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Direct patient care

Certified Medication Aide

CMA

The natural next step after CNA — same regulator, same rhythm.

Texas’s 140-hour Medication Aide program runs under the same HHSC long-term-care credentialing regime as CNA, with a return-demonstration skills lab and supervised clinical hours under a licensed nurse. It reuses the CNA pipeline almost as-is, which makes it the fastest second program to launch.

Texas-regulated credential

At a glance

Credential
HHSC Medication Aide permit + registry listing
Exam
HHSC Medication Aide exam (100 questions)
Regulator
Texas HHSC — Medication Aides Program (40 TAC Ch. 95)
Hours
~100 hrs classroom · 10 hrs clinical + skills lab · 140 hrs (Texas)

Competency model

Return-demo lab + clinical-hour ledger
CNA wage + premium

median annual wage

Tracks long-term-care demand

projected growth

Texas

state-regulated

Why the demand: Staffing pressure in skilled-nursing and assisted-living facilities that need medication-qualified aides. Texas HHSC Medication Aide Program.

The program

What students master.

The curriculum maps to the credential — every competency below becomes a tracked, signed-off record inside the platform.

1

Medication administration

  • Routes & the six rights
  • Dosage, forms & storage
  • Documentation & MAR
  • Error & adverse-reaction response
2

Pharmacology basics

  • Drug classifications
  • Common side effects
  • Contraindications
  • PRN judgment within scope
3

Supervised practice

  • Return-demonstration skills lab
  • 10 clinical hours under a licensed nurse
  • RN/LVN sign-off
  • Permit issued within 30 days of passing

On the platform

How AscendantCare runs CMA.

This isn't a new build — it's the CNA compliance backbone, configured. The same ledgers, the same sign-off, the same inspection-grade records.

  • 1

    Built on the CNA pipeline

    Same HHSC regulator, same long-term-care inspection regime, same registry-prerequisite gate — the lowest-lift second vertical.

  • 2

    Skills lab = the checklist engine

    Return demonstration maps 1:1 to the existing skill-sign-off module; RN supervision maps to preceptor co-sign.

  • 3

    Permit + renewal tracking

    Annual renewal and continuing-education hours tracked against each aide’s record automatically.

The competitive edge

Upsell your CNA graduates into a medication-qualified credential without leaving the platform or rebuilding compliance.

In development

In active development — first of the fast-follow verticals.

Enrollment

Who can enroll.

Six-gate enrollment compliance verifies every prerequisite before a student starts — and flags anything missing.

Age 18+
HS diploma / GED
Active CNA in good standing on the Nurse Aide Registry
Employed in the facility on day one

Run Certified Medication Aide on rails built for inspection.

Book a 30-minute call. We'll show you exactly how CMA maps onto the platform — and where it sits on the build sequence.