certified nurse 8 week course ( CNA)

Certified Nurse 8 Week Course (CNA)
Name
Institution
Abstract
The demand for health care professionals has been on the rise. However, the number of professionals deployed to deliver health related services are too few to meet the requirements of the sector. To this effect, the certified nursing program was developed as a methodology to bridge the gap of the shortfall experienced in the industry. Thus, the development of a program to equip individuals with basic nursing skills is key to the health sector. The following syllabus of 8 weeks demonstrates how nurses can be furnished with relevant knowledge and skills to operate as nurses in the health sector. The following paper describes the course whose primary objective is to enable the students to learn about basic concepts, attitudes, and procedures involved in the delivery of medical services in diverse settings. Moreover, the paper ensures that suggests specific recommendations regarding the number of contact hours, the course requirements including relevant books and other learning materials considered essential for pursuing the course. Finally, it explains the relevance of evaluations and the type of assessments required o ensure that a student emerging from the course is adequately skilled in working in any health care set up in the delivery of basic health services.
Keywords: Certified Nurse Program, CNA, health care, syllabus, curriculum
Certified Nurse 8 Week Course (CNA)
General information about the course
The demands of healthcare are significantly on the rise.

As a result, professionals that can facilitate the care and provision of quality health services are in demand now more than ever. The delivery of quality care is touted to be an ideal platform upon which the quality of life for patients can be enhanced. Undertaking a Basic Nurse Assistant Program will play a vital role in instilling confidence through clinical experiences and most importantly, enable individuals to understand more about the most critical skills relevant to facilitate the attainment of an efficient health care environment.
Some of the details about the course include:
Instructor’s Name Telephone Number Email address
John Smith 123456987 [email protected]

