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Certified Nursing Assistant education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Usually, certified nursing assistants don't need a college education. The most common degree for certified nursing assistants is high school diploma with 29% graduates, with only 19% certified nursing assistant graduates earning associate degree. Certified nursing assistants who decided to graduate from college often finish University of Phoenix or Central State University. Some good skills to have in this position include patients, vital signs and home health.

Popular certified nursing assistant certifications include Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA), Medical Assistant, or Certified Nurse Technician (CNT). To improve certified nursing assistant qualification and skills, we prepared some online courses to help in certified nursing assistant education paths.

What education do you need to become a certified nursing assistant?

What degree do you need to be a certified nursing assistant?

The most common degree for certified nursing assistants is high school diploma, with 29% of certified nursing assistants earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 19% and associate degree degree at 16%.
  • High School Diploma, 29%
  • Associate, 19%
  • Bachelor's, 16%
  • Diploma, 10%
  • Other Degrees, 26%

What should I major in to become a certified nursing assistant?

You should major in nursing to become a certified nursing assistant. 37% of certified nursing assistants major in nursing. Other common majors for a certified nursing assistant include nursing assistants and business.

Best majors for certified nursing assistants

20 best online courses for certified nursing assistants

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1. Introduction to Integrative Nursing

coursera

This course is designed for nurses who are drawn to practice in a different way – nurses who value whole-person care and know that the essence of nursing practice is truly caring and healing. You will learn about the principles and practices of Integrative Nursing and how you can be a healing presence to all you serve. Then, you will do an integrative assessment and apply the principles of Integrative Nursing to improve symptom management and overall patient outcomes. Finally, you will explore...

2. Addiction Treatment: Clinical Skills for Healthcare Providers

coursera

This course is designed with a singular goal: to improve the care you provide to your patients with substance use disorders. By delving into a model case performed by actors, seven Yale instructors from various fields provide techniques to screen your patients for substance use disorder risk, diagnose patients to gauge the severity of their use, directly manage treatment plans, refer out to treatment services, and navigate the various conditions that may limit your patient’s access to treatment...

3. Home Health Aide, Nurse Aide, Caregiver Certification Course

udemy
4.6
(1,178)

Become A Certified Home Health Aide, Personal Care Aide, Nurse Aide/ Caregiver At The End Of This Course. Enroll Now!!...

4. Dosage Calculations Mastery for Nursing & Pharmacy Students

udemy
4.5
(303)

Master Dosage Calculations in 5 Hours Without Memorizing Any Formulas and Pass the NCLEX or PTCB Exam...

5. Nursing Informatics Leadership Theory and Practice

coursera

“By the end of this Course, you will be able to…” • Evaluate effective leadership styles for leadership in nursing informatics in clinical or academic contexts to improve leadership success. • Discover core values that support effective nursing informatics leadership in academic and clinical contexts to inform development of a personal leadership mission statement. • Discover competing values and polarities related to knowledge leadership and management to promote successful leadership...

6. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care

coursera

This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...

7. Become a Virtual Assistant

udemy
4.5
(1,223)

Live Free. Work Virtually. Virtual Assistant Training...

8. Virtual Assistant Training, a Complete Guide: Work From Home

udemy
4.4
(358)

Rock Star Virtual Assistant Training: Create an online business + become a freelancing virtual professional in any field...

9. Nursing Informatics Leaders

coursera

In this course, we explore the AMIA Nursing Informatics History Project. By the end of the module, you will understand the resources available that will be used in this course to learn about the first hand experiences, future vision, and lessons learned in becoming a nursing informatics pioneer. Course Objectives: • Explore the history of technology and its relationship to the beginning of nursing informatics to understand historical context and evolution of the specialty • Discover the AMIA...

10. Palliative Care Always Capstone Course

coursera

The Palliative Care Always Capstone course is designed to let you test your knowledge about palliative and help others understand the value of palliative care, while showing your creative side. In this course, you will impact community awareness about palliative care, promote self-care and wellness, show-off your communication skills in a virtual environment, and finish the course off by proving your thoughts on ways to offer psychosocial support to a patient and family...

11. Must-Have Tools for Virtual Assistants in 2023

udemy
4.8
(1,267)

Step by step tutorials for over 30 tools that will make your Virtual Assistant business and productivity skyrocket!...

