with online classes you can learn different things about nursing at home without actually having to attend college physically! Most online classes are scheduled according to your ease and convenience.
You can ask your course instructor and schedule your online classes at whatever time you prefer, it can be early in the morning, in the afternoon, or late at night.
The online lectures can be conducted live or pre-recorded lectures can be shared to your classroom online. In an online CNA program, most of the curriculum is taught online, the students may expect to attend a video meeting online to study in a virtual classroom.
In-Person Classes
In-person classes or physical classes are usually practical classes in which a student is promoted to get hands-on nursing skills and get to know how to deal with a patient.
You can not become a nursing assistant just by studying the nursing assistant curriculum online, instead, you must possess nursing skills. Nursing skills can never be taught online, they can only be learned physically at a hospital or a nursing home.
The physical clinical classes offer the students to observe and imply what they have been taught and ace the nursing skills. The physical clinical work usually encourages the students to know about the patient’s needs and helps them learn the skills needed to serve the patients properly.
It is important that the students take an active part in both online and physical classes because during the Prometric exam the students are required to demonstrate different clinical duties and answer questions for the coursework as well.
CURRICULUM TAUGHT IN CNA TRAINING
Following are the few courses which are taught in a Nursing Assistant program.
First Aid
Nurses are known for their first response to an injury, a good nurse is judged by the way he or she responds to a patient needing primary medical attention at the time of injury. In a CNA program, students are encouraged to have knowledge about injury stabilization of a patient
Human Anatomy
The CNA students are given adequate knowledge about human anatomy so they have some understanding of how a human body works and functions. It is a very important subject when it comes to the knowledge of different systems of the body.
Ergonomics
This course deals with the information about proper usage of wheelchairs, adjustment of hospital beds, movement of bed-ridden patients, and proper usage of medical equipment. This course ensures that the nurse assistant has proper information about using different medical tools safely for the safety of the patient.
Nutrition and Food Safety
For a quick recovery, good nutrition is crucial. When a patient is in the hospital, a nursing assistant is responsible for taking care of their diet. So, here in this course, the students are trained to give nutritional care to the patients.
The students also learn about proper food storage and safety, they also learn how they can prevent any foodborne illness by serving healthy meals.
The students are trained to perform the calculation of calories of different meals because proper calorie intake is vital for the patient to recover soon
Personal Care
This course ensures that the CNA knows how to help the patients with their activities of daily living or ADLs including teeth brushing, feeding, using the toilet, bathing, getting dressed, etc.
Patient Assessment
In this course, the students learn about examining the patient’s condition. The students are trained to take the vital signs of the patient and assess the level of injury or wound of the patient.
This course also gives the students a sense to prioritize which patient needs their immediate care.
The students are also schooled to notice any abnormal changes in a patient’s body function and report them to the doctor.
Infection Control
Through this course, the students learn about controlling the spread of infections in the environment and the patient’s body as well. The students are given information about infection prevention and prevention of cross-contamination from different medical tools.
DETAILS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR CNA LICENSING IN FLORIDA
Following are the few requirements that you need to fulfill to get your CNA license in Florida.
Complete Nursing Assistant Education Program
The first and the most important thing that you require to get a CNA license is to complete a nursing assistant education program. To do so, you need to get enrolled in a state-approved nursing assistant program.
The CNA program must be approved by the Florida Board of nursing so that you can practice as a nursing assistant in Florida and get yourself a good job here.
In the nursing assistant program, you must complete your training and coursework to be well prepared for the CNA licensure exam.
To complete your education, you can either choose a college that is state-approved or it may be an accredited nursing school.
Accredited nursing school is the one whose program is verified by the United States secretary of education, which also approves the curriculum taught in the program as well.
While, the state-approved nursing school is the one that is approved by the state in which you are planning to seek a job, if you are interested in developing your career in Florida, then your nursing school and its curriculum must be approved by the Florida Board of Nursing.
Fulfill Pre-Exam Requirements
Before you appear in the CNA exam there are certain requirements that you need to fulfill. The most important requirement which is needed to be completed before appearing in the exam is running through a background check, you need to clear it at any cost.
For this, you are required to show that you have not been involved in any major criminal activities before applying for CNA. The process starts by applying to Prometric of CNA exam administrator for Florida.
You are required to pay your fee to the Prometric as well, your fingerprints are also collected to run through your biometric identification.
Now, your documents, the result of the background check, and your fingerprints are forwarded to the nursing assistant application specialist. After completion of all these requirements, they hand over you an exam schedule and admission ticket for the test
They also seek proof that the applicant is at least 18 years of age or older, immunization proof, first aid certification, cardiopulmonary resuscitation certificate, tuberculosis test results, and a valid driver’s license as well.
Clear CNA Exam
After you have cleared the nursing training exam by the college you have enrolled in, now you have to appear in the exam for the CNA licensure.
This exam consists of two sections which can be named as clinical exam and written exam. In the written exam, you are expected to solve different multiple-choice questions for a limited period of time.
As far as the clinical exam is concerned, the students are supposed to demonstrate at least 6 different nursing skills in front of the examiner.
You may be directed to transfer patients to and from the wheelchair or bed, take vitals of patients, give catheter care to patients, change the patient’s position and make the patient’s bed in the clinical exam section of your CNA exam.
Claim Your CNA License in Florida
Now that you have cleared the Prometric exam for CNA, you can claim your CNA license by applying for it to the Florida board of nursing.
To get your license you are asked to prove that you have cleared the Prometric exam and have graduated nursing training from a state-approved college.
You need to submit the form with the above documents attached. Once you have fulfilled the above requirements, your name will be placed in the CNA registry of Florida.
Now you can get your license and start working as a nursing assistant in any hospital, nursing home, and health care center by just applying for the job.
Maintain Your CNA License
After you have claimed your CNA license, now it is time to take care of it. Mostly, the license is valid for at least two years but after that, you have to make sure that you renew your license before the date of expiration.
Also, make sure that you do not get yourself in any trouble at your workplace or get involved in any illegal activities, this may lead to the cancellation of your license.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME AN CNA?
It usually takes six weeks to become a nursing assistant, but it may take a while longer if you plan on getting proper training at a career college or a community college, then this may take 12 weeks maximum before you complete all the requirements and become a CNA.
The program length may differ if you are choosing different options for the studies, if you go for the conduction of classes during weekdays, then you can finish the program much faster. If you opt for weekend classes then you will face a delay in completion of the CNA program.
WHO SHOULD GET A NURSING ASSISTANT CERTIFICATE?
This certification is very beneficial for the nursing students who are intended to pursue their career in nursing as a practical nurse or those who are interested in further education to get an associate degree in nursing programs.
This program helps you in exploring your field and also leads your way to many different career opportunities.
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