HCA to CNA Bridge Near Kennewick, WA: 40-Hour Weekday and Weekend Options

A Kennewick Home Care Aide with an active Washington HCA credential can qualify for the Nursing Assistant-Certified (NA-C) exam through a 40-clock-hour bridge rather than a full 108-hour program. Huduma CNA Programs in Federal Way runs that bridge for $800 tuition plus about $105 in books and supplies, in two calendars: five consecutive weekdays, or Saturdays and Sundays over about 2.5 weekends. From Kennewick, about 230 miles away, the weekday week is the pattern that works: one drive west, five days of class, the $100 skills test on site, and one drive home. The $55 Credentia knowledge test follows once the skills pass is recorded. The Department of Health (DOH) processes bridge graduates under eligibility route E6.

The Kennewick decision

For a Kennewick HCA, the weekend pattern means roughly 1,400 miles of driving across three weekends, twice over Snoqualmie Pass each weekend. It is possible in summer, but the weekday week costs less in fuel, lodging, and risk. The schedules page lists upcoming dates for both.

What Kennewick offers locally, and why it is not a bridge

Columbia Basin College's nursing assistant program, run from its Health Science Center in Richland, is a Washington State Board of Nursing (WABON) approved program that runs fall, winter, and spring quarters, per the college's 2026-27 application packet. It is the full certificate: about 100 lecture hours plus clinical time, with placement-score prerequisites, BLS CPR and First Aid before applying, and a national background check after acceptance. It does not credit HCA training. A Tri-Cities HCA who enrolls there repeats personal care, infection control, and client rights that the 75-hour DSHS curriculum already taught, over a full quarter. That is the gap a bridge closes: 40 hours on facility-specific content, 68 fewer hours than the traditional course, and one week instead of ten.

Eligibility checklist

• Active HCA credential. Verify it on the DOH Provider Credential Search before you book anything. The credential renews each year on your birthday; an expired one needs renewal first, and one that lapsed too long to reactivate needs the full course. Passing the 75-hour training without the HCA exam does not qualify.
• High school diploma or GED. Bring the document or a transcript.
• Background clearance. The DOH name-based statewide check must clear before the 6-hour clinical block in a licensed nursing facility. Kennewick applicants who lived across the state line in Oregon recently may be asked for a fingerprint check, which takes longer; start it as soon as you enroll.

Which route letter goes on the application, and what each route requires, is explained in Washington CNA eligibility routes E1 to E9.

What the 40 hours cover

The hours split 17 theory, 13 skills lab, 6 clinical, and 4 mock testing. The content is chosen against what the state skills examiner scores and what nursing facilities expect on day one:

1. Charting in a facility record rather than a home care log, including the resident-rights and abuse-reporting language that differs from DSHS home care rules.
2. Vital signs to the tolerances the examiner accepts, taken and recorded under time.
3. Gait-belt transfers, ambulation, positioning, and range of motion, each scored as a sequence of steps.
4. Catheter care, perineal care, and elimination tasks that many home care plans exclude.
5. The indirect-care steps scored on every skill: explaining the task, hand hygiene, privacy, call light within reach, and a final safety check.
6. Four hours of mock testing that reproduce the Part 1 format so the real test is familiar.

The knowledge test and skills test are identical for bridge and traditional candidates. That is why this bridge is 40 hours rather than the 24 the DOH lists as the minimum; the extra time goes to the skills the examiner scores. Skills lab practice is described in inside the CNA skills lab.

Getting from Kennewick to Federal Way for the week

• Driving: about 230 miles, I-82 west through Yakima to I-90, over Snoqualmie Pass, then I-405 or SR 18 to Federal Way; roughly 3.5 to 4 hours when the pass is clear. WSDOT pass reports matter from November through March.
• Bus: Greyhound runs Pasco to Seattle twice daily, about 4 hours 50 minutes per its route page; the 1 Line then continues south to Federal Way Downtown Station, and the school is a short walk from the station and the Federal Way Transit Center.
• In Kennewick: Ben Franklin Transit's Three Rivers Transit Center and connector routes 123 and 170 link Kennewick with Pasco's 22nd Avenue Transit Center, the nearest point to the Greyhound stop.

Lodging along the 1 Line or the RapidRide A Line keeps the daily commute to a single ride. Five nights is the planning number for the weekday pattern.

Cost, including the Kennewick-specific lines

The tuition difference against the traditional course is $300, and the time difference is three weeks of lodging. Basic Food Employment and Training and WorkSource Columbia Basin can sometimes cover approved training costs; see WorkSource, WIOA, and Basic Food Employment and Training.

What the NA-C changes back home

Trios Southridge in Kennewick, Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, and Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco hire nursing assistants, not Home Care Aides. So do Kennewick's skilled nursing facilities. Indeed's Kennewick nursing assistant page, updated September 11, 2026 from 217 posted salaries, shows an average of about $20.98 per hour with a range up to about $25.06; Richland's figure is about $22.32. Both are approximate posting averages, and both sit above the HCA rates that cluster near the $17.13 state minimum. You keep the HCA credential, so agency and adult family home shifts remain open. Employers by setting are mapped in CNA jobs in Kennewick, WA.

Steps from Kennewick to the registry

1. Confirm the HCA credential is active and locate your diploma or GED.
2. Enroll for a weekday cohort on the HCA to CNA bridge program page and submit background-check consent the same day.
3. Book five nights near the 1 Line and arrange a week of leave.
4. Complete the 40 hours, including the clinical block and mock testing.
5. Pass the $100 skills test on site; programs must allow at least four attempts under WAC 246-841A-430.
6. Register with Credentia for the $55 knowledge test after the pass is recorded; it can be taken online from Kennewick.
7. Apply to the DOH under route E6 and watch for the NA-C on the Provider Credential Search.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an HCA to CNA bridge in the Tri-Cities? Columbia Basin College offers the full nursing assistant certificate, not a shortened bridge for credentialed HCAs. The nearest bridge with a one-week pattern is in Federal Way.

Can a Kennewick HCA do the weekend bridge? Yes, but it means about three round trips over Snoqualmie Pass. The weekday week is the recommended pattern from the Tri-Cities.

Can I take the knowledge test back in Kennewick? Yes. Part 2 is an online Credentia test, registered after the skills pass is recorded. Only Part 1, the skills test, happens in Federal Way.

Does the bridge require any clinical hours? Yes, 6 hours in a licensed nursing facility, scheduled inside the same week.

What if my HCA credential is expired? Renew it through the DOH portal first. Enrollment requires an active credential.

A side-by-side of both Huduma paths is in CNA Traditional vs HCA-CNA Bridge.