A certified nursing assistant trains to have the ability to assist individuals in a variety of ways. This assistance is required for those who are incapable of caring for themselves because of physical or mental conditions. A nurse assistant can assist an individual with daily maintenance in a long term care facility, nursing home, hospital or even in the home of the individual. It is recommended that you build a work history that reflects the ability to perform patient care in a variety of settings. Different settings will require the use of certain skills more often even though the duties might be the same. In addition, this working in a variety of settings will give you an idea of which environment they are most comfortable and productive in. As a certified nursing assistant becomes more familiar with the medical field, working in different settings will help him/her gain more experience in a variety of settings. This can be used a reference for deciding which areas he/she may want to specialize in later during the medical career.

Being a CNA is a job that will provide the fundamentals for nursing care. Many registered nurses begin their careers this way. In fact, many registered nurses cite their previous experience in the field as very valuable to their ability to be a good nurse. Working as a nursing aid provides a basic foundation for patient care, and this is very important for caring for people in any facility and under any specialty. Those medical professionals that begin their careers as such are more likely to have a better understanding of what is required to care for an individual basis. The foundation that is provided by working as a nursing assistant is priceless.

After obtaining the certification to work in the field, individuals should focus on increasing their skill sets. Acquiring additional certifications and obtaining more schooling will be very beneficial regardless of the path you decide to take. The development of new skills will allow you to obtain more responsibility and more pay. Many agencies also recommend that their clients continue their education; some places of employment are even willing to pay for continuing education. Many practicing CNA professionals continue working as they go to school to become practical (LPN) or registered nurses (RN’s). The foundation provided by working in the field proves to be very valuable when pursuing higher levels of education for a more advanced nursing career.

The Care-Giver

A CNA is definitely not the most glorified job in the field of nursing, no matter where they are deployed, be it a hospital, clinic, nursing home or whatever. But it is certainly one of the most vital. The daily operations carried out – the duties of a certified nursing assistant – are the basis of what drives smooth operations, and it may be a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it. The beauty of being in the front-line is that it set standards for the good well being of the patient in care.

Sick people who are helpless are in general very grateful for the smallest things, just being helped to sit comfortably, or a refreshing bed bath, feels better to some patients than any medicine in the world. Compassion and skill is what sets the CAN apart from the rest and makes them the best. It is this that helps patients enjoy a stress free recovery, or event eh last days of their lives, and being stress free, is like winning the lottery, finally you can relax! This is how important the CNA job is.

The Career

Many of the best RN’s used being a CNA as a stepping stone to enter this career, it is a fantastic entry point into a nursing career. And it doesn’t matter what job you do, having to start from the bottom rung of the ladder always stands a person in better stead in the long run. Why do you think so many big business men start their sons off in the mail-room where they start. Because it is a good life lesson and you don’t come on board with the same arrogance as a hot shot graduate might in an instant management position.

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Programs

Certified Nursing Assistant Programs ensure that the trainee is ready to start working with real live patients in the shortest possible time. They are even able to teach RN graduates a thing or two about working with people when they come onto the wards for the first time after sitting in a classroom for so long.

They require a GED or High School Diploma and the completion of a 6 – 12 week CNA certification. These programs can be found online, in hospitals and at a community college. If you want to start in the “mail room” of nursing and work your way to the top, this is the way to do it. Remember all through your training, you will be salaried, by doing things this way.

CNA’s, nurse assistants, nursing aids, etc., are all charged with one primary responsibility: patient monitoring and care. Working under a licensed nurse, you are the general caregivers and assist patients in helping them with daily living activities such as bathing, eating, dressing, walking, and other procedures such as taking vital signs, intake admissions and release, other activities as well as specialized and routine care and other activities during a 24/7 shift rotation. They also give patients emotional and social support along with telling the nurse in charge about each of their assigned patients and other vital important information on a patient’s condition.

A certified nursing assistant working in a continuing care or nursing home facility must take care of the elderly or geriatric patients, as well as the disabled. Nursing home patients are there for a long time and the certified nursing assistants are their primary care giver. As a team member, you get to know your patients and develop an ongoing relationship with them in a positive and caring attitude.

The duties of a CNA in a hospital may be very different. In a hospital setting, it may involve everything from taking vital signs and recording them, to helping feed, clothe, and bathe patients, moving them between departments, and providing general monitoring and recording of their condition.

Certified nursing assistants must have to have a good bedside manner, communicate well with people and patients, act accordingly in an emergency, keen observation skills, stay calm in difficult or stressful situations and able to work with people, patients and co-workers.

A CNA must be observant and report any changes on a patient’s condition, be able to move patients and turn patients, report and to respond according to an emergency, be able have communication skills, patient and compassionate to people and to their patients.

