{"id":23025,"date":"2023-01-25T19:56:40","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T00:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2023\/01\/26\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T11:29:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:29:19","slug":"new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/","title":{"rendered":"New Testing Site and Course to Enhance Job Readiness for Nurse Assistants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Lawrence, MA (January 18, 2023)\u2013 Northern Essex Community College continues work to address the growing job needs of the healthcare industry with two new offerings for <a href=\"https:\/\/ccce.necc.edu\/public\/category\/programStream.do?method=load&amp;selectedProgramAreaId=1020354&amp;selectedProgramStreamId=1020387\">Certified Nurse Assistants<\/a> (CNA). Students preparing to take the Massachusetts CNA exam can now take a refresher course at NECC, and when they\u2019re ready, they can take the skills-based state exam right on the Lawrence Campus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCNAs are in high demand in our community, and ensuring we are doing our part in educating, supporting, and contributing to the growth of our CNA community is a top priority,\u201d says Program Coordinator Heather Waniga, RN.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26201\" style=\"width: 444px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Dimitry-Building-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26201\" class=\" wp-image-26201\" src=\"http:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Dimitry-Building-1.jpg\" alt=\"The CNA Lab in the Dimitry Building is a new state exam testing site.\" width=\"434\" height=\"273\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-26201\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The CNA Lab in the Dimitry Building is a new state exam testing site.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ccce.necc.edu\/public\/category\/programStream.do?method=load&amp;selectedProgramAreaId=1020354&amp;selectedProgramStreamId=1020387\">The Certified Nurse Assistant<\/a> program at Northern Essex is a four-week accelerated training. It prepares students to work in a variety of healthcare settings, including long-term care, acute care, and rehabilitation facilities, as well as home care settings. Students can begin working as nurse assistants immediately after completing their CNA training; however, many employers require state certification as a term of employment. \u00a0This month, the CNA laboratory in the Dimitry Building became a certified testing site, increasing accessibility for Northern Essex students by giving them more options on when and how to take the exam.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStudents had limited options for local test sites, and they had difficulty accessing dates and times that worked for them,\u201d says Suzzette Turnbull, Ph.D., program manager for Community Education. \u201cBy opening this new site, we can bring them full circle in their career journey.\u201d The goal of each testing session is to accommodate 14 students. Northern Essex students get priority for scheduling in each session; the remaining seats are open to students from other programs.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are proud to have our facility open to students in the community who can take the exam in an organized and student-centered environment,\u201d Waniga points out.<\/p>\n<p>Northern Essex also offers a CNA refresher course for students who may have completed their program but want to brush up on their skills before attempting the test. The first two sessions ran in the fall, with more scheduled this spring.<\/p>\n<p>The CNA program, the refresher course, and the testing are all free to students, thanks to grant and state funding. Testing takes place twice a month at the new site in Lawrence, with refresher courses scheduled every other month. Students who complete the program and pass the Massachusetts CNA exam may also earn six credits applicable toward the NECC Healthcare Technician Certificate Program.<\/p>\n<p>Enrollment is open for the four-week CNA training program in March, April, May, and June.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/ccce.necc.edu\/public\/category\/programStream.do?method=load&amp;selectedProgramAreaId=1020354&amp;selectedProgramStreamId=1020387\">webpage<\/a> or contact Program Coordinator Heather Waniga, RN, by calling 603-489-8907 or emailing <a href=\"mailto:hwaniga@necc.mass.edu\">hwaniga@necc.mass.edu<\/a>. To learn more about job-ready certifications and trainings available at Northern Essex, contact <a href=\"mailto:communityeducation@necc.mass.edu\">communityeducation@necc.mass.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lawrence, MA (January 18, 2023)\u2013 Northern Essex Community College continues work to address the growing job needs of the healthcare industry with two new offerings for Certified Nurse Assistants (CNA). [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":25377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11,17],"tags":[152,368,468,585],"class_list":["post-23025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-programs","tag-cna","tag-lawrence","tag-nursing","tag-students"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>New Testing Site and Course to Enhance Job Readiness for Nurse Assistants - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Testing Site and Course to Enhance Job Readiness for Nurse Assistants - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lawrence, MA (January 18, 2023)\u2013 Northern Essex Community College continues work to address the growing job needs of the healthcare industry with two new offerings for Certified Nurse Assistants (CNA). [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-26T00:56:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-14T15:29:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Dimitry-Building-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"503\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mbouse\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mbouse\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/\",\"name\":\"New Testing Site and Course to Enhance Job Readiness for Nurse Assistants - NECC News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Dimitry-Building-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-26T00:56:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-14T15:29:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/b067809b6ac2476027bcd15cea07449b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Dimitry-Building-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Dimitry-Building-2.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":503},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New Testing Site and Course to Enhance Job Readiness for Nurse Assistants\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"NECC News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/b067809b6ac2476027bcd15cea07449b\",\"name\":\"mbouse\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9bc5063d1d57b90679530f25125157606b6c761a74463fd22130b67b9567bc5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9bc5063d1d57b90679530f25125157606b6c761a74463fd22130b67b9567bc5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mbouse\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/mbouse\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New Testing Site and Course to Enhance Job Readiness for Nurse Assistants - NECC News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New Testing Site and Course to Enhance Job Readiness for Nurse Assistants - NECC News","og_description":"Lawrence, MA (January 18, 2023)\u2013 Northern Essex Community College continues work to address the growing job needs of the healthcare industry with two new offerings for Certified Nurse Assistants (CNA). [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/","og_site_name":"NECC News","article_published_time":"2023-01-26T00:56:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-14T15:29:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":503,"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Dimitry-Building-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"mbouse","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mbouse","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/","name":"New Testing Site and Course to Enhance Job Readiness for Nurse Assistants - NECC News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Dimitry-Building-2.jpg","datePublished":"2023-01-26T00:56:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-14T15:29:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/b067809b6ac2476027bcd15cea07449b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Dimitry-Building-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Dimitry-Building-2.jpg","width":800,"height":503},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/01\/25\/new-testing-site-and-course-to-enhance-job-readiness-for-nurse-assistants\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New Testing Site and Course to Enhance Job Readiness for Nurse Assistants"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"NECC News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/b067809b6ac2476027bcd15cea07449b","name":"mbouse","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9bc5063d1d57b90679530f25125157606b6c761a74463fd22130b67b9567bc5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9bc5063d1d57b90679530f25125157606b6c761a74463fd22130b67b9567bc5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mbouse"},"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/mbouse\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23025"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33444,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23025\/revisions\/33444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}