Nurse Assistant Training in Michigan
Nurse assistant training programs in Michigan offer many options for people who are interested in become a certified nursing assistant. These assistants are a vital part of the healthcare community which makes the training they receive very important. In many states, there is one CNA program that is followed throughout the state and then the graduate learns various nuances based on the field of health care they choose to work in; however, in Michigan, there are specific CNA courses to choose from depending on the area of healthcare that is chosen.
Where to Find Training
In Michigan there are two main colleges that offer CNA training, Lansing Community College and Henry Ford Community College. Lansing is one of Michigan’s largest colleges based on enrollment. They offer CNA courses that are less than one-year in length and are part of their rapid entry selection of classes. Henry Ford Community College also offers CNA courses that will have students prepared to enter the workforce as a nurse assistant in a short time frame.
Specialized Nurse Assistant Training
Unlike many other nurse training programs, there are specialized nurse training programs in Michigan that have students ready to enter a particular area and lend their skills to the nurses without having to be completely trained on all of the specialties of that field. The areas of nurse assistant training that can be selected include:
- Acute Care Nurse Training: This nurse aide training program is designed to prepare graduates to enter work in an urgent care facility, an acute care facility, or emergency room as a patient tech or nursing assistant. Students can choose an 8-week daytime or a 16-week evening program where they will have course work that includes laboratory work, clinical experience and lectures. Some of the skills the nurse assistant will learn to perform include: (a) Glucose blood testing, (b) Taking vital signs and recording them properly, (c) How to observer patients for emotional and physical changes and (d) Routine tasks such as transporting, feeding, bathing.
At the end of this training program for acute care nursing, students can take the state examination that allows them to become certified nurse assistants in the state of Michigan.
- Long Term Care Nurse Training: Long-term nurse care training prepares students to work with patients on a long-term basis such as in a nursing home or rehabilitation center. Working with patients for long periods of time requires more training in some areas, such as feeding, bathing, and transporting them from one place to another. The long term nurse assistant training is longer than the acute care nurse training. This course is a 3-week, 94 hour course with labs, clinical work and lectures. Students learn topics such as: (a) Interpersonal skills and communication, (b) Infection control, (c) Residents rights and respecting those rights and (d) Basic nurse assistant skills such as vitals, blood glucose and more.
The long term nurse assistant course is more in depth and prepares the student to take the nurse assistant exam and become certified once they pass.
- Acute & Long Term Nurse Aide Training: As the name implied, this program combines all of the education of the long term nurse aid with the education of the acute nurse aid and allows graduates to work in long term health care facilities, home health care or acute care facilities after graduation and successful completion of the state exam.
- Nurse Aide Training Certificate: This certificate, offered by the Henry Ford Community College, is an 11-week program that is very in-depth. It includes 90 hours of lectures and theory, 128 hours of lab work and 52 hours of clinical work. This nursing assistant class provides basic nursing skills to students that prepare them to work as a nursing assistant in any medical facility after completion of the course and taking the exam for their certification.
These four options show the varying degrees that the nursing assistant training programs in Michigan offer. Students can choose the minimal course or the more in-depth one and be prepared to work in any field.
Nurse assistant training in Michigan offers more options than many other states’ programs. Students can choose the type of program they want and move into that area of work upon graduation and passing the state certification exam.