As a certified nursing assistant you generally work a 40-hour a week, working holidays and weekends. A certified nursing assistant requires no previous experience as you are trained on the job, need a high school diploma or GED, and pass a state nursing assistant exam to become certified. A nursing assistant must complete a minimum of 75 hours state-approved training and pass a competency test and some states require a nursing assistant to be licensed.

Certified nursing assistant is not an easy field and you must be able to work with people and to give care to patients. Because nursing is such a demanding field there is a high turnaround but with experience and confidence, you find that taking care of patients in need is a very rewarding job.

The duties of a certified nursing assistant carry great responsibility, but offer great rewards as well. In terms of careers, it is one of the most rewarding things a person can do. You are a professional, in great demand, receiving good pay for your skills and services, and at the end of the day, you know you are engaged in a profession that helps others and truly makes a difference in people’s lives.

Make sure you are dressed appropriately to perform your job as a certified nursing assistant. It is required for nurse’s aides and other hospital personnel to wear scrubs. Depending on your employer you may have to wear a specific color or style but under any case scrubs are the staple for certified nursing assistants and other clinical workers in a hospital or long term care facility. Make sure to purchase enough scrubs so that you will always have a clean set to wear to work. There are many stores that offer scrubs and accessories for relatively affordable prices. Wash and press your scrubs for a neat appearance as wrinkles are unprofessional.

For those who have problems with their legs, especially when on their feet for long periods,  investing in compression hosiery to relieve calf and thigh pain from long periods of standing is highly recommended. Your footwear should be comfortable and sturdy. Open toed shoes are usually not allowed in many working environments. However, clog style nursing shoes are available and should be worn at all times with socks. Making sure that you wear the clothing that is both required and comfortable will enable you to perform you job as a certified nursing assistant with ease.

Maintaining personal hygiene really should be a part of any CNA training class, and should be something that is a goal for everyone regardless of one’s profession. Certified nursing assistants however are in the business of maintaining the daily well being of others so it is imperative that they show they are capable of maintaining their own hygiene. Take a shower or bath everyday as emitting offensive odors is not healthy nor do co-workers or your patients who share close spaces with you want to smell an unpleasant scent. Avoid wearing powerful perfumes or colognes that can make your patients nauseous or sick. Make sure to wash your hair and brush your teeth also just as you would do for the patients you care for each day. Keep you hair in a style that will make it easy to do your work. Remember you have to feed, clothe and assist patients all day you don’t want your hair to get caught on a patient’s buttons or worse end up in your patient’s food. Make sure your nails are neatly trimmed and free from dirt. Avoid wearing long nails either real or faux as they can collect germs and bacteria especially during the changing or cleaning of a patient after urination or defecation. Keep the amount of jewelry to a minimum and make sure it will not become caught on anything while handling a patient. Make yourself an example of exemplary personal hygiene each and everyday.

CNA training is intended to teach the skills needed in patient care. But taking the time to ensure that you are properly dressed and have a high level of hygiene will show that as a certified nursing assistant you are capable of maintaining the daily hygiene of a person in your care.

Bedsores can occur for a variety of reasons. For patients that have little or no mobility bedsores occur from prolonged pressure on a particular area. Because of the pressure the affected area is deprived of oxygen and the tissue and muscle of that area begin to deteriorate.

Other factors that cause bedsores are repeated friction on a particular body part and incontinence and improper cleaning of the area. There are particular people who are more at risk for developing bedsores. People who are diabetic and have circulatory problems are at an increased risk since their circulation is already compromised.

People who are paralyzed and cannot feel pain in particular are at a higher risk for bedsores because they cannot feel the discomfort that is usually associated with this condition. It is the responsibility of certified nursing assistants to prevent and treat bedsores promptly.

Preventing bedsores should be the goal of a certified nursing assistant. Bedsores are very painful and can be difficult to treat depending on the patient’s condition so prevention is the key. Nursing assistants are trained to prevent bedsores by providing around the clock attention to their patients. One of the first methods to preventing a bedsore is to rotate the patient on a regular basis. For patients that are immobile this is particularly important and this should be a team effort by all CNAs assigned to take care of a patient on all shifts.

Rotation ensures that all areas of the body are receiving proper circulation and that pressure doesn’t build on one area of the body for too long. Placing a sheet beneath the patient that can be grasped on both ends can assist in the rotation. Another method for preventing bedsores is to reduce moisture on the skin. Patients should not be allowed to lie in their waste. This is unacceptable and inhumane and certified nursing assistants should be diligent in changing their patients on a regular schedule. Improper cleanliness can result in the breakdown of a patient’s skin. Use of ointments such as petroleum jelly or A&D ointment can aide in preventing bedsores.  When drying a patient after changing blot the area with a dry cloth instead of rubbing as this may cause irritation. Other methods of preventing bedsores include using medical pads to reduce friction from movement and providing the patient with adequate nutrients is helpful.

