Nurse Aide
Prepare to become a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) with part-time courses. Get your Nurse Aide certificate from Arapahoe Community College while you work.
Do you want to start on a path into the field of nursing as soon as possible? ACC provides a one-semester part-time Nurse Aide certificate. After completing the Nurse Aide Certificate program, you will be prepared for entry-level employment as a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA), following certification by the Colorado Board of Nursing. Our program is designed to allow you to continue your current employment while attending school. Hone the care and compassion you already possess and apply to ACC to enter the nursing industry.
What You'll Learn
Our nurse aide program will help you develop a variety of basic nursing skills, including:
- Activities of daily living
- Use of assistive devices
- Recognition of the emotional, social, cultural and individual rights of patients
You will have an opportunity to practice these skills in our labs with transition into healthcare agencies.
CIP 513902 (NR3)
This program will prepare the student for employment as a nurse aide in hospital, home-care, skilled care and hospice facilities. The entry level skills of a nurse aide are an excellent introduction to a broad range of health professions. Nurse Aides provide close personal care for a variety of clients. Successful students are considerate of others and recognize how to meet the needs of vulnerable humans as well as how to interact with other members of the healthcare team. Basic nursing skills, including activities of daily living, use of assistive devices and recognition of the emotional, social, cultural and individual rights of patients are all competencies that will be covered in the coursework. Students will have an opportunity to practice these skills in the college lab with transition into healthcare agencies. Successful completion of the Nurse Aide Certificate course at ACC qualifies the student to take the State Certification Examination, also known as the NNAAP exam, to become a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA). The Nurse Aide program is approved by the State Board of Nursing, located at 1560 Broadway, Suite 1370, Denver, Colorado 80202-5146, telephone 303.894.2430.
Please see the full list of requirements and checklist at https://www.arapahoe.edu/academics-programs/programs/nurse-aide on the Nurse Aide Page.
Admission Requirements
Program Requirements
* For clinical requirements please see http://www.arapahoe.edu/departments-and-programs/a-z-programs/nurse-aide/-site-clinicals on the Nurse Aide Page
Graduation Requirements
- Courses required for this certificate must be completed with a "C" or better to meet graduation requirements.
- Apply for graduation online at www.arapahoe.edu/graduation.
- As a graduate of a Career and Technical Education program you will be contacted by an ACC employee in approximately six months to verify your employment information. This information gathering is a federal requirement to ensure that ACC receives certain federal funding.
Professional Licensing Disclosure
Students enrolling or continuing at Arapahoe Community College (ACC) have a right to certain information that the college is required by law to provide. As a student applying for or attending the Nurse Aide Program you have the right to know it meets the licensure or certification for Colorado. It is possible that the degree/certificate may count toward licensing in states other than Colorado. If you are planning to seek professional licensure, it is strongly recommended that you contact the appropriate licensing entity in the state in which you are located or plan to locate in order to seek information and guidance regarding licensure or certification requirements before you begin this program. This program meets the applicable state prerequisites for licensure or certification in Colorado as listed below:
Colorado Board of Nursing
National Nurse Aide Assessment Program Exam (NNAAP Exam)
ACC has not determined if the Nurse Aide Program meets applicable state prerequisites for licensure or certification in states other than Colorado. Other states include (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and U.S. Territories: American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands).
For additional licensing requirements by state, see: https://www.cnalicense.org/licensure-by-state/
ACC academic plans will help guide you through your chosen program. The academic plan will provide you with important information, like which semesters courses are offered if there are any prerequisites or co-requisites for courses, program outcomes, course sequence recommendations, notes for the program, graduation requirements, and other important information. These are updated annually, so we recommend downloading a copy of yours to keep on track to graduation.
As part of the Colorado Community College System, ACC offers courses at a very reasonable tuition rate. At today’s tuition rates, the 6 credit hours of the NUA certificate would only cost a COF (College Opportunity Fund) eligible student approximately $1200. Apply for your stipend.
Nonresidents will find tuition information in the current semester schedule. For schedule information and tuition and fees updates please view ACC’s current Tuition and Fees.
Students in the NUA program are also financially responsible for the nominal costs associated with clinical affiliations potentially including uniforms and travel to and from the clinical facility. Additionally, students are responsible for the cost of vaccinations, CPR and First Aid Certification, and a background check and drug test.
To learn more, please review the licensure information provided for the program of interest on our Professional Licensure page.
Nurse Aide Program Requirements
- Complete the ACC application for acceptance to college.
