You will assist patients with activities of daily living in you chose a career as a certified nursing assistant. In Florida, you can become a certified nursing assistant by attending a training course and passing the necessary certification exam (both of which must be approved by the state). One of the most common places to find CNA training programs is at nursing care facilities.
Training Requirements
You will train to become a CNA in Florida by completing classroom and clinical studies. Some of the topics that your course will cover include: basic medical procedures, patient rights, how to respond in an emergency and how to prevent the spread of disease. These are just a few of the topics that you will cover. You will also gain hands on experience performing duties specific to CNAs.
CNA training classes in Florida will cover a span of at least 120 hours. Some training programs will offer you with even more hours of instruction. You can find both part-time and full-time training programs. Programs generally last for a few weeks. Training courses will meet curriculum requirements as set forth by state and federal regulations.
CNA Reciprocity in Florida
You are eligible to apply for reciprocity to transfer your CNA license to Florida if you are already the Certified Nursing Assistant in another state. You will need to make sure that before you apply for your reciprocity that your license in the current state is both valid and active and that you are in good standing with the Nurse Aide registry in your state. The following is the process to apply for reciprocity in FL.
1) As mentioned earlier make sure your license is active and has not expired or lapsed.
2) If you are applying for reciprocity you will not be required to the take the CNA Exam again.
3) You must be in good-standing with the current state nursing board in order for the reciprocity to be successful.
4) You will have to accept to a criminal background check done by the FBI. The background check usually takes approximately 6 – 8 weeks but can take up to a few months in some cases.
5) You will be required to fill in and send 2 finger print cards as per the Florida statutes, failure to submit these will result in delays in finalizing your reciprocity application. The finger print cards can be found here : http://www.fldoh.sofn.net/
To make sure you follow all the steps for applying for your reciprocity see the Florida nursing board checklist to make sure you don’t miss out on anything. Florida Reciprocity Check list
Renew Your CNA Certification
It is not too difficult to renew your certification in Florida. You will need to do this every twenty-four months. Forms should be sent to you at least two months before your certification will expire. You can also go to the Nursing Aide Registry website to renew your certification. T his can be done by selecting the ‘renew my license’ option and following all instructions. When you are completing your renewal paperwork, do not leave any information blank. Do not forget to mail any required fees or other pertinent information. You will need to contact the Nursing Aide Registry if you have allowed your certification to lapse.
For further Details or Inquiry:
Dept. of Health, CNA Registry,
4052 Bald Cypress
Way Bin #C-13,
Tallahassee, FL.
32399-3263
website: www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/cna/index.html
Call: 850-245-456
Fax: 850-488-4281
Q&A’s
Q. I know I need to complete a training program that has been approved by the state in order to be eligible to sit for the CNA certification exam in Florida. I am having some trouble locating nursing assistant training program. There are some nurse aide courses near me but they do not say whether or not they meet the requirements for nursing assistant certification. How can I find state approved programs?
A. You can talk to the program coordinator for any CNA programs of interest. Ask him or her if the program is among the state approved CNA courses. They will tell you if this program will make you eligible to sit for the nursing assistant certification exam. You can also view a list of nursing assistant certification training programs by visiting: http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Mqa/cna/lst_trainingcna.pdf.
Q. I have recently moved to a new house. I am still living in Florida and am not far from where I used to live. I am a certified nursing assistant and am wondering if it matters that my address has changed. I want everything to match on my certification and the nursing assistant registry. Is there some way to update my address?
A. You can and must update your address if you are a certified nursing assistant and have moved to a new location. One of the best and easiest ways to update your address is by using the online services segment of the Department of Health website for Florida. Find that website here: https://ww2.doh.state.fl.us/mqaservices/login.asp?mult=&pass=Y. You can select ‘certified nursing assistant’ from the drop down menu. You will enter the information for your online account. From here, you will be able to update your address.
For a list of CNA Programs available in Florida, you can visit our page for more details
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