CNA Schools in North Dakota
Education for Certified Nurse Assistants in North Dakota
North Dakota has the highest concentration of nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants in the country. Almost 2% of the workforce in North Dakota is some type of nursing assistant. Part of the reason for this high employment percentage is the fact that there are not many formal education requirements to be a nurse’s aide. Usually, only a high school education is required. However, in order to be a certified nurse assistant or to be employed at a nursing facility in North Dakota, prospective nurses must complete a training program.
The CNA training program must be approved by the North Dakota Department of Health. A minimum of 75 hours must be completed during the training along with a competency test. Sixteen of the 75 hours must be classroom-based courses dealing with the subjects of communication, infection control, emergency procedures, advancing patient independence, and patient rights. At least 16 of the remaining 75 hours must be practical training supervised by a registered nurse or other licensed health care professional. All 75 hours must be completed within four months of the certified nurse assistant’s first day of work.
The tasks that nurse assistants train for are usually very specific and must be closely related to the actual work that they will do. In North Dakota, if a nurse aide is hired or made an offer of employment by a nursing facility before any approved training is completed, the nurse aide taking the training courses is not required to pay for any of the fees or textbooks associated with the program.
The competency evaluation can be either a written or an oral test and must be given by an independent entity that is not the nursing facility wishing to hire the nurse assistant. The test taker will have three chances to pass the exam. If the exam is failed a third time, then the entire course must be re-taken.
Through either online or campus based programs, aspiring C.N.A.s in Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks and Minot, North Dakota 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 St. Alexius Medical Center, Jamestown Hospital, Dakota Clinic and Medcenter One Jamestown.
More information may be found at North Dakota’s Department of Health website, which is given below along with other contact information.
North Dakota Department of Health, Health Facilities
600 E. Boulevard Ave., Dept. 301
Bismarck N.D., 58505-0200
Tel: (701) 328-2353
Fax: (701) 328-1890
E-mail: [email protected]
http://www.ndhealth.gov/hf/North_Dakota_certified_nurse_aide.htm