Dementia Care Specialist
16 hrsCommunication that works when memory does not, sundowning, refusal of care, wandering, and how to support a family who are grieving somebody still alive. $240.
Programs
Three programs. One skills lab. No filler hours.
Everything below is the whole curriculum, module by module, with the hour count against each one. If you want to read it before you speak to anyone, that is exactly what this page is for.
Program 01
120 clock hours
5 weeks
$1,290 all in
Certified Nurse Aide
The credential hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and rehabilitation units hire for. It is the longest of our three programs and the one that opens the most doors, including the door into nursing school later on.
Nurse aide programs are approved at state level. The federal floor, set out at 42 CFR 483.152, is 75 clock hours with at least 16 of those spent in supervised practical training, and a further 16 hours of classroom that must be completed before a student has any direct contact with a resident. Texas approves programs through its own health and human services agency and sets its own requirement above that floor. We run 120 hours because the extra time is where confidence comes from, not because a rule made us.
You finish with a written examination and a practical evaluation in front of an approved evaluator. Pass both and your name goes on the state nurse aide registry, which is what an employer checks before they hire you.
The 120 hours, module by module
- 01Before you touch anyone16 hrs Communication and interpersonal skills, infection control, safety and emergency procedures including the Heimlich manoeuvre, promoting independence, and residents' rights. Federal rule requires all of this before your first direct contact.
- 02Basic nursing skills20 hrs Taking and recording vital signs, measuring height and weight, caring for the resident's environment, recognising abnormal changes in body function and why reporting them quickly matters more than diagnosing them.
- 03Personal care skills22 hrs Bathing, grooming and mouth care, dressing, toileting, assisting with eating and hydration, proper feeding technique, skin care, transfers, positioning and turning. Most of this is taught on your feet in the lab, not from a slide.
- 04Mental health and social needs12 hrs Responding to behaviour rather than reacting to it, the developmental tasks of ageing, cultural and family expectations around care, and how to keep somebody connected to the life they had before they needed you.
- 05Care of the cognitively impaired10 hrs Dementia and Alzheimer's communication, managing sundowning, reducing distress without restraint, and supporting the family who are often more frightened than the person you are looking after.
- 06Skills lab and competency practice20 hrs Every one of the 41 competencies practised until it is right, then performed for an instructor who signs your skills passport line by line.
- 07Supervised clinical rotation40 hrs Five shifts at a partner facility under a registered nurse. You will be nervous on day one. Everyone is. By shift four most students stop noticing they are being watched.
- 08Examination preparation and evaluationSign off Written practice papers, a full practical run through, then the state competency examination. If you miss a skill you retake that skill, not the programme.
What is included
Tuition, textbook and workbook, two sets of scrubs, gait belt, background check, CPR and first aid certification, and your first sitting of the state exam.
What you need to start
Seventeen or older, photo identification, a negative TB screen, and enough written English to document a shift. No high school diploma required.
Where it leads
Hospital nurse aide, skilled nursing, rehabilitation, memory care, and the clinical hours most LVN and RN bridge programmes want to see on an application.
Program 02
75 clock hours
3 weeks
$795 all in
Home Health Aide
For work inside people's homes, usually through a home health agency. The fastest honest route from where you are now to a paid caregiving job with your name on the paperwork.
This programme is built directly against the federal standard at 42 CFR 484.80. That rule requires at least 75 hours of classroom and supervised practical training, of which a minimum of 16 classroom hours must come before a minimum of 16 hours of supervised practical training. It also names the subjects that have to be covered, right down to bed baths, hair shampooing in bed, nail and skin care, and reading and recording temperature, pulse and respiration.
We teach all of it, and we teach the part the rule does not mention: what to do when you are alone in somebody's house and something is wrong.
The 75 hours, module by module
- 01Communication and reporting8 hrs Reading, writing and verbally reporting clinical information to the client, the family and your supervisor. Observation, reporting and documentation of client status and the care you gave.
- 02Infection prevention and a safe home8 hrs Basic infection prevention and control, keeping a clean and safe environment, and recognising the hazards in a house that nobody has adapted yet.
- 03Body function and what to report11 hrs Basic elements of body functioning, changes that must be reported, reading and recording temperature, pulse and respiration, and recognising and reporting changes in skin condition.
- 04Personal hygiene and grooming16 hrs Bed bath, sponge, tub and shower bath, hair shampooing in sink, tub and bed, nail and skin care, oral hygiene, toileting and elimination. Taught with dignity first, because that is the part clients remember.
- 05Movement and nutrition10 hrs Safe transfer techniques, ambulation, normal range of motion and positioning, adequate nutrition and fluid intake.
- 06Emergencies and the people you serve6 hrs Recognising emergencies and instituting emergency procedures. The physical, emotional and developmental needs of the people you will work with, including respect for their privacy and their property.
- 07Supervised practical training16 hrs You perform the skills on a person under the direct supervision of a registered nurse. This is the block the federal rule protects, and it is where your passport gets signed.
If you already hold a CNA certificate
You may not need this programme at all. A nurse aide in good standing on the state registry can usually be employed as a home health aide without repeating the training. Ring us before you pay us anything.
Program 03
40 clock hours
2 weeks
$450 all in
Caregiver Foundations
For private hire and companion work, and for families who are already doing this at home and want to stop guessing.
There is no state examination at the end of this one and we will not pretend otherwise. What you get is a school certificate, the same skills lab, the same instructors, and forty hours of the practical knowledge that stops a back injury or a fall in somebody's hallway.
Families take this course for one relative and end up working in care. Private clients hire from it because a companion who can transfer somebody safely is worth more than one who cannot. And every hour of it counts if you come back later for the Home Health Aide programme, which is why a third of this class does.
- 01Body mechanics and safe moving10 hrs
- 02Personal care with dignity10 hrs
- 03Nutrition, hydration and medication reminders8 hrs
- 04Dementia communication basics6 hrs
- 05Emergencies, falls and when to call6 hrs
Short certificates
Two day certificates that put a dollar or two on your hourly rate.
These run on weekends and are open to anyone, including caregivers who trained somewhere else. Students on the founding cohort get the first two at no extra cost.
CPR, AED and First Aid
6 hrsAdult, child and infant CPR, choking, bleeding and the first four minutes of a fall or a cardiac event in somebody's living room. Certification card issued. $70.
Medication support
8 hrsWhat a caregiver may and may not do with medication, reminders versus administration, common interactions to flag, and documenting it so nobody is accused later. $145.
The skills passport
Forty one lines, signed one at a time, by a person who watched you.
Every student gets a printed competency card on day one. It lists every skill you have to be able to perform. Nothing on it is signed off from a seat, from a video, or because the class ran long and the instructor was being kind.
You practise a skill. You perform it for an instructor. If it is right, they initial the line and date it. If it is not, they tell you exactly which part was wrong and you go again. Some students clear all 41 in a fortnight. Some take the full course and three extra lab sessions. Both are completely normal and neither costs you more.
The card is yours to keep. Employers know what it is, and more than one hiring manager has told us they would rather see a signed passport than a certificate on its own.
Still not sure which programme is yours?
Send us the job advert you are looking at. We will tell you which certificate it actually requires, even when that means recommending the cheapest course we run.