The current economic recession, high unemployment rate and aging population makes a certified nursing assistant career a wise educational choice. American baby boomers are aging and as a result our senior’s health care needs are increasing at a rapid rate.
Alzheimer disease is at an all time high and expected to cost the health care system billions of dollars over the next few years. There is still no cure in sight for this devastating illness and it is taking its toll on our population. Poor eating habits are leading to obesity, early onset diabetes and heart disease is causing our health to become compromised at much younger ages than in the past. At the same time we are living longer so our overall health care needs are increasing. Nursing assistant jobs are becoming a much-needed profession in acute and chronic care hospitals; nursing homes, doctor’s offices, hospices, retirement homes, private care and community home care settings. This profession needs recruits immediately.
Nursing Assistant Job Description
Are you looking for work and want a rewarding job that is virtually guaranteed secure? If you are considering this profession as a future career path it is important that you enjoy working with people and possess good communication skills. Nursing assistants must be caring and compassionate people who are highly skilled at supporting the disabled, the ill and seniors. They develop close personal relationships with their patients as a result of providing care for them over long periods of time. Nursing assistants are relied upon to report changes in a patient’s physical condition or behavior to other members of the health care team. Therefore, good assessment skills are an asset. They usually work under the supervision of a Registered Nurse.
Typically this has been a female work force but more and more men are entering the field. In fact, many patients prefer to have a male assistant nurse. Men who chose this career will find they are in great demand and will never be without work.
Jobs for certified nursing assistants are plentiful in most regions of the country. This type of work can be strenuous as much of the day is spent walking, standing and assisting patients into or out of bed, feeding patients, making beds, assisting with exercises, bathing and toileting patients. Bending and lifting can cause strain to the assistant nurse’s back therefore it is imperative to learn proper techniques when performing care with their patients in order to prevent injuries. That is why obtaining professional training from recognized certified nurse assistant schools is essential.
Nursing Assistant Skills
A high school diploma is required before considering enrollment into a nursing assistant program. Both theoretical and practical hands on training are provided in nursing assistant classes. The goal of these programs is for the student to learn and become proficient with a set of basic skills. These nursing assistant skills are needed to meet patient needs while providing safe, competent care for the individual.
The assistant nurse is also referred to as “personal support worker”, “nurses aide” or “homemaker”. A nursing assistant course would teach the practical skills of how to properly care for and assist a patient with their basic Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s). These are routine activities that healthy people tend do everyday without needing assistance. However, these tasks can become difficult when a person’s health is compromised or they are elderly.
Nursing assistant training teaches students how to best support a client with six basic ADLs: eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring (walking) and continence management. Certified nursing assistant training programs frequently utilize local medical facilities or long-term care homes in order to provide opportunities for the students to gain hands on training practice with actual patients.
Nursing assistant education includes basic instruction in nursing theory. Educational tools like nursing assistant textbooks and nursing assistant videos are incorporated into the program as aids to assist the student in understanding anatomy and physiology, basic nursing skills, infection control and nutrition. This theory is essential, as the student must understand the underlying causes leading to their patient’s condition or illness.
Certified nurse assistants learn to quickly recognize which tasks their patients need support with in order to meet their ADL’s. They are key members of the health care team and often provide nursing assistance to the nurse practitioner, physician assistant, registered nurse or licensed practical nurse that may also be involved in their patient’s care. Nurses’ assistants should also be able to recognize when expert medical intervention may be required and call for support when needed. Courses in CPR and First Aid are highly recommended additional certificates for a nursing assistant to obtain and are often requested by employers before nurse assistant work can begin.
Certified Nurse Assistant School
It would be best to search online in your local area for a certified nursing assistant course. They are offered in virtually every state in the United States. State-approved certified nurse assistant programs consist of on average a minimum of 50 hours of theory and 100 hours of supervised practical training. This training usually takes place over a 6 to 12 week period. Once again, students must have their high school diploma prior to enrollment into certified nursing assistant programs. Financial assistance is often offered by individual state programs to assist individuals in completing this course. This information can also be found online or by speaking with the individual schools offering the program.
Upon completion of the Certified Nurses Assistant (CNA) training program, most students take a certified nursing assistant exam. Each school will offer their students opportunities to do a practice test for certified nursing assistant. There are many online sites that also offer individuals practice tests to trial as well. CNA exams are offered either by the nurse assistant schools themselves, by the health board for each state, or by national certification programs like the National Nurse Aide Assessment Program. Upon successful completion of the nursing assistant exam the assistant nursing student is considered certified and qualified to commence work. Those who complete the program are known as certified nurse assistants (CNA) and are placed on their States’ nursing assistant registry.
