| Education | | | | with good pay and benefits. If you can get a position |
| Free education! That's right nursing centers, | | | | at a hospital take it because they will cross train you |
| retirement homes, nursing homes and even long-term | | | | and there is plenty of room to advance. Last but not |
| care facilities offer free education given you plan on | | | | least there is always the benefit called "Tuition |
| staying with their company. Most won't offer the | | | | Assistance" especially if you are planning on advancing |
| education unless you've been with employed with | | | | and becoming an LPN or RN. |
| them for a specific amount of time. Some places it | | | | Growing Demand |
| takes 3 months, 6 months and some even a year to | | | | Look at our economic situation people are losing jobs |
| take advantage of this great benefit. Face it | | | | left and right. Baby boomers account for 30-35% of |
| education can be quite expensive so to find an | | | | our population. As they age they create a greater |
| employer that offers it FREE? Pfff can't pass that | | | | need for Health Care Providers specifically Nurses and |
| offer up its too great of a deal. | | | | C.N.A's also called Certified Nurse Aides. So if you sit |
| Training | | | | and really think about it becoming a C.N.A is not only |
| It only takes 6-10 weeks to become a CAN | | | | a quick certification to put under your belt but it's |
| sometimes even less than that depending on what | | | | also a way to secure your employment/career for |
| school you attend. For me personally my training was | | | | the future. |
| 3 ½ weeks long I had to attend class 2 days a | | | | Improved Income |
| week (pretty simple if you ask me). This allows you | | | | Most C.N.A's make somewhere between $22,000 |
| to get trained, certified and most of time employed | | | | -$35,000/yr (yes as new grads). You have some that |
| in a short period of time. There are other training | | | | work through agencies sacrificing benefits for pay |
| facilities that will train in a much shorter amount of | | | | then you have C.N.A's that advance their skills and |
| time but I will tell you the course load is a little | | | | become cross trained in other departments/areas of |
| intense they are cram courses. | | | | healthcare thus making themselves more valuable |
| Benefits | | | | which qualifies them for better pay. Your average |
| Most CAN positions offer great with benefits | | | | C.N.A makes $25,000 annually. Granted to some of |
| sometimes with no benefits. It really depends on | | | | you this might not be much but for the time spent in |
| who you are employed by. Here is an example for | | | | school this is a lot better than most dead end jobs |
| you; when I was a new grad looking for work as a | | | | such as: Fast food, retail etc |
| C.N.A all the agencies I applied for offered me | | | | Cost |
| $13.00-$16.00/hr... sounds awesome right? Well... it is | | | | The cost for this certification will vary from school to |
| and it isn't although the pay is good the scheduling | | | | school I paid $500.00 for my certification that paid |
| wasn't it was an on call position and I was only | | | | for the class and the books. My scrubs, stethoscope |
| getting 20 hours per week. Now all agencies are not | | | | and blood pressure cuff collective cost 50.00 so in |
| like this most of them have plenty of jobs for you | | | | total $550. Other schools will charge $600-1500 and |
| where you will get at least 40 hours a week but I | | | | most of the time they include everything you need. |
| needed something more stable with benefits even if | | | | If you can try not to spend more than $700.00 |
| that meant receiving a 2-3 dollar pay cut. Hospitals | | | | Hope this article has helped and I hope some of you |
| and Nursing Homes are also great places to work | | | | decide to jump into the healthcare field. |