UC Clermont Offers 10-week Certified Nursing Aide Certificate Program

UC Clermont College is offering a Certified Nursing Aide (CNA) Certificate program - training students to work as nurse aides while continuing their education.
 
For prospective nursing aides looking to increase their expertise, credibility and employment prospects, UC Clermont College offers the CNA program at its UC East campus (former Ford Plant) in Batavia, Ohio.
 
The 10-week program, offered each semester, consists of eight hours of classroom and laboratory simulation and three days at a long-term care facility, where students practice their skills, during weeks seven, eight and nine. After passing the course, the program arranges for a testing company appointed by the state health department to come to the UC East campus to test students via a written computerized test and a practical skills component. “It’s a great setup because the students know the classroom and the lab, and they feel very comfortable,” said adjunct professor and registered nurse Susan Hillger. “They're not in some strange place to take this test.”
 
After passing the state test, students are not only certified nurse aides, but they also earn four college credits from the program. Hillger said that nurse-aide training in Ohio has existed since 1989 and benefits both aides and patients by providing more control over the quality of care that long-term patients receive. Graduates are qualified to work in hospitals, home health positions, and other healthcare facilities that offer long-term care.
 
“Many people feel that certified nurse aides make better caregivers, and, if they choose to continue their education, better nurses, because they've walked in the shoes of the people that do most of the work in hospitals and long-term care settings,” Hillger said. “The aides spend the most time with patients.”

Hillger also points out that earning the certificate helps many students find paid work in the field while continuing their education in nursing, physical therapy assistance, or other medical occupations. “They can earn money, plus continue to go to school. I have been teaching since 2009, and I’ve taught students in my nurse-aide training program who have now graduated from the UC School of Nursing,” she said. “It’s so rewarding to me to see them succeed in their careers and help others.”

For more information on UC Clermont’s State-Tested Nurse Aides program, contact Susan Hillger at hillgesn@uc.edu.
 
UC Clermont College is located in the center of Clermont County on 91 beautiful wooded acres in Batavia Township.  The college is an accredited, open-access college offering more than 50 programs, associate degrees and a bachelor degree. UC East, a Clermont County expansion in the former Ford plant in Batavia Township, opened in the fall of 2010. It is home to UC Clermont's Allied Health programs. The college is part of the nationally recognized University of Cincinnati. For more information, call 513-732-5200 or visit www.ucclermont.edu