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Nursing Assistants

  • Bright Outlook
  • Numerous Job Openings

Provide or assist with basic care or support under the direction of onsite licensed nursing staff. Perform duties such as monitoring of health status, feeding, bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, or ambulation of patients in a health or nursing facility. May include medication administration and other health-related tasks. Includes nursing care attendants, nursing aides, and nursing attendants.

What you’d do

  • Turn or reposition bedridden patients.
  • Answer patient call signals, signal lights, bells, or intercom systems to determine patients' needs.
  • Feed patients or assist patients to eat or drink.
  • Measure and record food and liquid intake or urinary and fecal output, reporting changes to medical or nursing staff.
  • Provide physical support to assist patients to perform daily living activities, such as getting out of bed, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, standing, walking, or exercising.
  • Document or otherwise report observations of patient behavior, complaints, or physical symptoms to nurses.
  • Remind patients to take medications or nutritional supplements.
  • Review patients' dietary restrictions, food allergies, and preferences to ensure patient receives appropriate diet.

Skills that matter

  • Service Orientation
  • Active Listening
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Monitoring
  • Coordination
  • Critical Thinking

How to get there

Medium preparation: usually vocational school, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree

Also called

  • Certified Nurses Aide (CNA)
  • Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
  • Nursing Assistant
  • Patient Care Assistant (PCA)
  • Certified Medication Aide (CMA)
  • Certified Nurse Aide (CNA)

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