#1 most enrolled
Breaking the Infection Cycle: Standard Precautions for CNAs
Professional Development
- CEU
- 1 Online CE hour
- Enrollments
- 6
CAL ACE
Learner
California CNA continuing education courses. Start with three free courses, then explore the full catalog.
Paid catalog highlights — free starter courses excluded
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Unlimited online CEUs for one year — best for active renewals.
$19.50 / per year
Maximum savings for multi-year CNA certification cycles.
$37.50 / every 2 years
Try three full courses at no cost — enroll, complete, and earn your certificate.
Care for residents living with Alzheimer's and dementia as whole people, not diagnoses. Understand the disease and its stages, recognize the signs and behaviors, communicate and connect ("connect, don't correct"), find the need behind the behavior, provide safe and dignified daily care, and recognize when a sudden change is a medical red flag — not "just the dementia." CNAs provide person-centered care and report changes; they do not diagnose, stage, or manage medications.
CAL ACE Faculty
Free
full certificate included
Break the fall-fear-weakness spiral: understand why elders fall and why immobility is dangerous, prevent falls, assist transfers and mobility safely with gait belts and good body mechanics, respond correctly when a resident falls (never move them before assessment), and keep residents moving against deconditioning.
CAL ACE Faculty
Free
full certificate included
Sepsis is the body's extreme, life-threatening response to an infection — a time-critical emergency where minutes decide survival. Learn what sepsis is and why it always starts with an infection, recognize its early warning signs (especially the quiet ones in elders — new confusion, weakness, "not themselves"), and report suspected sepsis immediately and urgently. CNAs prevent, recognize, report fast, advocate, and support — they do not diagnose, score, or treat. Recognize early, report immediately.
CAL ACE Faculty
Free
full certificate included
Learn to support a resident recovering from a hip or knee joint replacement — following movement precautions, supporting safe mobility and rehab, preventing the dangerous complications (clots, infection, dislocation), and recognizing emergencies. CNAs do not diagnose, give or adjust medications, perform therapy, or set movement restrictions.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role with anxiety and PTSD in older adults — understanding anxiety disorders and PTSD as real, treatable conditions, recognizing their signs (including panic attacks and trauma triggers), responding calmly to an anxious or triggered resident, delivering trauma-informed care (predictability, choice, consent, explaining before touching), understanding how dementia can resurface old trauma, and reporting faithfully. CNAs do NOT diagnose, provide therapy, give or adjust medications, or process trauma with residents.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to recognize asthma symptoms and attacks, reduce triggers, support the care plan, and respond to breathing emergencies — within CNA scope. CNAs do not diagnose asthma or give or adjust inhalers/medications.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role in supporting autistic adults and older adults — understanding autism as a lifelong neurodevelopmental difference (not an illness to cure), recognizing how it presents in adults (often undiagnosed in older generations), supporting sensory needs, communication differences, routine and predictability, recognizing distress/meltdown/shutdown and responding correctly, and providing respectful, individualized, neurodiversity-affirming care. CNAs do NOT diagnose, "treat" or try to cure autism, give or adjust medications, or force neurotypical behavior.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to measure blood pressure accurately, record and report readings, and recognize hypertensive emergencies — within CNA scope. CNAs do not diagnose hypertension or manage medications.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to support a resident with osteoporosis — protecting fragile bones through fall prevention and safe gentle handling, recognizing a possible fracture, and supporting bone-healthy care. CNAs do not diagnose, give or adjust medications, or interpret bone scans.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Break the chain of infection: understand the six links a germ needs to spread and how to break them, practice hand hygiene as the #1 defense, apply standard precautions to every resident, use PPE correctly (use, order, removal), handle linens/waste/spills safely, and recognize and report signs of infection — including the subtle signs in elders.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to recognize breathing distress and COPD flare-ups, support oxygen and the care plan safely, and respond to a respiratory emergency — within CNA scope. CNAs do not diagnose, give or adjust medications or inhalers, or change oxygen flow rates.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Navigate California CNA renewal requirements, CDPH forms, and CE documentation.