Course Title Basic Nursing Assistant Training
Course Number NUR 106
Credit Hours 8
Total Contact Hours 32
Theory hours 22
Clinical Hours 10
Class Days Tuesdays, Thursdays
Period Semester 2, 2016 (8 weeks)
Class location Room 3 Southern Wing
Office Hours Schedule an appointment using the instructor’s e-mail address
The above program is an ideal head start for all individuals that want to receive the certification to enable them to work as nurse assistants. Pursuing the course will give individuals the desired admission to further colleges as they intend to pursue further nursing programs. Thus, the course is an ideal platform to build confidence through clinical experiences and thus a chance to pursue a fulfilling career in health care.
A course description
Students who attain a certification as nurse assistants can increase their earning potential from a nursing career. Nursing is touted to be one of the most fulfilling careers an individual can engage in (Sharkey, Hudak, Horn & Spector, 2011). CAN’s play a vital part in today’s health care systems. The knowledge and skills of CNA’s are consistently on demand because it entails responding to the health needs of patients in various health care settings. The CNA training program seeks to prepare individuals with the relevant information and experience required for one to become a nurse assistant in home health care centers, medical facilities, and even hospice settings. A major benefit of the program is that it is prepared with a distinct input from caregivers, educators, and long-term industry representatives. Moreover, the program is designed to ensure that it equips its beneficiaries with hands-on skills that exceed state and federal standards for the provision of health care services (Gursky & Ryser, 2007). Most importantly, the course does not only pay major focus to the academic knowledge taught in class. It ensures that its members are also equipped with hands-on skills for professional nurses and the art of caregiving to facilitate them with the capacity to provide care in a compassionate manner for people in health care systems.
The following basic CNA curriculum has been designed to offer students with knowledge and skills to enable them to perform basic care services to patients. The patient will thus have the capacity to respond to acute care settings and long term settings. The course is expected to prepare students to work as nursing assistants. The Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or a registered nurse (RN) students will supervise the students in clinical setups (Sharkey et al. 2011). The following syllabus has been tailored to meet the requirements of the curriculum for the state’s department of public health. Moreover, the core nursing assistant proficiency programs have been state-approved. They represent the ideal evaluation to gauge student competency in both written and manual skills components. The course demands that the student has at least 8 credit hours, 32 total contact hours of which 22 are theoretical, and 10 are practical in a clinical setting. A student will be considered eligible to complete the written examinations as certified nursing assistants when one satisfactorily completes the course.
Nature of work- Nurse Assistants take part in routine duties whereby they will be caring for their patients and residents. The assistant will be required to perform a host of care tasks including: the transfer of a patient from the bed to a wheelchair, bathing, shaving and the provision of oral hygiene for resident patients, walking and performing a variety of motion exercises, maintenance of cleanliness to the patient and their general surrounding as well as changing of bed linens. The nursing assistant will also be proficient in taking temperature, respiratory rates, blood pressures amongst other vital measurements used during patient treatments. The nurse would be adequately furnished with the desirable skills to practice good hand hygiene as well ensure the safety of residents at all times while in the clinical setup.
Course outcome objectives expected
Students who pursue a course to be nurse assistants will be equipped with knowledge and skills to:
Identify the roles of an RN, a CNA and an LPN in various settings
Describe the organization of medical facilities
Describe the roles played by health care teams from varying interdisciplinary
Apply the theoretical knowledge of a nursing assistant when delivering basic medical services
Demonstrate the capacity to perform essential nursing assistant clinical skills
Use appropriate and accurate communication skills and methodologies to patients and members of the medical team
Demonstrate ethics and morality as well as characteristics of responsibility, honesty and care for the provision of patients.
Conduct follow-ups on patient care tasks as is delegated by the nurses in charge
The above are some of the most popular roles that the course will furnish a student with. However, it is essential to realize that that the functions of a CNA are consistently expanding. Graduates would thus be provided with a variety of options even as they opt to consider the above course. CNA’s can be easily found in every type of health facility. Thus, the institution believes that it can customize the contents of the course to enable nurses to pursue a training methodology that resonates with their individual career goals. The course will be a reliable platform for students to learn more about basic concepts, attitudes, and procedures necessary to conduct comprehensive nursing care in diverse health care settings.
It is essential also to realize that the teaching process will be a shared responsibility between the student and the instructor (Sharkey et al. 2011). The instructor is expected to offer the student with purposeful learning experiences in a conducive environment. Consequently, the student is expected to demonstrate active participation and assume responsibility for the learning process as well as recognizing and accepting that individual performance and achievement is dependent on motivation and personal abilities.
Required materials and learning resources
All students registered for the course are expected to attend the class with:
Small notebook
Stethoscope
Black non-erasable pen
Watch with a digital display
Personal Protective Equipment Goggle (PPE)
Institution’s gray pants, teal top, and plain white shoes
Required Textbook
Sorrentino, S, Remmert, L., & Gorek, B. Mosby’s Essentials or Nursing Assistants. 4th Edition ISBN 9780323033211
Similarly, students will have to undergo mandatory clinical requirements to enable them take part in mandatory clinical tests and meet particular requirements. They include:
Mandatory Criminal background check on the first day of attendance
American Heart Association (AHA) Basic Life Support (BLS) Certificate for the health care providers
Fingerprinting must be completed within the first 14 days of class at an approved facility
Medical, physical examinations by a primary physician or any other approved health care service provider
10-panel urine drug screen
Rapid Plasma Reagin test and A Complete Blood Count
Influenza vaccine
Valid Social Security Number
Two-step tuberculosis Test and a Chest X-Ray Report
Social security number (should be valid)
Tetanus-Diphtheria-Pertussis vaccine (Tdap)
If a student fails to comply with the above requirements within the first 7 days of admission, it will lead to the dismissal or withdrawal from the program
Instructional methods and activities
The instructor intends to use a variety of teaching approaches and activities to disseminate knowledge and skills to the students. The methods will include:
Lecture
Discussions
Video/DVD
College Laboratory settings
Written handouts
PowerPoint Presentations
Return demonstrations
Clinical experiences
Classroom policies or rules
Students must attend all their classes in time every day. Attendance of classes is mandatory until the completion of the specific lesson. Students must demonstrate active participation, willingness to learn and a positive attitude. Any repetition on absenteeism and practices that indicate a lack of commitment to class work or clinical interaction will have an adverse outcome on the results of the student. A student is expected to notify the instructor in writing or a voicemail in the event of tardiness and emergencies. Students with medical conditions that may inhibit their class attendances would be expected to provide relevant documentation to the institution’s Heath Career office. However, such students would be prohibited from attending clinical sites until a verified medical documentation of their state is given.
Evaluation methods
The students will be evaluated using a variety of methods to prove their competency in the coursework. There will be group work, presentations, Continuous Assessment Tests and the main exam. The evaluation would thus be a total output of the contribution of the student to each of the mentioned activities. The student must record an overall grade output of a minimum of a C., considered as (75%). The grading would be as follows:
A=92-100
B=83-91
C=75-82
The distribution of the course marks will be as follows
1 exam= 60% of the grade
3- CATS= 25% of grade
Assignments and group work-10% of grade
Presentation= 5% of grade
Clinical evaluations will be separately evaluated. A student will be expected to record a minimum of an S (satisfactory grade) in the laboratory and clinical skills.
An outline and general timeline of the course content
Weekly Agenda Lab Skills
Week 1-2
Introduction to the Nursing Assistant Course
Discussion of chapters 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 Bed making
Hand washing
Measuring and recording of vital signs
Appling a transfer belt
Ambulating with transfer belt
Week 2
CAT 1 Chapters: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Discussion of chapters 8.9,10,11,12,13 Measurement of pressure and temperature and recording of their values
Transferring a patient using mechanical lifts
Side-lying position
Week 3
CAT 2 chapters 8.9,10,11,12,13
Discussion chapters 14, 15, 16, 17 ,18 19, 20 Perineal care
Shower and Tub baths
Catheter care
Shaving a patient
Nail care skills
Partial bath
Dressing a patient
Oral hygiene
Feeding a patient
Installing and removing Personal Protective Equipment
Week 4
Discussion chapters 21, 22, 23, 24 Collection of specimen (Urine, stool, and sputum)
Measurement of height and weight
Week 5
CAT 3 on 14, 15, 16, 17 ,18 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Discussion on chapters 25, 26, 27 Practice on all acquired skills so far
Range of motion
Week 6-7
CAT 4: On all chapters randomly
Practice on all acquired skills so far
Week 8
Exam
Presentation
Group skills evaluation Final assessment of all skills and competencies acquired
All CATS will be scheduled for Thursdays. The timeline is to give the students ample time to go through previously acquired skills and knowledge. The supervisors in charge will conduct an assessment of the clinical skills. The grades or recommendations given by the supervisors will be useful in determining the proficiency of a student on the vital skills acquired during the learning process. The last week would be reserved purposely for final evaluations and presentations. An assessment of student interaction when in a group and their capacity to reason together will be conducted. Most importantly, all students will take part in presentation upon which their communication skills will be assessed. The homework and assignments will be given every fortnight. The instructor can evaluate a student’s writing level using the homework as well. Finally, the main exam issued by the state body will also be given in the final week. There will be no discussions and meetings to give the students ample time for preparation of all the activities in the final week.

References
Gursky, B. S., & Ryser, B. J. (2007). A training program for unlicensed assistive personnel. The Journal of School Nursing, 23(2), 92-97.
Sharkey, S., Hudak, S., Horn, S. D., & Spector, W. (2011). Leveraging certified nursing assistant documentation and knowledge to improve clinical decision making: the on-time quality improvement program to prevent pressure ulcers. Advances in skin & wound care, 24(4), 182-188.