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Once you have received your CNA certification, your medical education does not end.  In fact, it is not only a State law, but Federal law, that you be provided with ongoing medical education by the hospital, clinic, nursing home, or facility that employs you.

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA 87) orders nursing homes, hospitals, and assisted living facilities throughout the nation to provide regular-in-service education for nurse aides. Specifically, the law requires the facility to complete a performance review of every nurse not less than once a year.  Facilities are also required to provide at least 12 hours of in-service education per year to CNAs for the purpose of addressing identifiable needs that appear from the reviews.

Likewise, Ohio Administrative Code §3701-17-07.1 (K), follows the Federal law to the “T.”  It specifically states:

“… each long-term care facility shall provide all of the following to each nurse aide it uses:

(2) Regular performance review to assure that individuals working in the facility as nurse aides are competent to perform the nursing and nursing-related services they perform. Performance reviews shall be conducted at least ninety days after the nurse aide completes successfully the competency evaluation program conducted by the director under division (C) of section 3721.31 of the Revised Code and the applicable rules of Chapter 3701-18 of the Administrative Code or commences work in the facility and annually thereafter. The performance review shall consist, at minimum, of an evaluation of the nurse aide’s working knowledge and clinical performance and shall be conducted by the aide’s immediate supervisor or a nurse designated by the facility to conduct the performance evaluations. The facility shall maintain a written record of each performance review; and

(3) Regular in-service education, both in groups and, as necessary in specific situations, on a one-to-one basis, based on the outcome of performance reviews required by paragraph (K)(2)(a) of this rule. For the purposes of this provision, “specialty unit” means a discrete part of the nursing home that houses residents who have common specialized care needs, including, but not limited to, dementia care, hospice care, and mental health care units.

(a) Formal in-service education shall include an instructional presentation and may include skills demonstration with return demonstration and in-service training. In-service training may be provided on the unit as long as it is directed toward skills improvement, is provided by trained individuals and is documented.

(b) In-service education shall be sufficient to ensure the continuing competence of nurse aides and address areas of weakness as determined in nurse aides’ performance reviews and shall address the special needs of residents as determined by the facility staff. It also shall include, but is not limited to, training for nurse aides providing nursing and nursing-related services to residents with cognitive impairment. The in-service education for nurse aides working in specialty units shall address the special needs of the residents in the unit.

(c) The facility shall assure that each nurse aide receives at least twelve hours of formal in-service education each year and that each nurse aide who works in a specialty unit receives sufficient additional hours of training each year to meet the special needs of the residents of that specialty unit. In-service education may be obtained through web-based training programs. For purposes of this paragraph, the year within which a nurse aide must receive continuing education is calculated based on the commencement of employment.”

The nitty-gritty is in-service training is necessary to maintain a valid CNA certificate, as well as ensure your continuing proficiency and expertise.  Any way you look at it, ongoing medical training is a win-win situation for you.  The continued education increases your skills as a top-notch CNA and it is afforded to you by your employer at no cost to you, as mandated by both Federal and State laws.