Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Nursing Aides And Attendants
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Bellevue College, South Seattle Community College, Clark, and Pierce College at Puyallup.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Heritage, Highline Community College, South Seattle Community College, and Renton Technical College.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Clover Park Technical College, Centralia, Renton Technical College, and Lower Columbia.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Walla Walla Community College, Lower Columbia, Big Bend Community College, and North Seattle Community College.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Big Bend Community College, Yakima Valley Community College, Edmonds Community College, and Wenatchee Valley College.
Excellence
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Heritage.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Simmons And Holiday • Olympia, WA
Studying Nursing Assistant (completion in 2012)
• 3/11/2012
"The school prepared me very little for the career I already had. However, it gave me the credentials to get a better job."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I have recommended this school to several of my friends. This really is the only 3-week course around to become a CNA, so this school is really our only option. |
| Program Reputation | 6 | There are very few schools that offer this course in a 3-week period. Most are 3 months. I did enjoy my class, but the owners of the school seemed out of touch and cold towards students they did not favor. |
| Program Quality | 5 | I enjoyed my class. I have done this career for 4 years and only passed my certification test from work experiences I had before I took the class. The nursing home we did our clinical training in was dirty and the care for the residents was subpar. |
| Instruction | 8 | Both of my instructors had over 15 years of experience each. They were both passionate about serving residents with the best care and making the class understand to view even difficult residents as if they were your relatives. |
| How Difficult | 3 | It was not too difficult for me. I have always managed to carry my workload on an average day and find time to assist my coworkers. I have worked with people who cannot time manage or multitask. People who do not have these skills often fail in my line of work. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | We always learned from the book first. We had several dummies and rooms set up to practice our skills in. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | Since I was in a 3-week course, to miss two days would be to miss several chapters and fall behind. We did take the class in November/December, and the teachers were nice about students leaving for several days for the holidays and helping students study beforehand. |
| Academic Facilities | 4 | Our AIDS training was watching "And the Band Played On" and "Philadelphia." These movies were educational in terms of seeing how the AIDS epidemic was and is viewed, but helped none when it came to the handling of a person who contracted the virus. |
| Social Life | 5 | Due to it being a course that was outside of an actual school, there were no celebrations or colors to wear. There were a lot of diverse people from different countries who were proud of the jobs they were training for. |
| Placement Services | 1 | The school that I participated in only focused on the class passing the test. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | The people we practiced on for our clinicals were alumni. One of them was an extremely helpful person who went on to work in this field. The other failed the certification several times and did not seem to care that he had. |
Olympic College • Poulsbo/Bremerton, WA
Studying AAS (completion in 2013)
• 3/13/2012
"I was satisfied with the education I received at Olympic College. However, I wish they offered more classes, as they fill up quickly."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | There are many opportunities at Olympic College, whether you want to start at ground level as a CNA or get your registered nurse bachelor's degree. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | I haven't checked out their reputation, but I believe that Olympic College has one of the better successful nursing programs in the state. They have several levels of nursing programs. |
| Program Quality | 10 | This school gives you many options for obtaining your degree. I like how the courses are sectioned off. |
| Instruction | 10 | I felt the instruction was above average. I felt extremely confident going into my state exam. |
| How Difficult | 5 | Because I used to be a stay-at-home mom, I felt a lot of the material was repetitive from a mother's point of view. When you become a mom, you instinctively become a caregiver. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There were classes in which we would spend an hour doing bookwork and then an hour in the lab. I believe we received an equal amount of book and hands-on work. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | I found the courses here easy to incorporate into my life schedule. I was able to take online classes as well as normal, structured classrooms. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | The school just built a brand-new library a couple of years ago and has computer labs that are easily accessible at any time. Also, the computer lab at the Poulsbo campus had reasonable operating hours. |
| Social Life | I did not partake in athletics, parties or organized events. I am a single mom, so I was working. However, I did see a lot of posters advertising special events around the campus. | |
| Placement Services | I found my own job without the help of my career service office. So I did not use their system of helping us find jobs after we graduated. | |
| Alumni Network | I do not know anything about the alumni network or support from my school. I never thought to check the school network out. |
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