Become a CNA - Certified Nurse Assistant Job Description

Do you have compassion and a desire to help people? Would you love to have a rewarding career in the healthcare industry? If you answered yes to these questions, then becoming a Certified Nurse Assistant may be just the job for you. With a shortage of caregivers and a growing elderly population, nurse aides have never been in more demand than they are right now. Though this is certainty not an easy job, and it is definitely not for everyone, there will always be a need for qualified nursing assistants.

Certified Nurse Assistants (CNA) are the nurses that provide direct patient care, both medical and non-medical, in places such as hospitals, outpatient facilities, long-term care facilities, nursing homes, and through home care. They are responsible for a wide range of daily patient care duties and work directly under the supervision of a Registered Nurse (RN), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), or other licensed medical professional. They may assist patients while getting dressed or undressed, with general hygiene tasks (such as bathing or brushing their teeth), or when eating, among many other job duties. The CNA may also be responsible for collecting simple body fluid specimens or taking a patient's vital signs (blood pressure, heart rate, temperature) but does not make any decisions based on this data. They can help physicians or nursing staff members with patient procedures as needed. And they are typically responsible for documenting a patient's activities throughout the day.

The following list is a general CNA job description and are some of the duties you could expect to perform as a certified nurse assistant:

- Moving the patient from a bed to a wheelchair (and vice versa)
- Moving the patient from a bed to stretcher (and vice versa)
- Moving the patient with a mechanical lift
- Moving the patient up in bed (to the side of the bed, raising head and shoulders, or onto his or her side)
- Making an occupied or unoccupied bed
- Measuring temperature (oral, rectal, and auxiliary)
- Taking radial or apical pulse
- Counting the patient's respirations
- Measuring blood pressure
- Measuring height & weight
- Brushing & flossing the patient's teeth or providing oral care for dentures
- Providing perineal care
- Assisting with a tub bath or a partial bath in bed
- Assisting the patient with hand and foot care
- Assisting the patient with dressing or undressing
- Shampooing or combing the patient's hair
- Shaving the patient's face
- Assisting with feeding
- Assisting with a bedpan (or male with using a urinal)
- Collecting a urine or stool specimen
- Providing catheter care / emptying a urine drainage bag
- Assisting the nurse with a wound dressing change

If you want to become a valuable member of a healthcare team who makes a huge difference in the lives of patients and their families every single day, then becoming a certified nurse assistant is a great place for you to break into the medical field.