While there is unfortunately not a list of higher paying nursing assistant salary jobs for you to aspire to, there are several options available to you to gain the most out of your CNA employment. These options are detailed below.
Obtain Your CNA II
Obtaining your CNA II will give you a bump in nursing assistant salary by as much as an extra dollar per hour or more depending on your facility. While this may not sound like much, over the years as a CNA employee it will add up. Plus if you add this to more certifications like Basic Life Support certification and a Certified Nursing Administration course. These will aid you in getting higher pay or promotions within the CNA field of employment. Phlebotomy training to give you extra certification and experience. However, if you become a phlebotomist full-time although the average wage is higher as a phlebotomist than a CNA. You will lose your extra shifts, double shifts, night shift and weekend work that you will get with CNA employment which pushes your pay higher than that of a phlebotomist.
You need to keep in mind before you attend an interview that you can negotiate a higher starting CNA salary if you have experience/qualifications in an area with serious nursing assistant shortages. So doing a little homework on the shortage in your area can pay dividends in your negotiations in your starting nursing assistant salary. You obviously will not mention the shortages at the interview, you just keep it in mind when negotiating your starting nursing assistant salary with the employer.
Generally speaking the higher paid certified nursing assistant jobs will be those in a hospital, in a major city or urban area. And the highest pay will be in the specialized units that require extra training such as emergency room, intensive care ward etc.
Get a higher nursing assistant salary by working for an agency
If you are prepared to travel between jobs and can handle the temporary nature of a contract offered by a nursing agency, then a much higher nursing assistant salary can be achieved. Then agencies like ARC healthcare or Medical Staffing Network to name just two of the many agencies across the country can offer you these higher paying certified nursing assistant temporary jobs. Then they will usually place you at a medical facility that requires nursing assistants at a short notice. The pay will be higher than say a long term contract in a nursing home, but you will not have the reassurance of long term employment.
These companies/medical facilities that need staff in a pinch and recruit through an agency often have double shift options. Which will usually have a bonus on top for the inconvenience. Also in a lot of these temporary roles your traveling expenses will be covered if they are in remote locations.
Agency certified nurse assistant salary is usually much higher than the average at around $15 - $20 per hour, whereas for the same job in hospital may only pay you between $9 and $12 depending on experience, location and medical facility. You need to bear in mind though that these agencies often do not include medical insurance as part of their contract terms. You should also know that in order to get on these agencies books you will need a minimum of 6 months CNA experience, with many requiring 1 years experience at least before they can offer to find employment through their agency.
Private duty cases obtained through these agencies often provide much higher CNA pay than the norm. You will find a website called healthcareerweb.com often provides private duty case jobs on their website.
You could also consider studying for a nursing degree which will open many more opportunities for advancement in the nursing profession which includes much higher pay. Some of the top nursing jobs like Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA), earn on average $100k per year and often much more. Now obviously for this level of nursing pay there will be several years of hard studying to do, but the rewards can be well worth it in the end.
Hopefully this has given you a few pointers in getting the most out of a nursing assistant salary that you are looking for as you journey through your medical career.
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