Nursing Assistant Program

If you wish to become a CNA/LNA or you need to complete a nurse assistant program before applying to the RN program, the NUR158 course will meet those requirements.

NUR158 requires an application for registration. Before you can apply for the course, you must meet all admission criteria and health and safety requirements. These requirements will take time to complete so the process must be started in advance. You will not be able to self-enroll into this course; the program intake coordinator will enroll you once your application is approved and you meet all requirements.

About Nurse Assisting (NUR158)

The GCC nurse assistant course (NUR 158) prepares students to care for individuals across the wellness/illness continuum within the nurse assisting scope of practice. Students learn basic problem-solving skills needed to meet holistic needs of patients, therapeutic communication skills, interventions to ensure promote patient health and safety, conditions and alterations in patient behaviors, and principles of nutrition and fluid balance. Our focus is on special needs of the patient in acute and long-term care settings and acquisition of basic nursing assistant competencies. The course provides the opportunity for the development and mastery of selected nurse assisting skills through participation in laboratory practice and patient care clinical experiences.

Upon satisfactory completion of NUR158, the student is eligible to receive a Certificate of Completion (CCL) from GCC and students are also eligible to take the Nursing Assistant skills and written examination and to apply for licensure or certification by the Arizona State Board of Nursing (AZBN) if all application requirements are met.

Students who pass NUR158 and the state skills and written exams are eligible to apply for either of the levels of nursing assistant recognized by the Board of Nursing in Arizona:

• Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA): A person who passes an approved NA course and the state skills and written exam and provides proof of legal residence will be listed on the CNA registry. No application to the AZBN is necessary, and the person can use the initials "CNA".
• Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA): A person who meets NA educational and exam requirements and additionally submits an application, fingerprints, and fees to the Board of Nursing. If the applicant meets Board requirements, the Board will license the applicant as an LNA and the applicant can use the initials "LNA".

The Arizona State Board of Nursing requires all students completing a nursing assistant program to submit proof of legal presence in the United States. Questions about eligibility for licensure and the documents required to apply for licensure should be directed to AZBN.

Admission Requirements

Students will not be permitted to enroll in NUR158 until the following requirements have been met:

1. Grade of "C" or better in RDG 100 or higher; Accuplacer Reading Next Gen score 230 or greater; or HESI A2 English Composite score of 70% or greater.
2. Grade of "C" or better in MAT081 or higher; or Accuplacer Arithmetic Next Gen score 200 or greater; or HESI A2 Math score of 70% or greater.
3. Health & Safety Requirements: In order to enroll in a Maricopa Community College healthcare program, you are required to meet health and safety requirements for clinical agency rotations. These include immunizations, CPR, fingerprint clearance card, background check, and drug screening. For information about specific requirements, see the Maricopa Nursing website, which includes a helpful video to guide you through gathering the documentation needed for each requirement.

Steps to Enroll

To enroll in the nurse assistant program (NUR158), you must complete the following steps:

Step 1: If you are not already a GCC student, visit Become a Student to enroll.

Step 2: Complete the mandatory nursing assistant information session in Canvas. If you are unable to log into Canvas, you may view the session in Google Forms.

Step 3: Gather and upload all health and safety requirements listed in the Health and Safety Checklist and the Health and Safety webpage. The steps to complete the health and safety requirements are:

1. Download and complete the MaricopaNursing Health and Safety Checklist.
2. Create an account with American DataBank (ADB).
3. Purchase the Background Check and the 12-month Tracker for Immunizations/Compliance. Do NOT purchase the drug screen at this time.
4. Upload all the Health and Safety Requirements to ADB. Once all documents have been uploaded and approved you will be eligible to enroll.
5. Create your account with mCE (myClinicalExchange) only after ADB has been completed, approved and you have been enrolled in the class.
6. Link your mCE and ADB accounts so that the approved documents in ADB to transfer to mCE.

Please note, the Background Check and DPS Level One Fingerprint Clearance Card can take 10-30 days to process. The BLS/CPR training must be completed through a program certified by the American Heart Association Healthcare. GCC offers CPR classes through EMT101.

Step 4: Once all items have been uploaded and approved, submit the Nursing Assistant Application. If any of your health and safety requirements aren’t approved or you do not meet the other admission requirements, your application will not be processed and you will not be eligible to take NUR158.

The following health and safety items must be dated within 6 months of class start date: TB, background check, and statement of clearance (physical).

The nursing assistant program intake coordinator will enroll you once all steps are complete and requirements are met.

Contact Us

If you need assistance from the nursing assistant program, please use one of the following options:

• Information request form - please fill out this form to quickly get answers to your questions.
• Schedule an appointment - use the self-scheduler to schedule an appointment with the intake coordinator.