CNA Classes and CNA Training Programs in Chicago, Illinois (IL)

There are roughly 1800 to 2000 new Certified Nursing Assistant jobs in the city of Chicago each year. This is great news to anyone who wants to take CNA classes in Chicago and start a new and fairly lucrative job almost immediately. This demand is not likely to decrease at any time in the near future either, not according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that indicates a rise in demand for CNAs of roughly 20% to 34% by 2020.

Information About Jobs In Chicago

So, where does one find employment in Chicago? There are going to be many places that require skilled and certified CNAs, but you are going to have the best luck getting work, if you use the Internet. You can utilize very basic employment engines like Monster.com or Indeed.com, but we suggest you use CNA friendly sites instead. For example, below is a list of online job portals in Chicago:

• CNAJobsAmerica.com
• CNA.Jobs-to-Careers.com

The websites above are the kind that will point you towards the major healthcare employers and give you links for applications, etc. If you don’t want to deal with the whole hiring process, however, you can turn to a “recruiter” or healthcare staffing service. In Chicago, the following groups are very useful and can get you working right away:

• CreativeSourcing.com
• ANSSolutionsLLC.com
• IllinoisNurses.com

Choosing this approach to finding work as a CNA in Chicago, means you’ll have to be sure that your documentation and registration is in proper order. In fact, you cannot work as a CNA in Chicago at all if you don’t have proper licensing and documentation.

Details About Licensing And CNA Programs In Chicago

How does one become a CNA in Chicago? It is different from other places, and incredibly simple. You take and complete state approved CNA training programs and the written exam, and that’s it! Interestingly enough the Illinois Dept. of Health does not allow any online training. You can only use the programs approved in each area. There are hundreds of them available in many different settings all over Illinois.

During your training programs you will learn all of the essential skills required of any Certified Nursing Assistant, but there is no set minimum of hours you need for you classes in classroom settings. Instead, you follow the pre-approved training programs and take the exam. You must also have a criminal background check, and after that you can be a registered CNA with the Dept. of Health, and work as an entry level position in Chicago.

There are many levels of training that you can acquire, and the Dept. of Health website is very useful for explaining how to improve your earning power.

Key CNA Training Programs

There are several hundred training programs and testing centers in the state. These are the only classes through which your training is going to be considered. We suggest you use the following sites to obtain information about your local facilities:

• Nurse aide testing – a comprehensive site that gives full details about the entire process and lists every training center by area code.
• Illinois Department of Public Health – their pages are full of details about every facet of training and how to advance your new career.

Information About Key Employers In Chicago, Illinois

With 121 hospitals in Chicago, Illinois and the surrounding area, as well as a huge list of nursing homes and skilled nursing establishments, it won’t be difficult to get hired immediately. We recommend these top hospitals in Chicago:

• Northwestern Memorial Hospital – ranked first in the state it is a huge healthcare employer.
• Rush University Medical Center – considered a key hospital in the U.S. it is also one of the finest in the city.
• University of Chicago Medical Center – a huge employer and training hospital.

Illinois is rated as one of the top ten states for the most new jobs each year. As already indicated, it adds almost two thousand per annum, and most especially in the urban area of Chicago. This means good pay and good work opportunities.

Expected Salary After Completing CNA Classes

There are many “levels” of work in Chicago, and this means that there are a variety of salaries too. According to Salary.com the median annual Certified Nursing Assistant salary in Chicago, IL is $34,210, as of August 4, 2020, with a range usually between $28,421-$41,011. 

Key Skills Learned In CNA Training

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that some key skills in this work include compassion, patience and good language skills. These are less formal than the actual training, but still quite valuable to those who work in Chicago.

Workers in Chicago experience a unique training process, but they still have to master many of the same skills as all other trained professionals in the country. This means that students in the CNA Classes will explore:

• Basic Nursing Skills
• Communication
• Ethics
• Medical and Anatomy Terminology
• Observation
• Patient Rights
• Reporting, and
• Safety

Clearly, this is a great industry with lots of growth potential for those who wish to take CNA classes in Chicago, and the farther you take the CNA training programs, the farther you take the career!