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

A Home Care Aide on the Sammamish plateau who wants the Nursing Assistant-Certified (NA-C) credential can skip 68 of the 108 hours a traditional course requires. The HCA to CNA bridge at Huduma CNA Programs in Federal Way is 40 clock hours for $800 tuition and about $105 in books, scheduled as 5 consecutive weekdays or about 2.5 weekends, and it qualifies the graduate for the same two-part exam as any traditional graduate: the $100 skills test on site, then the $55 Credentia knowledge test. Eligibility is an active Washington HCA credential and a high school diploma or GED. From Sammamish the trip is about 34 miles by I-90 and SR 18, made about five times instead of twenty.

Weekday or weekend: the table

The content is identical in both: 17 theory hours, 13 lab hours, 6 clinical hours, and 4 mock-testing hours. Cohort dates are on the schedules page.

Who on the plateau qualifies

Sammamish has an unusually large caregiver workforce for its size because memory care communities and licensed adult family homes are spread through its neighborhoods. Most of those roles require the DSHS-approved 75-hour Home Care Aide training and the HCA exam, so many plateau caregivers already hold the one credential the bridge needs. To enroll:

• Confirm the HCA credential is active on the DOH Provider Credential Search. It renews on your birthday each year; an expired credential must be renewed before enrollment.
• Hold a high school diploma or GED. Foreign credentials need an equivalency evaluation.
• Clear the background check before the clinical block. The DOH name-based statewide check must come back clear before you enter the nursing facility.

A caregiver who finished the 75 hours but never passed the HCA exam is not credentialed and cannot bridge; the 108-hour CNA Traditional program is that person's route. The statewide rules for the E6 route are in understanding the HCA to CNA bridge route.

What changes for a memory care caregiver who becomes an NA-C

The practical payoff on the plateau is a move from residential settings into skilled nursing and hospitals. Swedish Issaquah, Overlake in Bellevue, and EvergreenHealth in Kirkland require the NA-C for nursing assistant roles; adult family homes and memory care generally do not. Indeed's September 2026 posting data lists about $23.77 per hour for nursing assistants in Issaquah and about $26.08 in Redmond, approximate, against caregiver rates that often start near the 2026 state minimum of $17.13. The NA-C also makes you eligible for the medication assistant endorsement track and for nursing facility work in any state that recognizes Washington's registry. Employers around Sammamish are covered in CNA jobs in Sammamish, WA.

The 40 hours: what is added, not repeated

HCA training already covers personal care, infection control, client rights, and communication. The bridge spends its hours on what the nursing facility and the scored skills test require:

1. Facility documentation and routines, charting in a nursing home record rather than home care notes.
2. Vital signs within exam tolerance, with the measurement and recording steps examiners score.
3. Mobility skills scored step by step: gait belt transfers, ambulation, positioning, range of motion.
4. Elimination and catheter care, which few residential caregiver roles include.
5. The indirect-care steps on every skill: explaining the task, hand hygiene, privacy, call light, and safety checks.
6. Four hours of mock testing run under test conditions.

The DOH describes a 24-hour bridge as the minimum; the extra hours here are lab and mock testing, because the exam does not distinguish bridge from traditional candidates. Every program must permit at least four attempts at the skills test, but mock testing is meant to make the first one count.

Sammamish to Federal Way, five times

• Driving: I-90 east to SR 18, south through the Tiger Mountain summit and Maple Valley to Federal Way, then I-5 or local streets to the school by Federal Way Downtown Station. About 34 miles and 45 to 55 minutes off-peak. SR 18 can carry weekend recreation traffic and winter weather at the summit; leave margin on Saturday mornings.
• Bus and rail: King County Metro's Route 269, restructured in the fall 2026 service change to run between Marymoor Village Station and Mercer Island Station along 228th Avenue and I-90, connects to the 2 Line at Mercer Island. Ride west to Chinatown/International District Station and transfer to the 1 Line south to Federal Way Downtown. Plan about two hours each way.
• Park and ride: the Mercer Island Station garage, about 447 spaces per regional transit reporting, or South Sammamish Park and Ride on the 269, lets a plateau student drive to the train rather than all the way.

For a weekday cohort, five days of a two-hour transit trip is workable. For a weekend cohort, driving SR 18 is usually faster and simpler.

Costs, then the sequence to the registry

Steps after enrollment:

1. Complete the 40 hours, including the 6-hour nursing facility clinical.
2. Take the skills test on site ($100). Retest if needed; at least four attempts are allowed.
3. Register with Credentia for the knowledge test ($55) once the skills pass is recorded; online or oral format.
4. File the DOH application on route E6, paying the fee per the current schedule.
5. Check the Provider Credential Search for the new NA-C and tell your employer. You keep the HCA credential as well; both renew on your birthday.

Detail on the knowledge test format and booking is in the Credentia knowledge test in Washington.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an HCA to CNA bridge on the Eastside? Bellevue College and LWTech run the full nursing assistant certificate on the quarter calendar. The closest short bridge offering both weekday and weekend cohorts is the 40-hour Federal Way course.

Can I keep working in Sammamish memory care during the bridge? Yes. The weekend cohort requires no weekday leave, and the weekday cohort takes one week.

How long is the drive from Sammamish? About 34 miles by I-90 and SR 18, roughly 45 to 55 minutes off-peak, five times.

Is the bridge exam easier than the traditional exam? No. Both take the same skills test and the same Credentia knowledge test for $155 total; only the DOH eligibility route differs.

What if my HCA credential expires during the course? Renew it before enrolling. It must be active at enrollment and through the course.

Do I lose my HCA credential after becoming an NA-C? No. You hold both, and each renews annually on your birthday through the DOH portal.

Enrollment steps and documents are on the HCA to CNA bridge program page. A side-by-side of both paths is in CNA Traditional vs HCA-CNA Bridge.