- Complete a Criminal Background Check through ACC. View disqualifying events information. (How to order the background check and drug screen through CastleBranch). Purchase and complete the background check and drug screen Nurse Aide package from Castle Branch.
Please note: Criminal background checks require a fee and the applicant's social security number. Should the background check reveal any disqualifying factors or a positive drug screen, the student will be required to drop the program. - Obtain the required vaccinations:
- Supplemental items due PRIOR to program start date:
Documentation that the following vaccines were received OR documentation of immunity via titer level:- 2 MMR Vaccines/positive titer
- 2 Varicella Vaccines/positive titer
- 3 Hepatitis B Vaccines/positive titer/ waiver
- Tdap vaccine (within the last 10 years)
- Documentation of a negative Tuberculosis Test completed within the year of program completion.
- Negative results from a Tuberculin Skin Test (TB)
- Negative chest x-ray with a previous positive TB test *Good for 5 years
- Negative TB blood test, QuantiFERON® or T-SPOT®
- BLS Certification Card: Upload a copy of your current BLS certification card. Must be from an American Heart Association Training Center.
- Provide documentation of seasonal Influenza vaccine (Fall and Spring semesters only) by due date provided
- Provide documentation of COVID-19 Vaccine(s): 2 Moderna, 2 Pfizer, or one J&J COVID vaccine
- Exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine are accepted on a case-by-case basis. Clinical placements may be impacted by exemption status.
- Supplemental items due PRIOR to program start date:
- Register in MyClinicalExchange (mCE). All nurse aide students must register on the MyClinicalExchange platform (mCE) in order to be placed in a healthcare facility. (How to create an MCE account PDF | Compliance in MCE PDF)
- Review the NUA Program Guide.
- Register for NUA 1001, NUA 1070 and NUA 1071.
Important Deadlines
| Semester Participating in Program | Due Date for Program Requirements |
|---|---|
| Summer | May 1 |
| Fall | August 1 |
| Spring | December 1 |
*Students who do not submit the Nurse Aide program requirements by the above deadline will be dropped from the program.
Notes
To secure a clinical placement you MUST have the following. Failure to complete these requirements by the deadline will require you to drop the clinical courses NUA 1070 and 1071. You will be allowed to register for subsequent clinical courses on a space-available basis only and must be approved by the Department Chair prior to official registration.
- 75% average in each portion of NUA 1001 (Lab and Theory) by the first identified program start for NUA 170.
- A Criminal Background Check and Drug Screen are free of disqualifying factors. (Directions to follow)
- Informed Consent on file with ACC Human Resources (Form is available on NUA web page and with Human Resources)
- Documentation of at least 3 Hepatitis B vaccinations or immunity. View additional information about the Hepatitis B vaccine.
- Documentation of 2 MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccines or immunity. Find additional information about the MMR vaccine.
- Documentation of 2 Varicella (chicken pox) vaccines or immunity.
- Documentation of Tdap vaccine within 10 years. Get additional information about the Tdap vaccine.
- Documentation of negative TB by one of the following methods (Must be done within the last 12 months)
- Negative results from a Tuberculin Skin Test (TB)
- Negative chest x-ray with a previous positive TB test
- Negative TB blood test, QuantiFERON® or T-SPOT®
For additional information visit the CDC website.
- CPR Certification Card from an American Heart Association Basic Life Support for Health Care Providers. CPR certification is offered at ACC as HPR 1011 course
- Fall and Spring students must have the current seasonal flu vaccine (Generally available September 1). Get additional information about the flu vaccine.
- Registration in mCE, My Clinical Exchange (Details on page 16)
- Completion of the Regulatory (OSHA/HIPAA) exam with documentation of a score of 100%. This will be assigned by your instructor.
Nurse Aide Job Opportunities
"[ACC instructors] have all been super helpful and caring not only to me but also to my learning...The simulations were well thought out and extremely helpful to my learning as a CNA."
~ Andrea, ACC Sturm Campus Concurrent Enrollment Student
“I have never taken online courses prior to COVID-19, however since then I have had my share of them. This is by far, and I am really not overexaggerating here, by far the most organized course I have ever had the pleasure of taking."
- Yelena, ACC Nurse Aide Fall 2020 graduate
“You can tell you care through your grading responses, and genuinely want us all to succeed. You are all so generous with your knowledge and go above and beyond what I would have expected from administrators and professors in going back to school!”
- Susie, ACC Nurse Aide Fall 2020 graduate
