Everybody wants to earn a lot of money. But different people choose different path for this. People who wish to choose Certified Nursing Assistant as a career may be curious to know the salary in this field. A CNA earns a good amount of salary and besides that, a CNA also gets various other benefits from this job. But what they must know is how much money a CNA can make, and how much other benefits they get, greatly varies.

First of all, you must know that a Certified Nursing Assistant can work in different working environments. For example, a CNA may work in local healthcare facilities hospitals, clinics elderly care facilities, etc or even at homes of elderly people as personal aides. The place where a CNA works influences the salary he or she may earn. For example, a CNA who works as a personal aide has a different salary than a CNA who works at a nursing home. The type of employment a CNA seeks will often determine the amount of money the CNA will earn per hour.

Often times CNAs working at hospitals tend to earn more than the CNAs working at nursing homes or as personal aides at homes. In a hospital, one can earn about $13-$20 per hour. Also, hospitals tend to have others benefits as well.  On the other hand, CNAs who work at elderly care facilities tend to earn around $12-$14 per hour. And other benefits may or may not be available. So, the salary of a certified nursing assistant varies according to the working environment.

The other factor that influences the salary of a certified nursing assistant is the experience. The more experienced a CNA is, the more salary he or she earns. Similarly, the salary of a CNA can also depend on where in the United States the CNA works. A CNA working in New York City tends to earn more than a CNA working in Nevada. So, the certified nursing assistant salary can vary on various factors but generally ranges between $20,000 and $30,000 per year.

If you are interested to choose Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) as a career then you may be delighted to know that the American Red Cross provides nationally recognized CNA training in different part of the United States. The training covers a nationally recognized curriculum and uses the requirements of each state.

According to the American Red Cross rules, a CNA trainee must attend all classes for the successful completion of the course. You must also display good performance in skill and knowledge evaluation test. The trainings can be strenuous sometimes and might require extensive physical effort, so the participants must be physically fit as well as free of any communicable disease in order to fully participate in the training classes and drills. If you have any questions regarding the medical conditions, then you must discuss them in advance before the course starts. During the course, some of the skills that the trainee learn are measuring a patient’s blood pressure, temperature, and pulse, positioning the patient safely as well as ambulating them. They are also required to maintain all the documentations, charts and paperwork. And, in a Red Cross CNA course, students also learn to take CPR to better handle emergency circumstances.

Red Cross CNA training

After successful completion of the Red Cross CNA training course, you must sit for a CNA license exam which must be successfully completed before entering a medical facility. The exam consist of two parts: the Skills Test and the Written Test. The exam takes approximately five and a half hours for completion. The trainee should first pass the Skills Test before taking the Written Test. Upon successfully passing the examination, the trainee will receive a certification stating that he or she is legally permitted to work as a CNA.

The American Red Cross training program has its own set of requirements that the CNA participants must fulfill. These are:

• The participant must be 18 years or older
• The participant should not have been involved in any kind of felony or misdemeanor within last 7 years.
• The trainee cannot be pregnant.
• The trainee must be free of all communicable diseases.

During the course of study, all students are required to:

• Arrive on time
• Attend all classes (only 6 missed hours are permitted; all the missed hours must be covered)
• Pass the final test with a score of 80% or higher