Indiana CNA Program Basics
CNAs in the state of Indiana primarily work in long term care nursing facilities. There are two known types of nurse aides. The first type is the one who provide long term assistance or private care to patients with their ADLs or activities of daily living. On the other hand, QMA or Qualified Medication Aide dispenses or passes medications to patients and also performs specific treatments. However, all treatments are applied with the guidance of either LPN or RN. Prior to obtaining a license and a special title of being a QMA, nurse aides must undergo a series of additional training along with the yearly in-service training.
Indiana CNA Training Requirements
- All interested CNA applicants must attend and complete a CNA program that offers 30 hours of classroom discussions and another 70 hours of clinical training.
- A CNA who wants to attain QMA level must undergo an additional 100 hours of training after completing at least 1,000 working hours as a nurse aide.
- This added training course will be split into two portions; 60 hours for classroom studies and 40 hours for clinical exercises.
Indiana CNA Examination
- The state certification assessment is administered by Ivy Tech University throughout Indiana and has two parts.
- Examinees will be rated on their performance on the written and clinical skills test.
- In order to obtain certification, students must pass both sections of the exam.
- The assessment may be taken with a maximum of 3 attempts.
- Students must retake the training course should they fail to pass the state examination after 3 consecutive tries.
- Aspiring CNAs must not have any criminal records.
- If the CNA is transferring from another state, he or she should not have any allegations of abuse or neglect in their previous nursing roles.
- Certain violations of the law may result in the denunciation of the CNA’s license.
Indiana CNA Certification Transfer
- CNAs from other states may file an application to take the state assessment without undergoing additional training.
- However, these out of state nurse aides are still required to pass a manual skills evaluation and a competency examination.
Indiana CNA Certification Renewal
- Each year, the state’s Nurse Aide Registry sends out a notification letter to facilities to remind their CNAs about the renewal of their licenses.
- CNAs may opt to apply for license renewal on their own since renewal forms are accessible on the Indiana’s Department of Health website.
- Renewal forms are also mailed to CNAs along with the renewal notification letter.
- CNAs will also need to submit necessary documents as proof that they have performed the role of a nurse aide for at least 8 paid hours during the past 2 years.
- If the CNA failed to take all the necessary steps, he or she may lose the certification and will be required to undergo the CNA training course again.
