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

A Maple Valley Home Care Aide is about 25 to 30 minutes by SR 18 from the shortest legal route to Nursing Assistant-Certified (NA-C) status in Washington: a 40-clock-hour HCA to CNA bridge at Huduma CNA Programs in Federal Way, $800 tuition plus about $105 for books and supplies, run as 5 consecutive weekdays or about 2.5 weekends. The bridge requires an active Washington HCA credential and a high school diploma or GED, and it ends in the same $155 two-part exam as the 108-hour traditional course: $100 for the skills test administered on site, then $55 to Credentia for the knowledge test. Green River College in Auburn, the nearest college program, lists a 3-month quarterly nursing assistant certificate and no HCA bridge on its program page.

Weekday week or weekend series

The two patterns share the same instructors, the same clinical placement in a licensed nursing facility, and the same on-site skills test. Cohort dates are on the schedules page.

Eligibility checked in this order

1. HCA credential status. Search yourself on the DOH Provider Credential Search. Only "active" qualifies. The credential renews every year on your birthday, so a Maple Valley HCA whose renewal falls in the cohort month should renew first.
2. Diploma or GED. Bring a copy. Credentials earned outside the United States need an equivalency evaluation.
3. Background check consent. The DOH check is name-based and statewide and must clear before the 6-hour clinical. A caregiver who moved to Maple Valley from another state recently may be routed to a fingerprint check, which takes longer.
4. English for instruction and testing. Theory, lab, and the state exam are in English.

Not eligible: caregivers who completed the 75-hour DSHS training but never passed the HCA exam, and long-term care workers exempt from HCA certification. Both take the 108-hour CNA Traditional program at $1,100.

What a Maple Valley HCA learns in 40 hours

Most Maple Valley HCAs work in assisted living, memory care, or private homes, where the care plan covers activities of daily living but rarely the full nursing facility routine. The bridge fills exactly that gap:

• Nursing facility documentation and reporting. Flow sheets, intake and output, and what to report to the charge nurse at once.
• Vital signs measured to examiner tolerance. Manual blood pressure, radial pulse, respirations, and temperature, recorded within the accepted range on the state skills test.
• Mobility and transfer skills scored by checklist. Gait-belt transfers, positioning in bed, ambulation, and passive range of motion, each with critical steps that fail the skill if missed.
• Catheter and perineal care to facility standard.
• Indirect-care steps graded on every skill: hand hygiene, privacy, explaining the task, call light placement, and safety checks.

Thirteen lab hours and four mock-testing hours are where these become automatic. Programs must allow at least four attempts at the skills exam under WAC 246-841A-430, but the goal is one. Common reasons candidates fail, and how the lab prevents them, are in failing the Washington CNA skills test.

Getting from Maple Valley to Federal Way

• Car, the usual choice. SR 169 south to the SR 18 interchange, then SR 18 southwest through Covington and Auburn to its end at I-5 in Federal Way. Per the state route description, SR 18 runs 28 miles from I-90 to Federal Way, and Maple Valley is near its midpoint, so figure about 17 to 20 miles. Park in the Federal Way Downtown station garage of about 1,500 stalls beside the school.
• Bus. King County Metro's South Link Connections page describes Route 168 from Maple Valley to Kent Station via Covington, seven days a week, and Route 183 from Kent Station to Federal Way Downtown Station via Star Lake, with Sunday service added in 2026. Plan about 90 minutes each way with the transfer.

For five trips, either works. The weekday cohort's afternoon return on SR 18 through Auburn is the only segment likely to slow.

The dollars: bridge against the traditional course

Which route to check on the DOH application, and the documents each expects, are explained in Washington CNA eligibility routes E1 through E9.

After the NA-C: what opens near Maple Valley

You keep the HCA credential and add the NA-C, which unlocks employers that do not hire HCAs: MultiCare Covington Medical Center at 17700 SE 272nd Street per the MultiCare location page, Valley Medical Center in Renton, St. Elizabeth Hospital in Enumclaw, and skilled nursing facilities in Kent, Auburn, and Renton. Indeed's August 2026 data shows a Washington average of about $23.62 per hour and Seattle at about $23.80, approximate, with skilled nursing differentials of roughly $1.50 to $4 per hour for evenings, nights, and weekends. Inside Maple Valley's assisted living communities, the NA-C plus the medication assistant endorsement raises pay without changing employers. The full local employer list is in CNA jobs in Maple Valley, WA.

The seven steps

1. Confirm the HCA credential is active and gather the diploma or GED.
2. Choose the weekday or weekend cohort and sign background-check consent at enrollment.
3. Finish the 36 instructional hours, with the 6-hour clinical inside a licensed nursing facility.
4. Sit the mock test, then the real $100 skills test at the school.
5. Once the skills pass is recorded, register with Credentia for the $55 knowledge test, online or oral.
6. Apply to the DOH under route E6 and pay the fee per the current schedule.
7. Watch the Provider Credential Search for the NA-C, then tell your employer.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an HCA to CNA bridge closer to Maple Valley than Federal Way? Green River College in Auburn lists a 3-month nursing assistant certificate and no HCA bridge. The 40-hour bridge in Federal Way, about 25 to 30 minutes by SR 18, is the nearest short option with weekday and weekend patterns.

How much time off do I need? One week for the weekday cohort. The weekend cohort needs no weekday leave at all; it spans about 2.5 weekends.

Does the bridge include clinical hours? Yes, 6 hours in a licensed nursing facility, which is the one setting the 75-hour HCA course does not cover.

Is the bridge exam easier than the traditional exam? No. Both sit the same skills test and the same Credentia knowledge test for the same $155. Only the eligibility route on the DOH application differs.

Why 40 hours instead of the 24 the DOH describes? The DOH figure is a floor. Huduma adds lab and mock-testing time so bridge students pass the same skills test 108-hour graduates take.

What happens to my HCA credential? Nothing. You hold both, and each renews annually on your birthday through the DOH portal.

Required documents and enrollment steps are listed on the HCA to CNA bridge program page. To compare the bridge with the full course from Maple Valley, see CNA classes near Maple Valley, WA.