CAL ACE Nursing Academy Faculty
$3.75
per course
De-escalation is one of the most valuable safety skills a CNA can carry. Recognize the early signs of escalating agitation, understand the unmet needs and triggers behind behavior ("behavior is communication"), use verbal and non-verbal de-escalation to bring calm, meet the need behind the behavior, and keep everyone — including yourself — safe, getting help when a situation becomes dangerous. The goal is calm and safety, never winning. CNAs do not diagnose, medicate, restrain outside orders, or use force beyond safety. Stay calm, stay safe, meet the need.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to recognize cardiac emergencies, activate help correctly and fast, and understand your role during a code — within CNA scope. Does not certify CPR/AED.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role in caring for a resident with a urinary catheter and in preventing urinary tract infections — keeping the closed drainage system sacred, meticulous catheter and perineal care, recognizing UTIs in older adults (including the atypical confusion picture), and hydration as prevention. CNAs do not insert, remove, or irrigate catheters, do not diagnose, and do not give medications.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role in supporting healthy bowel function and preventing/managing constipation — understanding normal vs. abnormal bowel patterns, supporting fiber/fluid/movement/toileting, accurate bowel tracking, recognizing the dangerous complications (impaction, obstruction), and protecting dignity. CNAs do not diagnose, give or adjust laxatives/medications, or perform digital removal of impaction.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to recognize angina vs. a heart attack, support a resident's heart-healthy care plan, and respond correctly to chest pain — within CNA scope. CNAs do not diagnose CAD, give or adjust any medications (including nitroglycerin), or perform procedures.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Person-centered dementia care strategies, communication techniques, and safety considerations.
CAL ACE Nursing Academy Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to support a resident with diabetes — understanding the disease, supporting meals and activity, meticulous foot and skin care, and recognizing and responding to low and high blood sugar. CNAs do not diagnose diabetes, give or adjust insulin or diabetes medications, or decide on insulin doses.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role in caring for a resident with HIV/AIDS — understanding HIV as an immune-system virus, the modern reality of treatment (people live long healthy lives; undetectable = untransmittable), applying standard precautions, supporting medication adherence, watching for opportunistic infections, and providing fierce stigma-free dignity. CNAs do NOT diagnose, give or adjust medications, or interpret labs.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to respond to head injuries — including the delayed danger after a fall — monitor and report, and provide daily care to residents living with the lasting effects of traumatic brain injury: memory, behavior, and emotional changes. CNAs do not diagnose brain injuries, perform neurological assessments, give or adjust medications, or decide a head bump is "nothing."
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role in supporting residents with hearing loss and Deaf residents — understanding age-related and other hearing loss, communicating effectively (face the resident, clear not shouted speech), hearing-aid care and basic troubleshooting, recognizing how hearing loss masquerades as confusion/"non-compliance"/withdrawal, Deaf-culture awareness, supporting safety and connection, and recognizing ear problems and sudden hearing loss as concerns. CNAs do NOT diagnose, treat ears, remove earwax, give ear medications beyond facility policy/training, or perform ear procedures.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to recognize CHF warning signs, support daily care within CNA scope, and know when to report changes or activate emergency response.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to support a resident with urinary incontinence — understanding the types, protecting dignity above all, supporting toileting programs, providing meticulous skin care to prevent breakdown, and recognizing when incontinence signals a treatable problem. CNAs do not diagnose, give or adjust medications, or decide that incontinence is "just aging."
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Evidence-based infection prevention practices for certified nursing assistants in California healthcare settings.
