Adults who require assistance with daily tasks but do not require the full care of a nursing home can live in assisted living communities. Assisted living facilities provide a range of services, from basic bathing and dressing assistance to medication administration and mobility assistance. With such a wide range of services, the best way to get assisted living training is to concentrate on positions like certified nursing assistant, certified medication aide, and resident caregiver, with the possibility of moving into administration later.
Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) work closely with registered nurses on staff to supervise the care of patients with medical issues. Students should look for assisted living training programs that require several months of instruction to help them prepare for certification and their first job. The best CNA programs teach students how to feed, bathe, and dress residents, as well as take vital signs for those who are ill or require monitoring, keep a resident’s living area clean making beds, manage medical equipment for residents who require it, such as oxygen machines or diabetes testing kits, and monitor the daily activities of residents with chronic medical conditions.
Those who want to work as certified medication aides in assisted living must complete classroom and clinical training. While local requirements vary, the best medication aide training includes up to 100 hours of coursework focused on pharmacological terminology and how medications affect the human body. Students should seek out programs that are taught registered nurses and prepare medication aides for certification exams.
Employers in some assisted living facilities require medication aides to have nursing assistant training as well. While some employers do not require medical assistants to be certified, others do. As a result, medication assistant training in assisted living can be broad, leading to CNA training and better job prospects.
Another level of assisted living training prepares employees to care for residents. Although some employers seek employees with CNA training to fill resident caregiver roles, the majority of training for these positions takes place on the job. Case associates and resident care associates are two terms for the same job. Direction in how to serve meals to residents in their apartments or dining rooms, recording and reporting changes in eating habits, and basic grooming are all examples of good on-the-job training.
Assisted living training can include continuing education in addition to formal or on-the-job training for specific positions. Topics like first aid, resuscitation techniques, and personal care are covered in the best ongoing training courses. Assisted living administrator training is available for those with a nursing or administrative background who want to become administrators, and it entails attending workshops and seminars. The best assisted living administrator training is determined local public health boards.