Nursing
Certified Nursing Assistant
Do you enjoy working with and helping people? Do you have a big, compassionate heart? This 8-credit hour one-semester program can be your first step to a rewarding career in health care. After successful completion of this program, you may test for professional certification. Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) provide direct patient care in a variety of healthcare settings, including hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and home health care.
Experiential Learning
In our CNA classroom, you will practice skills in realistic healthcare settings, using real hospital beds, wheelchairs, and other equipment, along with realistic “dummy” patients. During the clinical portion of the course, you will gain 32 hours of experience in a real healthcare setting.
Specific job skills include:
- Monitor vital signs and keep records,
- Move a patient from bed to a wheelchair,
- Train patients to walk with a walker or a gait belt,
- Care and grooming of a bedridden patient,
- Feed a patient,
- Manage tubes (ostomy, catheter, drainage tubes),
- Administer CPR and first aid,
- Infection prevention/sanitary practices.
Faculity Expertise
Your CNA instructor has a Bachelor in Nursing, and is an RN with at least 2 years of experience and 1 year in long-term care facilities. Your instructor works closely with all students to ensure their success in the program.
Career Opportunities & Outcomes
Healthcare is one of the fastest growing job sectors in New Mexico and the U.S., with a median annual salary of $38,000 for Nursing Assistants in 2023. There is high demand for nursing assistants in skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, and assisted living facilities.
Occupational Outlook: Nursing Assistants & Orderlies
CNA job duties and responsibilities:
As a Nursing Assistant, you will work with a team of healthcare providers, where your skills and confidence will grow. The Nursing Assistant certificate can be a stepping-stone to many more advanced professional healthcare programs, such as: Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Registered Nurse (RN), and Nurse Practitioner (NP).
Types of Nursing Careers & Specialties
Program Highlights & Special Features
In the classroom, you will practice skills in realistic healthcare settings, using real hospital beds, wheelchairs, and other equipment, along with realistic “dummy” patients.
During the clinical portion of the course, you will gain experience working with real patients during 32 hours of training in a real healthcare setting.
Program Details
Please visit the catalog for more information on this program:
Program Cost
Information on tuition and fees can be found here:
Typical additional costs include textbooks, lab fees and fees for a background check, vaccinations and scrubs.
Contact Information
Coordinator, Department of Sciences
Dr. Robin Kelly
Lecturer III, Chemistry
robinkelly@unm.edu