CAL ACE Nursing Academy Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to support a resident with chronic kidney disease — understanding the kidneys as the body's filters, honoring fluid and diet restrictions as real treatment, protecting the dialysis access site (never BP or needles on that arm), and recognizing fluid overload and waste buildup. CNAs do not diagnose, give or adjust medications, perform dialysis care, or change restrictions.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role in recognizing and supporting residents with depression — understanding depression as a treatable medical illness (not normal aging), recognizing its signs including masked and atypical presentations in elders, supporting through engagement and connection, recognizing suicide-warning signs and responding correctly (take seriously, stay with the resident, report immediately, never promise secrecy), and reporting faithfully. CNAs do not diagnose depression, provide therapy or clinical counseling, or give or adjust medications.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Master the response to blood sugar crises — recognize hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia fast, even when disguised as stroke, intoxication, or dementia; carry out the treat-recheck-retreat loop for lows; escalate severe highs; and stay sharp on sick days. CNAs do not diagnose, give insulin, or decide doses; they recognize fast, respond within policy, and escalate.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role with MRSA and other drug-resistant organisms — understanding antibiotic resistance, colonization versus infection, contact precautions and PPE, hand hygiene and equipment cleaning, supporting residents in isolation without stigma, recognizing infection signs, and antibiotic stewardship. CNAs do not diagnose, prescribe, give or adjust antibiotics, or decide isolation status.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to support a resident living with multiple sclerosis — understanding its changing symptoms, managing heat sensitivity and fatigue, supporting safe mobility and dignity, and recognizing a possible relapse. CNAs do not diagnose MS, give or adjust medications, or perform therapy.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role with malnutrition and dehydration in older adults — understanding why they're common, hidden, and serious; recognizing the signs; the CNA's central role at mealtimes (assistance, encouragement, dignity); honest, accurate intake and output documentation; weight monitoring and reporting; dehydration prevention and recognition; and reporting faithfully. CNAs do NOT diagnose, prescribe diets or supplements, change diet orders, or place/manage feeding tubes.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role in supporting a resident with an ostomy — understanding what a stoma is, assisting with pouch emptying and peristomal skin care within facility policy and training, reading the healthy versus troubled stoma, protecting dignity and supporting emotional adjustment, and reporting complications. CNAs do not create or change the ostomy plan, do not irrigate ostomies, do not perform procedures beyond training and policy, and do not diagnose stoma problems.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Pain is whatever the person says it is — and when a resident can't say "I hurt," the CNA is the one who must see it. Recognize pain both told and hidden (the non-verbal and behavioral signs in those with dementia, stroke, confusion, or near the end of life), understand that so much "difficult behavior" is unrecognized pain, report it accurately so it gets treated, and provide non-medication comfort measures — positioning, warmth, presence, gentle handling, a calm environment, and dignified comfort care at the end of life. CNAs recognize, report, and comfort; they do not diagnose, clinically rate, or give pain medications.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
This course teaches the CNA's role in supporting a resident living with Parkinson's disease — understanding its symptoms, supporting safe mobility and eating, the critical importance of on-time medication, and recognizing complications. CNAs do not diagnose Parkinson's, give or adjust medications, or perform therapy.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to recognize pneumonia early — including subtle signs in older adults — prevent aspiration pneumonia through safe feeding and mouth care, support the care plan, and respond to respiratory distress. CNAs do not diagnose pneumonia, give or adjust antibiotics, or change oxygen flow rates.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to recognize stroke warning signs using F-A-S-T, respond to a suspected acute stroke, and provide daily supportive care to stroke survivors — within CNA scope. CNAs do not diagnose stroke, give medications, or perform therapy treatments.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role in preventing and recognizing pressure injuries — understanding how they form, the repositioning clock, pressure points, skin inspection, the critical early sign (non-blanching redness), keeping skin clean, dry, and nourished, and reporting early. CNAs do not stage wounds, diagnose, perform wound treatment, or select dressings.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Legal and ethical practice is the foundation of being a trusted CNA. Know your scope of practice and never cross it; protect confidentiality as both a legal duty and a matter of trust; support consent and a resident's right to refuse; understand advance directives and follow the care plan (never deciding code status); document accurately and honestly; and act with integrity — doing the right thing even when it is hard. CNAs stay in scope, guard privacy, honor choice, chart the truth, and escalate properly; they do not make medical or legal decisions, give legal advice, decide code status, or work outside their scope.