LEWISTON, Maine — Editor's note: The video above aired Oct. 26, 2021.
The state of Maine has eased the requirements to become a certified nursing assistant in hopes of getting people trained and into hospitals more quickly.
But Maine still has some of the strictest requirements in New England.
"I can understand lowering them a bit because they're still higher, a lot higher, than all the other states," said Max Legault, a graduate of the Maine College of Health Professions CNA program.
Legault got a job at Bridgton Hospital right after completing his program.
He added that he chose this CNA program over others because Maine has higher requirements than other states.
Now some of those requirements are easing.
"The sitting lecture time has reduced, the lab time is the same and the clinical time has reduced," said Alexander Clifford, Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs at the Maine College of Health Professions.
He said the students will still gain the knowledge they need but will be able to start working sooner and ease the burden of the staffing shortage among health care workers.
"Instead of a CNA student getting that extra 30 hours working on the floor as a trainee then, they can now pass the state exam and become CNAs and get oriented on their units or in their facilities earlier," Clifford added.
Programs across the state are welcoming in CNA students this month with the hopes of training them and getting them into health care facilities as soon as possible.