The certified nursing assistant registry lists those CNAs who, through training, competency testing, and clinical work experience, meet the federal and state requirements to work as a Certified Nursing Assistant. There is a separate nurse assistant registry for each State in the United States. To maintain certification, each assistant nurse must complete 48 hours of certified nursing assistant continuing education ongoing every 2 years throughout their career.
Certified Nursing Assistant Employment
Nurses’ assistant certification can lead to a rewarding career in various areas of health care today. Employment can be found in acute and chronic care hospital settings as a registered nurse first assistant or as a nursery nurse assistant. As well as in nursing homes or assisted living nursing homes as a long term care nursing assistant. Certified nurse assistant jobs can also be found within hospices working as a licensed nursing assistant or within the school environment as a school nurse assistant. Private homecare nursing assistant agencies requires CNA certified nursing assistant graduates within the community. Careers can also be found in rehabilitative facilities as an exercise assistant and in correctional institutions assisting in their medical units. Many certified nursing assistants take further nurse assistant training specialty courses, which allow them to expand their scope of practice and permit them to assist patients with simple medication administration, simple wound care, taking patients vital signs, checking blood sugars or performing foot care. Expertise in these fields of health care would make them more valuable to employers and perhaps advance them into a self-employment business.
Nursing Assistant Salary
Certified nursing assistant wages reflect the minimal education requirements and the important role they play in health care. They are the “front line” workers in this field and provide the most “hands on” care to patients. They become trusted, valuable and indispensable people in a patient’s life often when they are at their most vulnerable stage. In many cases they become more important than some people’s family members.
A certified nursing assistant pay can on average range between $8 to $14 US per hour or approximately $20,000 to $30,000 US per year. The hospital environment would typically pay the higher end of this scale and the home health care field the lower range. There will definitely not be any shortage of work and overtime is frequently required. Job security would also be assured in this much-needed field.
Currently, in the US there is a “push” to provide higher wages to this very important health care group. Certified nursing assistants have been recognized as an essential component of the health care team today.
Potential growth path of a certified nursing assistant
Nursing assistant career advancement can be found in management roles as an assistant director of nursing, assistant nursing home administrator or assistant nurse manager within health care facilities. An experienced assistant nurse can obtain a position as an instructor within a nursing assistant training institute. Once an individual is trained and has gained experience in all aspects of assistant nursing they could start their own agency and become an employer themselves hiring other certified nursing assistants. Contracts can be found with local facilities or private individuals that require support staff.
Many nurses’ assistants discover they have an aptitude for nursing and health care and choose to go back to college to become a licensed practical nurse (LPN) or Registered Nurse (RN). Beyond this, further educational advancement would be to become a Physicians Assistant (PA) or Nurse Practitioner (NP).
Licensed Practical Nurse vs. Registered Nurse
LPN programs are offered throughout the US in colleges and generally take one year to complete. RN diplomas can be obtained through a 2-year college diploma course. However, more and more employers prefer RN graduates to have a degree, which requires an individual to take a 3 to 4 year university program.
Registered nurses will have more responsibility with patient care and usually supervise the licensed practical nurse. Both give direct patient care but the RN does more complex procedures, medication administration and assessments.
Nurse Practitioner vs. Physician Assistant
A Physician Assistant (PA) can get their training at the community college level by taking a 2-year course. They usually have a previous RN diploma prior to taking this program, but not always. PA’s do not practice under their own license. They must work under the supervision of a medical doctor who is onsite when they are working with patients and the physician is primarily responsible for their actions.
A Nurse Practitioner(NP) is an independent healthcare provider who is an advanced-practice registered nurse. They have completed graduate-level education and hold a bachelor’s degree, masters degree in nursing, or Doctoral degree. In essence, a Nurse Practitioner (NP) typically completes an additional 6 years of higher education. In several states they work independently and do not require collaboration with physicians while in other states an agreement with a doctor is required for them to practice. However, the doctor does not need to be present or onsite for them to do so in these cases.
Hopefully, this information has provided you with the needed background which will enable you to make an informed choice into a field of health care for which you are best suited. All aspects of nursing require specific training, education and work experience. Nursing is both personally rewarding and financially lucrative. A Certified Nursing Assistant career path is a great entry point into this fast growing and highly sought after profession.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.