A Certified nursing assistant’s main responsibility is to spend time with patients and make sure everything is moving well.

1) Certified nursing assistants take care of the daily and basic requirements of patients like feeding meals; changing clothes and helping them walk and exercise. Patients are also provided assistance while they eat their meals .The meal is served to them and if there is anything that needs to be cut, the certified nursing assistant will do it for them and if required the patient would be fed also. If a patient requires to be moved a little bit while eating, to avoid choking, the nursing assistant would do that. Cleaning up after the meal is done is also done by the nursing assistant.

Cleanliness and hygiene of the patient like changing clothes, bathing, toileting, brushing teeth, and combing hair are all the jobs performed by the nursing assistant. Bedpans and catheter bags are also emptied by a certified nursing assistant.

The bed is cleaned and the bed sheets are changed by the nursing assistant.

2) The amount of the patient’s intake of food and drink is also noted down by the CNA. They monitor blood pressure, blood sugar level and body temperature and other symptoms or change in behavior. Reading of blood pressure, pulse rate, sugar level and body temperature are noted.

3) Before a surgery, the preparation required for the surgery is done by the CNA.

After the patient is ready for the surgery the nursing assistant moves the patient to the surgery room and after the surgery is done the nursing assistant moves the patient back to the bed allotted to the patient.  The required documentation for the surgery is also done by the CNA.

4) Administering medicines, suppositories, enema, catheterizations and massages are also included in the list of duties to be performed by a CAN.

5) Besides all the physical help and support, the CNA also provides the patient with a lot of emotional and mental support since the patient feels very low and needs to be supported. A patient communicates the most with a certified nursing assistant, so if the nursing assistant is a cheerful person, patient will feel happy.

6) There are a few general duties performed by a Certified Nursing Assistant and they include

a) Attending phone calls and conveying messages.

b) Working with other doctors to examine patients at outpatient clinics

c) Scheduling appointments of patients with doctors.

d) Processing documents and arranging the medical history of patients in an orderly manner.

e) Maintaining an inventory of the hospital supplies like treatment trays and dressing packs.

f) Setting up of overhead irrigation bottles, x ray machines and oxygen tents.

The salary of a Certified Nursing Assistant depends on the experience and these certified nursing assistants are paid according to the hours they work. A Certified Nursing Assistant earns around 10-12 $ per hour as starting salary for the first 5 to 6 years. After experience increases to around 20 years, a nursing assistant can earn around 13 – 15$ for every hour.

The type of facility at which a certified nursing assistant works also governs the hourly wage.

If a Certified Nursing Assistant adds a few more certifications to the basic qualification, then that would give a certified nursing assistant more salary.

A certified nursing assistant’s salary also depends on the state of employment. Salaries vary from state to state. A large city would pay better than a small city.

Benefits given to a certified nursing assistant:

A certified nursing assistant is given a paid leave of around one week after working for a year. Medical benefits and retirement benefits are also given to nursing assistants depending on the type of health care facility.

How to become a CNA? The basic requirement to become a certified nursing assistant is a high school diploma.

After attaining a diploma, a course providing training to become a nursing assistant can be completed at a community college.

The training teaches candidates how to handle patients and perform jobs like bathing, dressing, grooming, shaving, hygiene, lifting heavy weights and moving patients properly. They are also taught subjects like nutrition, illness, emergency procedures, body systems and other special techniques to take care of patients. The training consists of 75 -150 hours of theoretical subject training as well as practical training.

After the training programme is completed, an examination needs to be taken in order to get a certificate for a nursing assistant that proves that the nursing assistant is capable of performing the duties as a certified nursing assistant. The examination has questions with multiple choice answers as well as questions with independent answers.

A certified nursing assistant can opt for lot of specializations like,

A) Psychiatry

B) Home health care

C) Pediatrics

D) Cardiology

E) Geriatrics

A certified nursing assistant has the option of working at a hospital, day care centre or a private home.

As the experience increases and after clearing a few exams, a certified nursing assistant can be come a registered nurse.

The main goal of all certified nursing assistant is to become a registered nurse and so becoming a certified nursing assistant is just used as a stepping stone towards becoming a registered nurse.

