You will want to be a compassionate and hard-working individual if you are looking to start a career as a certified nursing assistant in Oregon. It will be necessary to complete a nursing assistant training course and to challenge and pass the exam for certification. You will find various nursing assistant courses throughout the state of Oregon.
Training Hours and Requirements
Oregon requires twice as much education as the federal minimum for prospective nursing assistants. You will spend 150 hours of training before you can sit for the certification exam. Some of that time will be spent in a classroom and some will be spent gaining hands on experience. You will have the opportunity to learn about and then practice the necessary CNA skills. There will be a clinical component to your training where you will have the opportunity to work directly with patients while being under the supervision of a registered nurse supervisor. The training will prepare you well for everyday situations that you will come up against when working in various healthcare facilities as a CNA.
Certification Through Endorsement
The state of Oregon does offer you the opportunity to apply for certification through endorsement. This is a process by which you ask to have a valid nursing assistant certification from another state transferred to Oregon. You must have worked for at least 400 hours in the past two years as a nursing assistant or proving related duties if you want to be able to submit an application. Your application will request proof that you attended a state-approved training program and sat for the state approved certification exam. You cannot apply to transfer your certification if it is expired. If you have not worked recently as a CNA or completed a training course but did not work in the field, you can request to renew training and to simply sit for the certification Exam in Oregon.
Nursing Assistant Certification Renewal in Oregon
Keep tract of the expiration date of your nursing assistant certification. You will be renewing your certification every two years. You should receive the necessary paperwork at least six weeks before your certification is set to expire. You will need to send the renewal forms back to the State Board of Nursing before your certification expires. If you have not worked for at least 400 hours over two years, you cannot easily renew your license. In such a case, you will need to Contact the Board of Nursing for instructions on how to renew your certification.
CNA Certification Information by State:
