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Enhanced Nurse Aide

Published or Revised October 10, 2022

Economics are driving changes in the health care industry and PJC is responding with the Enhanced Nurse Aide program to provide graduates with more diverse skills. The program is designed to provide trained healthcare professionals to assist licensed nurses in caring for patients.

A minimum of 330 openings per year is projected for Enhanced Nurse Aides through 2020 in the five-county service area. The projected earnings range from $8.83 to start to $10.72 for average hourly salary (these numbers are based on a certified nurse aide credential earnings, the ENA would likely be more).

Skills for this program expand on PJC’s existing Nurse Aide program, which is available as a continuing education or credit course. The additional skills will broaden employment options beyond those from the certified nurse aide program that traditionally involve long-term care facilities.

Those additional skills include medication aide and phlebotomy. Topics covered include wellness and health promotion, anatomy and physiology for medical assistants, communication skills for medical assistants, gerontology, medical terminology, and pharmacology.

The graduate will have obtained skills to work in facilities for long term care, assisted living, acute care, physician offices, home care and other types of health care agencies. A graduate of the Enhanced Nurse Aide program may go to work as a nurse aide, phlebotomist, or medication aide.

There are three levels of certificates available: a 16 credit hour ENA Certificate I that is one semester, a 25 credit hour ENA Certificate II that is two semesters long, and a two-semester ENA Certificate III that is 30 credit hours. At the end of the first semester, the student may obtain a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) credential by exam through the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. Upon completion of the second semester, students have the potential to add two additional certifications; phlebotomy through the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) or the National Health Career Association (NHA) and Certified Medication Aide (CMA) through the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.

For more information, contact Tamera Lewis, Director of Nursing, at 903-782-0759 or tlewis@parisjc.edu.