CNA - Certified Nursing Assistant Careers

Caregiving CNA's: A Review of Their Important Job

Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA's), also known as aides or nursing assistants, are trained professionals who work in the medical field under direct supervision of a Registered Nurse (RN) or Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). CNA's have an important job as they have the most interaction with patients out of all of the medical staff since it is their job is to provide direct patient care and meet the patient's personal needs.

CNA's usually perform the following duties in the following categories:

Meals: When patients require assistance with feeding, CNA's are there to help. CNA's will also deliver meal trays to patients who are capable of feeding themselves.

Hygiene: CNA's must bathe and dress patients, brush their teeth, and provide basic nail care. Some patients may be completely reliant on aides for these services while others may just need some assistance or supervision.

Lavatory: CNA's can provide total assistance with the toileting process or may just provide ambulatory assistance getting the patient to and from the toilet. Nursing aides can also provide patients with bed pans as needed.

Vitals: CNA's are trained to be able to perform blood pressure, pulse, and temperature checks and document them accordingly for their patients.

Ambulation and Room Service: CNA's are trained to know and understand proper body mechanics to safely move and support patients. They also respond to "call lights" which patients use to notify them that they are in need of some form of assistance.

Turning Patients: CNA's have the critical responsibility to prevent patient bed sores. They must turn bedridden patients regularly, or as instructed, to relieve the various pressure points on the body throughout each day.

Laundry: Although CNA's do not have to clean patient laundry, they have to ensure patients have clean bedsheets, blankets, and clothes available and they must remove any soiled laundry from the patient rooms.

Charting: CNA's must document certain information about patients that include the patient's mood, vital signs, food and liquid consumption, bowel movements and urine amounts.

Recreational Activity: For patient health and happiness, CNA's take their patients for walks, provide reading material, or take them to other patient social activities.

Local schools and career centers provide career assessments that can indicate if an interested person is a good candidate for the caregiving job of a Certified Nursing Assistant as CNA's perform an important job that requires a gentle and patient personality in addition to a responsible nature.

Medical and healthcare careers related to the CNA field:

• Licensed Practical Nurse
• Medical Assistant
• Nursing
• Nursing Aid
• Nurse Practitioner
• Physician Assistant
• Physician