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Residents do not give up their rights at the door — they keep their full, legally protected rights in care. Know the core rights (dignity, privacy, choice, consent and refusal, freedom from abuse and improper restraint, voicing complaints, money and belongings, visitors), honor them in the small daily moments where rights live, recognize when a right is being violated, and advocate for residents through the proper channels. CNAs uphold rights and advocate; they do not override rights for convenience, restrain outside proper orders, or work outside the chain of command.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Care for yourself as a caregiver: recognize burnout and compassion fatigue in yourself and coworkers, understand their causes, use healthy coping and prevention, support struggling coworkers, and know when and how to reach out for help — including urgent support. Asking for help is a strength, not a weakness.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role with COVID-19 and other respiratory infections — understanding how respiratory viruses spread, droplet and airborne precautions and respiratory PPE, recognizing respiratory illness and danger signs in elders, supporting isolated residents without stigma, outbreak awareness, and the emerging-pathogen mindset. CNAs do not diagnose, prescribe or adjust medications, decide isolation status, or interpret tests.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to support a resident with rheumatoid arthritis — understanding it as a whole-body autoimmune disease, gentle joint protection and pain-aware care, supporting morning stiffness and flares, and watching for medication-related infection risk. CNAs do not diagnose, give or adjust medications, or perform therapy.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to recognize seizures, protect a resident during a seizure, provide aftercare, time and document events, and support the care plan. CNAs do not diagnose seizures or epilepsy, give or adjust medications, or restrain a seizing resident or put anything in their mouth.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role in wound observation and basic skin care — recognizing common wound types in elders (skin tears, pressure injuries, diabetic and circulation wounds, surgical wounds), describing what you see accurately, protecting fragile aging skin, supporting healing conditions, and recognizing wound infection and bleeding emergencies. CNAs do not diagnose wounds, perform wound treatment, select or change dressings, or assess wounds clinically.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to support a resident living with a spinal cord injury — protecting skin and the body that cannot feel, supporting mobility and bladder/bowel routines with dignity, and recognizing the two medical emergencies unique to SCI: autonomic dysreflexia and breathing problems. CNAs do not diagnose, give or adjust medications, or perform therapy.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Recognize and report elder abuse and neglect: understand the forms of abuse and their signs, your duty as a mandated reporter, the reasonable-suspicion standard (report what you suspect — you don't need proof), and exactly what to do and never do — recognize, protect, preserve, and report to the nurse immediately, never investigate or confront. When in doubt, report.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role with alcohol use disorder in older adults — understanding it as a treatable medical condition (not a moral failing), recognizing the hidden signs in elders, understanding why aging bodies are more vulnerable to alcohol, the danger of alcohol-medication interactions, recognizing alcohol withdrawal as a potential medical emergency, supporting recovery without judgment, and reporting faithfully. CNAs do not diagnose, counsel, manage withdrawal, give or adjust medications, or police a resident's drinking.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Care for residents with aphasia and dysarthria: understand aphasia as a loss of language (not intelligence), communicate patiently with simple language and tools, read and report unspoken needs, recognize a sudden speech change as a possible stroke, and protect dignity and connection.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role in caring for a resident with dysphagia — recognizing unsafe swallowing, serving the exact prescribed diet texture and liquid thickness, safe mealtime technique, telling choking from silent aspiration, and responding to a choking emergency per training. CNAs do not diagnose swallowing problems, change diet textures, or perform swallow evaluations.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to recognize TB warning signs, follow airborne isolation precautions and respiratory protection, support the care plan and medication adherence, and protect yourself and others. CNAs do not diagnose TB, give or adjust TB medications, or interpret TB test results.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn to support residents with thyroid disorders — recognizing the opposite signs of underactive and overactive thyroid, supporting medication timing and comfort, and recognizing rare thyroid emergencies. CNAs do not diagnose thyroid disorders, give or adjust thyroid medication, or interpret lab results.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role in caring for a resident with hepatitis — understanding the liver and the A/B/C types, applying standard precautions and bloodborne-pathogen protection, supporting the resident without stigma, recognizing signs and complications, and protecting yourself through vaccination, sharps safety, and exposure response. CNAs do not diagnose hepatitis, give or adjust medications, or interpret lab results.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course
Learn the CNA's role in supporting residents with vision impairment — understanding common age-related eye conditions, communicating with and guiding a low-vision or blind resident safely, supporting independence and dignity, preventing falls, supporting eye health and glasses/aids, and recognizing eye emergencies (sudden vision loss). CNAs do not diagnose eye conditions, treat eyes, give or adjust eye medications beyond facility policy/training, or perform eye procedures.
CAL ACE Faculty
$3.75
per course