Certified Nurse Assistant

A certified nurse assistant is a healthcare professional who works in tandem with doctors and nursing staff to facilitate patient care. This article seeks to examine the work of a certified nurse assistant with regards their duties, qualifications and training. In addition to ‘certified nurse assistant’, this role has several alternative titles, including CAN, orderly, nurse’s aide, medical assistant, home health aide and patient care technician. The job represents a good starting point for a career in nursing and builds upon basic educational skills providing an effective route into the industry.

 

Certified nurse assistant job description

 

A certified nurse assistant position encompasses many different responsibilities and duties. Specifically, this role underpins the work of other health care professionals by providing fundamental care for patients. Thus, certified nurse assistants are generally supervised by nursing staff when carrying out their duties. The job, although at times demanding and challenging, can be extremely rewarding since patients are cared for on an individual basis. Decisions made by certified nurse assistants can significantly impact upon the quality of patient care.

 

The role of certified nurse assistant

 

The role of certified nurse assistant can be varied and include a multitude of tasks. Probably the most basic and vital requirement involves helping patients with routine activities such as bathing, feeding and grooming. High-dependency patients are often incapable of carrying out these types of task as they may suffer from a range of illnesses or are recovering from a medical procedure. In addition to these duties, certified nurse assistants also help to maintain a patient’s surroundings. This might involve making sure that rooms are clean and tidy or removing soiled bedding and cleaning out bedpans. Of course, one of the most important roles a certified nurse assistant undertakes is that of monitoring the subtleties of a patient’s emotional state. With so much time spent caring for each patient, intuition here can be an invaluable aid to planning treatment and working towards recovery.

 

Certified nurse assistants are trained to help with various medical procedures, such as checking and recording a patient’s vital signs (temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, etc). As this is often the first port of call for a patient, it is imperative that a certified nurse assistant makes a good impression and keeps the patient calm and relaxed. In addition, certified nurse assistants may also be called upon to set up certain pieces of medical equipment or assist with some medical procedures such as drawing blood. This is generally dependent upon experience and the facility in which you work.

 

How much will I earn as a certified nurse assistant?

 

A certified nurse assistant salary varies according to experience, skill set and location. The majority of employees in this role work full-time (approximately forty hours per week) and often with varying shift patterns since many patients require round the clock assistance. The average hourly salary is $12 with an average annual salary of approximately $27,000 – again this varies depending on experience, skill set and the type and number of hours worked; weekend, holiday, overnight or evening hours may be more financially beneficial. Certified nurse assistants can find employment in a number of different locations including long-term health care facilities, hospitals, clinics and nursing homes.

 

Training as a certified nurse assistant

 

There are various routes for training as a certified nurse assistant and these include traditional classroom-based approaches, online medical assistant programs or a combination of both. Training may be undertaken at a range of institutions including community colleges, nursing homes, long-term health care facilities and hospitals. Choosing suitable medical assisting schools might seem like an arduous task and you should first of all decide what you want from your education before making a decision. For example, some schools offer day or evening classes as well as an online component.

 

Nursing education online has advanced immeasurably in recent years with the advent of technology which includes video, forums, chat rooms and interactive blackboards. This type of training may also be more flexible, allowing busy students to fit in their training around their other commitments. Moreover, online training offers the chance to see a wide variety of different cases and situations which might not be encountered particularly frequently and this can provide a more varied and in depth training. If funding your course is an issue, gaining CNA training whilst at a local healthcare facility, such as a hospital or nursing home, might solve the problem as internships or sources of local funding are often available. It’s definitely worth researching every avenue before committing to your programme.

 

Certified nurse assistant courses cover academic subjects such anatomy, physiology, nutrition, infection control, health and safety and medical terminology in addition to dealing with more practical issues. They may also introduce topics that improve your basic communication, observational and interpersonal skills as well as practical sessions which teach students in real-life situations. These courses tend to be relatively short and on completion of training, students must pass a certification test which has to be undertaken within a registered institution. Qualification allows the worker to seek employment in one of the thousands of jobs available within the healthcare industry. Once you’ve completed your training and found your ideal job, working as a certified nurse assistant can prove to be hugely rewarding and interesting career.

Certified Nursing Assistant Salary