Given that bedsores are preventable, it is disturbing when so many patients suffer the results of improper maintenance and care. It is the job of the certified nursing assistant to monitor a patient’s skin care each day and make sure that any changes are noted to a nurse so that proper treatment can be initiated.

Certified nursing assistants are essentially the people who make sure that nursing home residents are properly cared for in the basic but most essential of ways. A CNA is responsible for giving residents baths and ensuring that residents are clean and dry to prevent irritation to the skin and more serious conditions related to improper cleanliness such as infection and bedsores. Other likely CNA duties:  brushing teeth, brushing and maintaining hair and completing many other daily hygienic chores that you would do for yourself for people who are unable to do so for themselves.

In addition, some of residents in nursing homes require feeding by certified nursing assistants specifically if they have suffered an illness such as a stroke that caused the loss of fine motor skills needed to feed oneself. Thus, a certified nursing assistant is paramount in maintaining a high standard of living each and everyday for nursing home residents.

In addition to providing basic care, CNAs also provide nursing home residents with help in maintaining flexibility and mobility. Certified nursing assistants are trained use provide range of motion exercises on nursing home residents. Range of motion exercises are used to keep joints and limbs flexible. These exercises involve moving a specific body part such as an arm, wrist or ankle around in different directions in a normal fashion. Many people who are bedridden or afflicted with arthritis depend on these exercises to keep their joints from becoming inflamed or stiff which can make a person immobile. Certified nursing assistants take the time each day to complete these exercises with their patients to ensure healthy limbs and joints.

Finally, CNA jobs always have a component personal interaction, and the duties of a Certified Nursing Assistant in nursing homes are no exception. Certified nursing assistants often have the role of companion as part of their job description. Many residents in nursing homes are very lonely. Some of them don’t receive many visitors and this can lead to loneliness and depression. CNAs not only provide physical care but emotional care and companionship that many residents would not receive if it were not for the daily interaction they have with their assigned CNA. Thus, it is very important that CNAs have a high level of compassion and understanding of the residents and their varied needs in a nursing home environment.

One of the most important character traits needed as a nurse’s aide is thoroughness. The ability to be dependable and reliable cannot be underestimated in this job. An employer will count on you to show up for work for your scheduled shift or any additional overtime shifts that you have committed yourself to. Failure to be prompt can leave patients without the proper care and hospitals and nursing homes even more understaffed.

Being thorough also is a benefit when caring for patients. Making sure to clean your patient’s body and change dressings and bandages and bed linen thoroughly will ensure the comfort of you patient and prevent unnecessary disease and infection. Being a person that someone can count on from the littlest to the most major of circumstances is crucial.

Certified nursing assistants should also possess a considerable amount of patience. In this job you are dealing with people who need the assistance of others for a variety of reasons. They are counting on people to understand that they can’t perform certain tasks and need the additional help to live their lives. CNAs are trained how to take of people but the ability to be patient is something that must be developed if it is not a quality that is innately possessed. There are patients who have difficulties explaining what they need or want directly because of speech or mental impairments. Similarly, the elderly and disabled may have mobility problems that require that they walk or move slowly. As a CNA you have to develop the understanding that the patient’s pace is different from your own and you are there to aid the patient at their level not yours. Patience is by far one the most important assets you can possess as a nurse’s aide.

Being tactful is definitely required in the nursing profession. Your patients will not always be in the best mood; nor will some of them be as appreciative as you may feel they should be, but as a nursing assistant it is required that you always remain cordial. There are ways to get your patient to complete exercises or to move to assist in changing bed linens without being abrasive. You should never replicate the any negative behavior that is presented to you. This is not to say that you have to be a patient’s mental, emotional or physical punching bag. As a nurse’s aide you must develop the ability to express your concerns in the most suave, civil and respectable way possible.

CNA training classes can give you the technical ability and understanding to perform the job of nurse assistant. Developing or possessing the above qualities and many other favorable traits will be of great help to the depth of your personal character and work as a certified nursing assistant.

The CNA training DVD’s will go over the required Skills, generally broken down into descriptions and examples of the proper way to complete the following skills. They would include basic care duties such as sanitation, moving patients or ambulation, applying dressings or stockings, and general patient care such as dressing, feeding, cleaning, etc.