A CNA is a certified nursing assistant and provides healthcare to clients who are mainly patients. A certified nursing assistant works under the direction of a licensed practical nurse or a registered nurse .A certified nursing assistant has a very high degree of experience and capability. Nursing assistants act as a link between the registered nurse and the patients.

A nursing assistant looks after the basic needs of a patient like feeding, bathing, dressing,  helping them walk and exercise, monitoring body temperature and blood pressure  and helping nurses with organizing the medical equipment. Certified nursing assistants deal with patients of any age, gender or ethnicity. There is daily contact between patients and the nursing assistants, so a lot of information about the health condition of the patient can be provided to the registered nurse or the doctor.

The job of looking after patients is quite fast paced, making it a very difficult job at times.  But still nursing assistants perform their job with compassion and devotion.

A certified nursing assistant can work at a number of places like hospitals, day care centers, and homes of people.

Hospitals:

A certified nursing assistant’s job at a hospital could be the most challenging as there is a continuous inflow and outflow of patients. The patients are all of different age groups and with different health problems requiring different levels of treatment and care.

Residential facility

A Residential facility could be a day care centre, a rehabilitation home, an old age home or a retirement home. Since the type of patients normally are all of the same age group and there is interaction between patients and  nursing assistants for longer periods, the Certified nursing assistants gets to know the patients very well, the health problems faced by each one, the likes and dislikes, moods and nature.

It is easier to work with the same age group all the time than working with one age group at one time and the other age group at another time

Therefore working at a residential facility could be a little easier for a nursing assistant.

Private home Health Care

A lot of times the family members of an ailing person would like the patient to stay in the home environment and looked after by a nursing assistant. So, a nursing assistant looks after the patient at home itself and performs all the duties that would be performed as Certified Nursing Assistant. The patient’s medical needs are taken care of. This kind of setting provides a very rewarding experience to a certified nursing assistant if there is a good rapport and friendship established with the patient.

A certified nursing assistant needs to be well trained and qualified to be able to handle different kinds of patients.

1) A nursing assistant needs to be exceptionally loving and compassionate towards the human race to be able to serve the patients cheerfully and with all the devotion.

A nursing assistant cannot be dull or get angered by the behavior of a patient at any time. A nursing assistant has to serve patients with affection in all situations irrespective of personal mood. A genuine feeling in the nursing assistant’s heart for the patients well being will help in serving the patients better.

2) A nursing assistant has to be patient with patients and not lose temper at any cost.

3) A nursing assistant should be willing to perform the same tasks again and again as the daily routine of a nursing assistant is the same.

4) Serving patients is done by a team of doctors, nurses and nursing assistants who all work together. So, a nursing assistant should be willing to work as a team and look after patients as guided by the supervisors, who would be the doctors and nurses.

5) Working in a team also requires excellent communication skills.

6) The job of a certified nursing assistant can get very stressful with a lot of work pressure. A nursing assistant has to stay cool and calm.

Apart from the above mentioned skills a certified nursing assistant needs to be able to have a few physical skills which are elaborated below,

1) Since a certified nursing assistant is responsible for fulfilling the basic needs of a patient who would probably be old, sick and disabled, it is necessary for a nursing assistant to have the knowledge and skill required to handle patients and perform tasks like bathing, brushing, and shaving, dressing and taking care of hygiene. A Certified Nursing Assistant performs all these duties very formally and with great care so that the patient does not feel embarrassed.

2) While dealing with patients, a nursing assistant might face any kind of emergency at any time so a nursing assistant needs to be well versed with all the emergency procedures like cardio pulmonary resuscitation and related emergencies.

3) A record has to be maintained of each patient showing all the readings of blood pressure, body temperature, and pulse rate and food intake. A certified nursing assistant has to be proactive in taking down these readings on time and in correct manner. Any change or abnormality in the above readings needs to be reported.

4) A nursing assistant needs to be quick enough and respond to any call from the patient.

5) A nursing patient has to look after a patient very carefully since while bathing, dressing or exercising, the patient could get hurt. So, the nursing assistant has to be efficient in handling such a situation and should be able to report such an incident also.