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

If you work as a certified Home Care Aide in SeaTac, WA and your Washington HCA credential is active, the fastest route to Nursing Assistant-Certified (NA-C) is a 40-clock-hour bridge, not the 108-hour course. Huduma CNA Programs in Federal Way offers the bridge for $800 tuition plus about $105 in books and supplies, in a Monday-to-Friday week or across about 2.5 weekends, with the $100 state skills test administered on site at the end. From SeaTac/Airport or Angle Lake Station, Federal Way Downtown is 15 to 20 minutes on the 1 Line by Sound Transit's published times, so the school is reachable from either end of the city without a car.

The bridge in one table

DSHS describes the state bridge as a 24-hour minimum. Huduma's version runs 40 hours because the skills test is scored on facility procedures that HCA training does not teach, and 13 lab hours plus a mock test day are what close that gap.

Why SeaTac produces so many bridge candidates

SeaTac's workforce is heavy on shift jobs at the airport, in hotels, and in transportation, and many households have one earner in health care already: a home care aide serving clients along International Boulevard, in Riverton Heights, or in the Angle Lake neighborhood. The HCA credential is the state's 75-hour DSHS caregiver certification and is required for agency and adult family home work. It does not open nursing facility or hospital jobs, which require the NA-C. For an HCA who has been doing personal care for a year or more, repeating 108 hours means re-learning bathing, feeding, and transfers already performed daily; the bridge instead spends its hours on what is new.

The two credentials also stack. A bridge graduate keeps the HCA on the registry alongside the NA-C, which lets an agency caregiver keep current clients while adding facility shifts. How the two compare on the job is explained in CNA traditional vs HCA-CNA bridge.

Weekday or weekend: choosing by your client load

• Weekday week. Class runs Monday through Friday. Pick this if your agency can reassign clients for one week or you have PTO. You finish, test, and are back on shift the following Monday.
• Weekend format. Sessions on Saturdays and Sundays over about three weekends. Pick this if you carry a full weekday client list. The 6 clinical hours fall on a weekend day at a licensed nursing facility.
• Either way, the 4-hour mock testing block runs the state skill sets under time, so you walk into the real test having rehearsed it once already.

Missed hours must be made up, because Washington certifies clock hours, not attendance days. Both formats appear on the schedules page as they open. Bring your HCA credential number, photo ID, and diploma or GED to enrollment; the school verifies the HCA on the DOH registry before confirming a seat, and the background check for the clinical block is started at the same time so it clears before the facility day.

Getting from SeaTac to Federal Way for 5 to 6 sessions

Times are approximate, based on Sound Transit and King County Metro published information as of September 2026, after Metro's August 29, 2026 South King County service change.

For a weekend cohort, note that the 1 Line runs on weekends with reduced peak frequency, and the A Line runs every 15 minutes most weekend hours per Metro. Federal Way Downtown Station has a 1,500-stall garage if driving is simpler on a Saturday.

Bridge versus 108-hour course for a SeaTac HCA

The traditional course is the right choice only if your HCA credential is lapsed or pending, or if you want the 40 clinical hours as facility experience before applying to hospitals. Every other active HCA in SeaTac saves $300 and three weeks with the bridge. The rules for a lapsed HCA and for a caregiver who never certified are in the HCA to CNA bridge program in Washington.

After the 40 hours: exam, DOH, and where SeaTac NA-Cs work

1. Pass the skills test on site (Part 1, $100).
2. Register with Credentia for the knowledge test (Part 2, $55) once the skills pass is recorded. The registration steps are in how to register for the Washington CNA exam.
3. Submit the DOH application; the name-based background check runs at this stage.
4. Watch the Provider Credential Search for the NA-C to post, then update your employer.

SeaTac has no hospital inside city limits, so the NA-C payoff is reach: St. Anne Hospital in Burien (formerly Highline Medical Center) by the F Line, St. Francis in Federal Way by the 1 Line, Seattle hospitals 37 minutes north by 1 Line from SeaTac/Airport, and skilled nursing facilities in SeaTac, Tukwila, and Des Moines. Indeed job-posting data (August 2026) shows a Washington average of about $23.62 per hour for nursing assistants; SeaTac is not reported separately. The full employer map is in CNA jobs in SeaTac, WA.

Frequently asked questions

Can I take the HCA to CNA bridge if my HCA credential was issued in another state? No. The bridge requires an active Washington HCA credential. An out-of-state caregiver certification does not qualify; use the 108-hour route.

How many days do I actually attend? Five weekdays, or about six weekend days spread over three weekends, for the same 40 clock hours.

Is the clinical portion at a real nursing facility? Yes. The 6 clinical hours are supervised care in a licensed nursing facility, which is why the background check must clear before the clinical block.

Do bridge graduates take a shorter CNA exam? No. The exam is identical for every route: the skills test at the training site and the Credentia knowledge test.

What if I fail the skills test after the bridge? Programs must allow at least four attempts under WAC 246-841A-430. Retesting is scheduled with the school; the knowledge test cannot be booked until the skills pass is recorded.

Requirements and enrollment steps are on the HCA to CNA bridge program page.