CNA Course

Maine Medical Center values the CNAs employed throughout the hospital. CNAs are caregivers who provide patients assistance with activities of daily living and basic needs. They also help patients feel safe and comfortable throughout their hospitalization. These direct caregivers spend most of their time assisting patients and listening to their concerns.

Maine Medical Center offers a Certified Nursing Assistant course, which includes classroom work, skills labs, and clinical experience. The course is an 11- week, daytime course of 180 hours. MMC covers the cost of the course and the books. At the end of the course, the students take the State Certification Examination.

The course is sponsored by MMC's Center for Clinical and Professional Development and Portland Adult Education.

The course covers:

• Age-specific care through the lifespan
• Safe patient care delivery
• Infection control principles and practices
• Body mechanics and mobility skills
• Communication skills
• Assisting with activities of daily living
• Nutrition and assisting patients with meeting nutritional needs
• Common health problems and nurse assistant care
• CPR and Basic Life Support (BLS)

In skills labs, students practice taking vital signs, assisting with patient mobility, and patient hygiene skills. The clinical experience allows students to work with patients on nursing units at MMC.

The next class we will be accepting students for will be the September 2013 class. The Information Session, to accept students for our fall CNA Class starting in September 2013, will be held Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. in the Dana Center Auditorium located at 22 Bramhall Street (Maine Medical Center). To reserve a seat for the Information Session, email Beth Turner at   turneb@mmc.org including your name and phone number.  Reminders will NOT be sent out so mark the date in your calendar.  Bring to the Information Session a completed application and all required paperwork.  The TABE test (a reading comprehension test) will be administered during the Information Session.  You must receive a score of 11 to 12.9 to be able to submit an application to the CNA program.  Applicants to the CNA Program can take the TABE test only once during a year (a year from the date of that last TABE test taken.).  You must attend the information session and bring a completed application in order to be considered for the class.  

Please Note:  A person cannot be a CNA in Maine if he/she has been convicted of theft or abuse in a health care setting, sexual abuse, or a crime for which one could have received a 3-year sentence.  If you have questions about this, please contact the Maine CNA Registry at 207-624-7300, or visit their website at Maine.gov 

Links:
How to Apply - Information Session 
Application form
MMC CNA Job Description
Helpful Resources
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