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Choosing to get your CNA Certification online has some pros and cons. A CNA is a certified nursing assistant, very similar to the nurse’s aides of years ago. These helpers performed tasks that were halfway between medical and housekeeping chores, and worked with a few nurses each shift to perform duties that nurses had no time or interest in performing.

Up till recently there were really no formal education programs. Nurse’s aides needed no training for their first job but most probably they had a structured type of orientation where they spent a few days learning the duties of their job and finding their way around a large hospital setting.

As time went on, medical laws changed and privacy issues were brought to the forefront. Nurse’s aides were upgraded to what is now a CNA, and formal training and educational programs were started at high schools and colleges and even private instructional centers. Courses lasted anywhere from a month to nine months depending on where you went and how much practical experience you were given.

With any type of training there are two important components – classroom training and practical hands on learning. The practical aspect of the programs can be vital to your overall success – you can’t learn everything from a book. For instance, you can look at pictures of how a particular dressing needs to be applied, or how a bed can be lowered or moved, but if you’ve never done it on a hospital floor, all the classroom study in the world can’t make up for that.

And this is the major problem with any of the online CNA training programs. You don’t get the hands on experience you need to really know your job. Some of the large educational facilities have managed to provide a type of web based learning where students would be required to attend scheduled classes and events using various online programs and web cams.

You can interact with the class and even practice things like dressings, but other important tasks like making a bed or moving IV poles will be all but impossible to practice without having access to these things in your own home.

Learning anything online is becoming very popular because you have the option of learning at your own speed, on your own schedule. This certainly has a lot of benefits, but it also puts you in a position where you aren’t forced to study for the usual finals, etc., and you lose momentum. Some courses allow you to take courses at your own pace – within reason. You will be given a syllabus that must be completed within a certain period of time, and take finals right after that. You can do it all in a week, or wait till the last minute. It’s up to you.

If you are hoping to land a job in a large hospital that pays well, you’d be better off enrolling in a program that offers plenty of practical experience. Without that level of training, you might end up at a smaller facility at a lower pay rate.

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