In this short article, we want to take a look at STNA. Difference between CNA and STNA will also be highlighted. We choose to do this because there are many young men and women with a dream of becoming a registered nurse, a theatre nurse, a paediatric nurse etc. But due to one or two reasons, their dreams have been buried.
If you are one of these people and you still have the desire of becoming a health care personnel and work as part of a health care team, then I’m happy to share with you one of the easiest and the fastest nursing carrier options program, STNA. But what does STNA means? Let’s look at it together.
What Does STNA stand For?
STNA stand for state tested nursing assistant. The terminology STNA or state-tested nursing assistant is only used in the state of Ohio. This title is very similar to a certified nursing assistant or certified nurse aid. Also, even though state tested nursing assistant is similar to certified nursing assistant, there is little difference between CNA and STNA which has been highlighted somewhere in this article.
How To Become An STNA
There are many STNA schools of late to get you prepare and equipped you with STNA skills. So, when it comes to how to become An STNA, you, first of all, have to look for any STNA schools. The second thing you have to do is to ensure that you have to meet the basic requirements for the program, that’s you need to be at least be a certificate holder in General Education Development (GED) or you have to successfully complete a high school.
With your General Education Development (GED) certificate or high school certificate in your hand, you can sign up or register for STNA program. Usually, the course takes three weeks or 72-78 hours of teaching and learning, this includes classroom studies and clinical practices.
Human anatomy and physiology, Observations of patient, patient’s right, understanding of protocols, safety measures and skills are some of the coursework you will be taught. You will also be taught practical like blood pressure monitoring, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and monitoring of vital signs.
So, in a nutshell, you will learn about the human body and its function, that’s anatomy and physiology including terminology and the proper use of medical tools and equipment.
After completing the program successfully and with a very simple STNA resume you can easily get nursing aide jobs without experience.
What Does An STNA Do & How Much Do STNAs make?
About STNA duties and responsibilities, much has been stated above already. To add to that, STNA job description and salary is similar to that of a certified nursing assistant.
Like CNAs, STNSs assist patients in activities of daily living such as toileting, bathing, hair and skincare, transporting of patient in and out of bed when needed, serving of meal or feeding patient who can not feed themselves, changing of patients gown, changing of patient’s solid and dirty linens, assisting patients to walk, turning of bed bleeding patient in bed and many others. They also assist registered nurses and licensed practical nurses during wound dressing and in performing some other procedures.
Again, Like certified nursing assistant, they monitor vital signs. In some state, they are allowed to document whatever they do for the patient in the patients folder. In cases where state tested nursing assistants lives and work at patients home, they may perform additional duties like cooking and some light housekeeping tasks for the patient, and also provide companionship and emotional support for the patient.
Difference Between CNA and STNA
It’s difficult coming out with difference between certified nursing and state tested nursing assistant. Reasons been that the two names or terminology are more or less like synonymous and sometimes confuses people. But let’s take a look at the difference between CNA and STNA, that’s if there is any.
CNA and STNA have similar job descriptions, the two people are trained to provide non-medical treatment including direct care for patients of all ages. Both certified nursing assistant and state tested nursing assistance work under the supervision of LPN or RN. In addition, there is no difference in salary for the two even though their salary may vary from state to state in both titles.
How Much Does STNAs Make? Average Pay For STNA In Ohio
When it comes to STNA pay rate in Ohio, one of the largest job recruitment platform revealed that STNA’s average salary as at may 2021 is around $25,112 annually. When the above revealed average annual salary is rightly divided, the STNA takes home about $12.07 hourly, $483 weekly and $2,093 on monthly basis.
Also, bear in mind that, salaries varies in different locations in Ohio. As a result of this, a salary as high as $32,199 is recorded for STNA in some locations or state while a salary as low as $16,799 is recorded in other locations.
One important thing to note is that, in most states, the salary of the STNA can be high or low depending on your education and experience.
Recap: STNA. Difference between CNA and STNA
We have enlightened on what STNA stand for, how to become an STNA, the basic requirements for STNA schools or program, STNAs’ duties and responsibilities and average pay for STNA in Ohio or STNA average salary.
We also highlighted that there is no much difference between CNA and STNA, except that the state of Ohio choose to give the title STNA to their CNA or nurse aids.
Now that you know that STNA and CNA are the same, they all goes through the same training, have the same job description with a similar average salary, you can now decide on becoming a STNA or CNA. At the end, your location determine your title; CNA or STNA.
Related article you might want to read: LPN Vs CNA: All You Have To Know About The Two