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What does a Certified Nursing Assistant do?

A Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) works under the supervision of a Registered Nurse (RN) or Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), providing essential frontline patient care.

 

Exceptional communication skills are crucial, as CNAs are responsible for reporting all patient concerns and issues to their supervisor.

CNAs care for patients of various ages and abilities. The specific patient population you care for will depend on your workplace and any specialized skills you possess.

Certified nursing assistants often work with elderly or disabled patients in nursing homes or private residences.

In hospitals, certified nursing assistants are more likely to help a diverse patient population with a wide range of needs. Their patients could be young or old, and likely recovering from illness or surgery.

 Open Enrollment 

CNA Responsibilities and Duties:  While a CNA"S primary role is to attend to a patient’s basic needs, additional duties may arise based on the patient’s medical condition, workplace requirements, and authorized scope of care.

Core CNA duties include:

Helping patients with activities of daily living (ADLs, CNAs are primarily responsible for  helping patients with ADLs, such as bathing, grooming, toileting, eating, and moving. 

Serving meals and helping patients eat, ensuring that patients receive appropriate nutrition can include shopping for groceries, preparing meals, and, depending on the circumstances, assisting with eating. 

Lifting and moving patients,  CNAs must be able to safely move patients into beds and wheelchairs and onto exam tables when they can’t do so on their own. For bedridden patients, this may include turning or repositioning patients for comfort and prevention of bedsores.

Taking vital signs, CNAs often measure a patient’s blood pressure, pulse, and temperature, and then record their findings and report them to a supervisor to determine whether action is necessary. 

 

Maintaining a clean and sanitized environment, depending on daily needs, this can involve changing soiled sheets, cleaning up spills, changing bedpans, setting up equipment, and reducing the spread of germs and infection in the patient’s living area.

Facilitating patient care, the daily direct contact you have with a patient also gives you the opportunity to identify bruises, blood in urine, and other injuries and report them to medical staff who can initiate care.

 

Communicating with the healthcare team and family members, whether you work at a facility or in a private home, you serve as a channel between patients and nurses and physicians so that all patient issues are communicated. If you work in home care, your interactions and conversations may also include family members involved in your patient’s care.

Providing companionship and friendship, since you’ll spend so much time with a patient, you’ll often have to provide compassion and comfort to those who are lonely, frustrated, or scared.

Where Can You Work as a CNA?

Nursing assistants account for over one-third of the nursing home workforce, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Other top employers include continuing care retirement communities/assisted living facilities for the elderly, medical/surgical hospitals, and home health care services.

Your daily duties as a CNA will vary depending on where you work:

  • Long-term care and nursing facilities: You’ll care for the same patients for longer periods of time, allowing you to establish relationships and make an ongoing difference in their lives.

  • Hospitals: You can expect to work at a faster pace and care for a broader patient population for shorter periods of time.

  • Private homes: This setting gives you more control over your schedule and allows you to work more independently than you would in a facility.  

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Overview of Course Learning Objectives:
 

Open Enrollment. Have questions?

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Our mission is to provide equal-opportunity training that eliminates barriers to student success and closes the equity gap in education. We are committed to giving all students a chance to succeed in their chosen field of study. We hold ourselves to higher standards and embrace ambitious goals to serve our students with an unwavering belief in the power of change. This is a space where students can grow and learn.

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