Certified Nurse Aide (CNA)
About the Program
- 79 Hour Course is offered monthly in a variety of locations and taught by Registered Nurses
- Provides knowledge and basic nursing skills needed to care for patients and residents in a variety of long term care facilities
- Nurse Aide students will be awarded 3 Iowa Western credits upon successful completion of course
- Course is a prerequisite to the IWCC Nursing program
- Course consists of 34 hours of classroom instruction, which includes professional soft skills, 15 hours of lab, and 30 hours of clinical.
- Onsite classes available in Council Bluffs, Atlantic, Clarinda, Harlan and Shenandoah*
*Subject to availability, based on enrollment numbers.
Registration | Choose hybrid or traditional style classes
$595 Traditional Classes | Tuition & Textbook
$675 Hybrid Classes* | Tuition and Textbook
$175 | State Testing Fees
$50 | Non-Refundable Processing Fee
*Mixture of online and in-person learning
State Written and Skills Exams
Nurse Aide State Written and Skills Exams are offered at Iowa Western Community College. Test registration forms for the Written and Skills Exam are available on our website and must be completed and returned with a testing fee (see form for cost). Fees are due when exams are scheduled. Written instructions are given to the student at the time. Successful completion of these exams is required by Federal Legislation to work in a long-term care facility. Contact Iowa Western Continuing Education (712) 325-3255 for dates and times.
Registration for State Written and Skills Exams
Fill out the forms below. You may type in the forms and save the forms with data.
Complete, print and bring the forms and payment to Iowa Western at:
Continuing Education – Looft Hall
Iowa Western Community College
2700 College Rd
Council Bluffs, IA 51503
Refunds: You may cancel your registration 48 business hours prior to the start of most classes and receive a 100% refund with the exception of the non-refundable processing fee. If contacting outside Iowa Western‘s Community College Continuing Education Department business hours, leave a voicemail and or send the department an email. Iowa Western Continuing Education is not responsible for refunds if contact is not pursued via voicemail and or email. In compliance with the IWCC policy, refunds will only be produced in the form of a check. A check will be issued within 14 business days after the refund is admitted to the customer. Refund will be sent to the customer’s address that is labeled on file. Certain program restrictions may apply. Contact Continuing Education for details at ce@iwcc.edu. Cancellations: Iowa Western reserves the right to cancel any class where difficulties arise in staffing or scheduling or where minimum enrollment is not achieved. A full refund will be issued for all canceled classes. Transfers/Withdrawals: Transfers may be subject to a $25.00 transfer fee. Non-attendance for a class does not constitute a withdrawal and refunds are not issued for nonattendance. Transfers may be made up to two full business days (unless otherwise noted in the class information) prior to the start date of the class. After that time, transfers will not be permitted and no refund will be issued.
Advanced Certified Nurse Aide (CNA)
A continuation of the traditional 75 hour CNA course, designed to provide additional skills and clinical hours to ready students for the hospital work environment. This program is taught by a Registered Nurse.
Prerequisites
Mail or bring in pre-requisite documentation with registration form:
- Traditional 75 hour CNA certificate
- CPR certificate
- Flu vaccination
- Documentation of vaccination/immunizations. You MUST complete Immunization Record Form
Questions? Contact us at ce@iwcc.edu or (712) 325-3259.
Education 2 Employment Tuition AssistanceAccessing the CNA Registry
Skills Exam
- Minimum score of 70% is required to pass the skills exam
- Results of skills test and certificate are given at the conclusion of the test
Written Exam
- Minimum score of 70% is required to pass the written exam
- Scores are not mailed to student. The Registry does not receive numeric scores, only “pass” or “fail”
How to Access Your Registry Status (After 10 days to 2 week waiting period)
- Go to the following website www.dia-hfd.state.ia.us
- In the upper left of your screen, you will see a box with some navigational tabs in it. Click on the “Login” tab, which is the second button from the top of the menu bar.
- This will bring up 2 boxes in the middle of your screen requesting an Account ID and password.
- Do not try to create your own ID and temporary password, they have already been set.
- The Account ID is the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number, an underscore, and the first initial of your first and last name, in capital letters. It will look like the following: example: 6789_FL.
- The temporary password will be the first 5 digits of your Social Security Number, an underscore, and the first initial of your first and last name, in capital letters. It will look like the following: example: 12345_FL.
- If the message “Invalid User Credentials” appears on your first and second tries, please contact the registry at the number listed below. You may have the same last four digits and initials as another person on the registry and have a different special character in your Account ID and password.
- You will be requested to set up 5 “baseline” or security questions.
- You will then be asked to create a new password that only you will know. The password must be at least 8 characters long with at least one capital letter, one lower case letter, a special character and a number. Make it something that you will easily remember such as DMLincoln_1. Additionally, the system will have you reset your password every two or three months for security purposes. Just switch the special character or number to update your password.
- Once you log back in with your new password, you will be taken to your own homepage within our database. You can navigate anywhere within your record from here, and you can also print your card from this page as well.
- To find out your current status and check to see if your employers have reported your employment click on the Demographics tab, which is the second to the last button on the menu bar.
- The first section on this page will have editable fields where you can correct personal information and update the system.
- The second section on the page lists the certifications the registry tracks and your status. In order to work in a Long Term Care facility or larger hospitals, your certificate must read active. You can be in No Test or No Employment and work as a CNA in Home Health, Assisted Living Programs, Intermediate and Residential Care facilities, Elder Group Homes, CDAC, etc. on your course completion certificate alone. Your course completion certificate never expires. Only your ability to work in a Long Term Care Facility expires after 24 months of no reported Long Term Care CNA employment.
- The third section lists all the reported employment for your certificate. If there is a gap of more than two years between any LTC employment you have had, you are ineligible to work in Long Term Care facilities until the gap has been filled with additional countable employment or you retake and pass both the written and skills state competency exams.
- To print your card, do the following: Turn off the popup blocker feature on your internet browser. Click on the tab that says Print DCW Card, which is the last button on the menu bar. A picture of your card will come up and you can print it. If the printer icon does not appear for the window, do Ctrl+P from your keyboard to access the print screen.
Questions?
Please e-mail DCW@iowa.gov or call the Iowa DCW Registry at (515) 281-4077.
Registry hours are 8 am-4:30 pm Monday-Friday. Closed all state and federal holidays.