Certified Nurse Aide (CNA)
About the Program
Iowa Western Community College offers training for those interested in becoming Nurse Assistants. The 79 Hour Course is offered monthly in a variety of locations and taught by Registered Nurses. These courses are designed to provide 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 completion. This course is a prerequisite to the IWCC Nursing program. The 79 Hour Nurse Assistant course consists of 30 hours of classroom, which includes professional soft skills, 15 hours of lab, and 30 hours of clinical. The class schedules are available by clicking on the link at the top of this page. Each student will be provided with a course syllabus and the skills checklist, these are valuable tools for the nurse assistant course and state testing.
Onsite classes available in Council Bluffs, Atlantic, Clarinda, Harlan and Shenandoah.
Traditional Class: $575
Payment may be made with a money order, cashier’s check, credit card, or cash. Includes textbook and handouts. $150 State Testing Fee not included.
Hybrid Class: $675
In the classroom and online. The hybrid format enables you to do the 30 hours of the didactic portion of the course online at home. Payment may be made with a money order, cashier’s check, credit card, or cash. Includes textbook and handouts. $150 State Testing Fee not included.
State Written and Skills Exams
Cost $150
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 of $150. 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
Course Policies
- There is a $25 drop fee for all class withdrawals prior to one business day in advance plus $50 if the background check has been done.
- A $75 fee for all transfers into another class (New background check) plus a $25 drop fee.
Withdrawal/transfer 1 business day in advance – 50% refund. - No refunds are given for less than 1 business day withdrawal/transfer or for “no shows.”
Chapter 81.16(3)c(2): If a person who is not employed, or does not have an offer to be employed, as a nurse aide becomes employed by, or receives an offer of employment from, a facility not later than 12 months after completing a nurse aide training and competency evaluation program or competency evaluation program, the facility shall reimburse the nurse aide for costs incurred in completing the program or competency evaluation on a pro-rata basis during the period in which the person is employed as a nurse aide. The formula for paying the nurse aides on a pro-rata basis shall be as follows:
- Add all costs incurred by the aides for the course, books, and tests.
- Divide the total arrived at in No. 1 above by 12 to prorate the costs over a one-year period and establish a monthly rate.
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
Cost $575
Textbook not included in the cost.
Questions? Contact us at ce@iwcc.edu or (712) 325-3259.
Accessing 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.