Competency areas have been identified to lend focus and direction to the professional development of nursing assistants. The apprentice will attain a basic level of mastery across all competency areas before receiving certification. Basic mastery will be represented by the apprentices being able to articulate their learning with each competency area and demonstrate that they have successfully integrated all the competencies in their work. The order in which the apprentices learn will be determined by the flow of work on-the-job and will not necessarily be in the order listed in each program level. Times allotted to these various processes are estimated for the average apprentice to learn each phase of the occupation and demonstrate competency. They are intended only as a guide to indicate the quality of training being provided and the ability of an apprentice to absorb this training in an average amount of time.