CNA Schools in Montana

By Mat Lindenberg, allied health world contributing writer
Published: February, 7 2010

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CNA Training Programs in Montana

When you start looking at CNA training programs in Montana, you might get a little overwhelmed- there are a lot of them. While the speed at which you can get through these programs - they take at most a few weeks to a month or two- might make it seem like they are all the same, there are differences, and you'll want to make sure you pick the one best suited to you.

The primary provider of CNA training in Montana is community/technical colleges and cross-country nursing organizations. These provide the most academic settings.

Like most states, there is also the possibility of receiving training, and subsequent employment, from a larger Nursing Home or Hospital- though that seems to be less in common in Montana then in other states.

Online schools are also becoming a bigger player in the allied health education scene, and there are a handful of quite good ones with operations in Montana.

Wherever you end up going, the shape your education will take will be roughly the same, as the federal law mandates that around half the time must be spent in class- learning how to care for sick and injured patients and where your responsibilities lay- and the other half must be spent working as a CNA in training under the direction of a Registered Nurse.

Continuing Education for CNAs in Montana

In Montana, you'll need to complete, and have on record, 12 hours of continued education every year. Depending on what sort of facility you work at, this might fall to you, or your employer might provide it.

Regardless, you'll want to make sure you’ve fulfilled those hours and keep documentation, as you may be subject to a random audit.

There are many things you can do to satisfy these hours- independent study, maybe online, or through a textbook or take home study guide, a educational health program put on by a government-run agency, a industry seminar with a nursing organization- but, when you finally reach this point in your profession, you'll want to call either the Board of Nursing or the director of the activity to make sure you'll credit for what you are doing.

Through either online or campus based programs, aspiring C.N.A.s in Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Butte, Bozeman and Helena, Montana may be able to prepare themselves for the possibility of employment in some of the largest hospitals and healthcare facilities in the state including the Bozeman Deaconess Hospital, Kalispell Regional Medical Center, Northern Montana Hospital and St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center.