12. Prehospital care of acute stroke and patient selection for endovascular treatment using the RACE scale

coursera

Acute stroke is a time-dependent medical emergency. In acute ischemic stroke, the first objective is to restore brain flow using sistemic thrombolytic treatment and, in patients with large vessel occlusion, by endovascular treatment. In hemorrhagic stroke there are also specific treatments that can improve the clinical outcome. The sooner the initiation of all these therapies the higher the clinical benefit. Thus, the organization of Stroke Code systems coordinated between emergency medical...

13. Trauma Emergencies and Care

coursera

Welcome to Trauma Emergencies and Care. In this course, you will learn about some of the mechanics and physics of trauma on the human body, and how this can cause injury. You will continue to expand your new vocabulary with medical terminology, and learn how to describe the different injuries you may see. You will also learn about the trauma system itself- and when it is important to transport patients to a trauma center. Then we will dive into specific injuries based on what part of the body...

14. Value-Based Care: Managing Processes to Improve Outcomes

coursera

COURSE 3 of 7. This course is designed to introduce you to critical office-based processes that a value-based practice must manage in the drive towards improved patient outcomes. In Module 2, we’ll focus on office-based and clinical patient-based supporting functions. At every level in healthcare, guidelines, processes, and functions exist to improve outcomes, and following a consistent process will return the best effect. Refine your understanding of value and learn strategies to provide real...

15. Traditional herbal medicine in supportive cancer care: From alternative to integrative

coursera

Please join us for an exciting and innovative journey, examining one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of the oncology setting: Traditional Herbal Medicine in Supportive Cancer Care. This course is presented with short lectures offering a wide range of issues related to the principles and practice of herbal medicine in cancer care. The course includes interviews with leading world experts from the field of Integrative Oncology, from the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe, the...

16. Emergency Care: Pregnancy, Infants, and Children

coursera

Welcome to the final course of lectures in your quest to master EMT basics. In this course, we will cover some of the highest-stress patient populations: pregnant patients and kids, also known as pediatrics. To wrap up your EMT knowledge we will end this course with information about hazmat situations, extricating patients from tight spots and finally how you write a note about your patient care. You will learn to ensure it communicates what your assessment of the patient was, what...

17. Motivational Enhancement Techniques: Working with Patients with Opioid & Substance Use Disorders or High Risk Use MAT Waiver Training S...

coursera

WORKING WITH PATIENTS WITH SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS OR HIGH RISK This optional online course opportunity is made possible through a joint partnership with University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVASOM) and Nursing (SON) and the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), DATA 2000 sponsor. This content was created by the AAAP and has been used with permission. The course consists of one 1-hour session for healthcare providers who wish to enhance their effectiveness in treating high-risk...

18. COVID-19 Training for Healthcare Workers

coursera

COVID-19 is rapidly spreading across the globe and all providers must be prepared to recognize, stabilize and treat patients with novel coronavirus infection. Following completion of this short course physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals will have a unified, evidenced-based approach to saving the lives of patients with COVID-19, including those who are critically ill. Learning modules are broken into short videos presented in a richly illustrated and compelling manner. The...

19. Pain Management: Easing Pain in Palliative Care

coursera

In this course, you will be able to develop a systems view for assessing and managing pain in the palliative care setting. By the end of the course, you will be able to: 1) Describe the pain problem in the palliative care setting; 2) Assess a person’s pain, 3) Explain the benefits of integrative therapies and pharmacologic strategies to manage pain...

20. Health for All Through Primary Health Care

coursera

This course explores why primary health care is central for achieving Health for All. It provides examples of how primary health care has been instrumental in approaching this goal in selected populations and how the principles of primary health care can guide future policies and actions. Two of the most inspiring, least understood, and most often derided terms in global health discourse are “Health for All” and “Primary Health Care.” In this course, we will explore these terms in the context...

Average certified nursing assistant salary by education level

According to our data, certified nursing assistants with a Master's degree earn the highest average salary, at $36,908 annually. Certified nursing assistants with a Bachelor's degree earn an average annual salary of $35,711.
Certified Nursing Assistant education levelCertified Nursing Assistant salary
Master's Degree$36,908
High School Diploma or Less$33,860
Bachelor's Degree$35,711
Some College/ Associate Degree$34,614

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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