Other sections would deal with taking and recording a patient’s vital signs: breathing or respiration, pulse, their blood pressure, height & weight, etc.
Most of the DVD’s for CNA’s will have a section on legal issues that you may encounter.  This section addresses the real issues and descriptions that CNA’s face.  Legal guilt can result in fines and imprisonment, as well as loss of certification and license to work as a CNA.

These would include topics such as restraints, abuse, neglect, theft, and other situations and definitions that a caregiver must be aware of.

Since the CNA Certification Exam consists of a written exam and a practical exam, you would find videos showing how to give a complete bed bath and use bath supplies, doing a skin assessment, proper bedmaking, infection control considerations, body mechanics for proper positioning, movement, and full range-of-motion (R.O.M.) exercise.

In considering one of the CNA training DVD’s, you’ll want to keep in mind that requirements for a CNA differ from state to state, and that depending on the facility you work at, your duties and functions will also vary. The requirements for a home health care worker may be very different than what is necessary in a geriatric facility such as a nursing home, or even that for a hospital or acute-care facility.

Like more and more people today, you may be looking for a new job or a change of jobs because of downsizing, poor pay, will the dance of eternity. The money of people are tired of being underpaid and under appreciated. With difficult economic finds, minimum wage jobs just don’t cut it.

As a CNA, you will always have plenty of employment opportunity. In fact, employers will be begging you to come and work for them. Nursing assistants can work in hospitals, health care facilities, and patient homes. These professionals are sometimes classified as Nurse’s Aides, Patient Care Technicians, Personal Care Assistants, or Home Health Aides.

Becoming a CNA avails taking a training class to learn the basics of patient care, taking and passing the CNA certification exam – the NNAAP, or National Nurse Aide Assessment Program text. Although there are significant physical requirements for the job, since it involves making beds, moving patients and helping them in tasks like dressing, etc., nursing is largely a job of caregiving and monitoring.

Once qualified as a Certified Nursing Assistant, you will have a wide and varied choice of working environments, workplaces, even areas of specialty. For those who would enjoy the health care field, becoming a nursing assistant can be a quicker path than the traditional nursing school programs, and can be considerably less expensive as well.

There are plenty of nursing assistant jobs that remain vacant due to the chronic shortage, and turnover n the field. Young women are now less keen on taking up the nursing job which is a full time job with lots of disadvantages like no fixed working hours, coupled with extreme tension. Jobs in health care require a dedication and time.

A CNA is both a mentally and physically demanding job and the nurses are often exposed to many infectious diseases that can pose problems of health risk to them and their family. Besides taking care of the patients, the nurse assistants may be expected to administer the medicines and keep a proper medical progress record of the patients. They are also required to set up and operate the various medical equipment.

Still, CNA training can be one of the best, most rewarding decisions you can make. You’ll have the security of knowing you can always find jobs with good pay, the respect of being a professional health care provider, and the satisfaction that comes with helping others.

The first obligation and main duty of a CNA is care of your patient. You’re usually responsible for the daily care & management, and routine of your patient. This is particularly so when caring for elderly or geriatric patients in nursing homes and extended care facilities. You may also be assisting physicians and nurses to care for patients who are physically disabled, mentally disabled, ill, or injured.

If you work in a facility such as a hospital or nursing home, there will be specific tasks and objectives that you’ll have to manage. In a hospital, this will vary by unit. You will usually be required to monitor and record vital signs: temperature, respiration, pulse, and blood pressure, and assess the patients level of pain. Some departments will have other specific functions, such as assisting with eating, dressing, and moving your patient. Certified Nursing Assistant duties often include taking patient history.

You must be quick to observe and know what to do in times of emergency situations.  Protocols for various procedures, emergencies, etc., will vary by state and institution. Your duties are part of the total health care package and program for your patients and clients.

One reason that there is a chronic shortage of qualified nurse assistants is the high turnover rate. This is often due to stress and burnout. Avoiding burnout is something the CNA should be aware of. This is the result of continually feeling overwhelmed by your job duties. The medical field ranks number one in the area of job burnout. It is important that you pay attention to burnout, since patient care is the first thing to suffer.

Your employer will depend on your to report accurate information on patient charts. And if you think something requires immediate attention from a Nurse, then you need to be able to communicate that message effectively. You also need to feel comfortable going to the Nursing staff for assistance and questions as the need arises.

The Nursing Assistant profession takes a very particular type of individual to be able to meet the requirements. Remember that your employers have a responsibility to protect all the patients and provide the highest possible level of care.

The duties of a Certified Nursing Assistant are always challenging, but at the same time they can be enormously rewarding,  exciting, and usually very satisfying. For those interested in pursuing a career in the medical field, obtaining your certification as a CNA can be exactly what you are looking for!