Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) are also referred to as nursing aides, orderlies and healthcare workers. There major role in the hospital or healthcare facility is to provide patient care under the supervision of the nurses who are responsible for each patient. Most of the CNAs are in the front line of the hospital/facility since they are the ones that take care of the basic needs of the patient. They should be able to build a connection with the patient especially when working in the extended-care facilities where they will be taking care of the same patient every single day.

If you are would like to seek an entry level employment in the healthcare field, then, an option is to take the CNA career path. You will need a GED or highschool diploma, CNA training and pass the certification test. These are the prerequisites for people who would want to be in the direct line of patient care. It can be used as a stepping stone for a higher level of career in healthcare or it can be just the interest of the person in healthcare and helping people.

CNAs are employed by healthcare facilities, hospitals, elderly homes and private sectors that would need extra help with their health care if they are physically disabled. When working in hospitals, there are other additional needs that you would need to do like knowing how to monitor a patient for vital signs and knowing medical effects.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Take vital signs (temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiratory rate).

• Provide direct patient care such as assisting with bathing, eating, dressing, and walking patients.

• Turn and reposition bedridden patients to prevent breakdown of their skin.

• Change bed linens.

• Record amount of oral intake and measure urinary output.

• Collect specimens for tests.

• Supply and empty bed pans.

• Interact with patients and family.

• Transport patients and equipment as needed.

• Keep a record of care given.

• Monitor patients and report any variances to normal to the nurse for further assessment.

• Follow infectious disease precautions to prevent the spread of organisms.

Personal Qualities:

CNAs are the ones to spend most of the time with their patients. Therefore, they would need to be compassionate and patient with their patients. Patience with the patients would be very important since CNAs would be dealing with patients who are ill, injured or aged and they can sometimes be verbally or physically abusive or very hard to deal with. You will also need other qualities such as honesty, willingness, ability to follow directions and have an interest in your chosen profession.

Physical Requirements:

A CNA would be doing a lot of walking and moving that they would need to have the sufficient strength to assist their patients with moving from different departments of the hospital or different places that they would need to be in the facility. CNAs would also be checking the conditions of their patients from time to time especially for those who are under medication.

Educational Requirements:

The requirements for CNA vary from state to state. You will need to check with your state regulatory agency for the specific requirements in the state you will be working in. Training programs for CNA can vary from six weeks to 3 months. This training will include both classroom and clinical hours. Classes could be found in vocational/technical schools, community colleges and even online. Some long-term facilities would offer you free training but would require that you will work for them for a certain period of time.