Last month, the Nursing Home Workforce Quality Act (HR 6986) was introduced as an attempt to increase the availability of CNAs at care facilities. If passed, the Nursing Home Workforce Quality Act would open the doors to facilities that were previously locked out of the system, but that is only part of the solution.

The Current CNA Training Lockout

As the law currently stands, if a nursing facility is found to provide substandard quality care, it is locked out from training new staff. Additionally, those facilities are unable to recruit qualified CNAs until the lockout is removed. According to the Nursing Home Workforce Quality Act, the arbitrary lockouts would be removed, and facilities would be able to correct previous deficiencies. However, HR 6986 has just been introduced, so it may not see any discussion or action for quite some time.

Gaining Lost Ground

Whether the Nursing Home Workforce Quality Act passes or not, facilities are still left with a growing gap in the CNA workforce. The current lockout penalizes those people who have the drive and desire to become CNAs, forcing them to find training courses located farther away than normal. Facilities are still struggling to make up lost ground in order to provide quality care to those who need it while waiting for the next group of CNAs to finish their classes.

Opening CNA Training Opportunities

To fill vacancies so facilities can provide the care required, we need to reduce the reliance on the physical classroom. The healthcare industry needs CNAs and the only way to close the gap and increase the workforce to meet the future demands of people in need of quality care is to bring the courses to the people who want it. By making CNA training available online, a greater number of students can take courses and launch their careers as CNAs. Facilities can work with students to schedule the required days for hands-on clinical training. This reduces the burden on facilities and makes training less stressful for students. The big payoff of online training is that it increases the number of CNAs, which helps facilities with workforce shortage.

CNAonline provides the most comprehensive hybrid training for CNAs available. We provide a professional online instructor who coordinates with the facility’s clinical instructor. Together, the personal touch offered by both instructors helps students and achieves a high pass rate. Our graduates, partners, and matching system work together to CNAonline’s approach offers a much-needed way to overcome the challenges facing quality care now and for the foreseeable future.