A nursing assistant is an important member of a medical team who performs jobs under the direct supervision of a physician or licensed nurses. They support nurses by providing direct practical care to the patients.
1. CNA: Work description and training requirements
A nursing assistant is an important member of a medical team who performs jobs under
the direct supervision of a physician or licensed nurses. They support nurses by providing
direct practical care to the patients.
Some routine tasks of their work activities include helping patients to eat, bathe, and
dress, serving meals, tidying up rooms, making beds, delivering messages, answering
calls. Some medical tasks of their job profile are taking a patient’s temperature, blood
pressure, measuring of pulse and respiration rate, guiding a patient to operating and
examining rooms, setting up machines for use, cleaning and sterilizing medical equipment
before and after use, and others.
One of the most in-demand medical careers, nursing assistants is the right choice if you
want to step-in the medical profession. To work efficiently and to ensure best quality
services, having training is of utmost importance.
In addition to excellent practical patient care, NAs must have good communication skills
and patience. All suck skills can be gained through training. Certified nurse training is an
advanced education programs that authorize your abilities and skills to work in this
profession. To become a CNA, an applicant must have, at least high school diploma or
equivalent, positive qualities in helping people, ability to work as a team, and others.
Moreover, employers give preferences to those applicants who have specialized
theoretical as well as practical training to work in this field. There are number of accredited
schools and community colleges that offer students online training. Some programs can be
completed in two months while other can last up to 1 year. The length of the training
depend upon the rules and regulations of the state board, the type of the curriculum, and
the number of hours each day offered by the program.
Students enrolled in nursing assistant training programs participate in lectures, laboratory
and clinical experiences. Subjects of the coursework include Patient care ethics and
legalities, Anatomy and physiology, Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), Medical
vocabulary, Infection control techniques, Automated external defibrillator (AED) practices,
Nutrition basics, Patient vital signs, Range of motion exercises, Patient hygiene etc.
During training, students will provided the opportunity to work in medical offices so that
they have real world experience before actually work in hospitals. Apart from MA training,
there are many other training programs like pharmacy assistant course, medical assistant
training, EKG technician course to name a few, that offer you choice your work in the
medical field.
As far as certified nurse training is concerned Manhattan Institute's School of Allied
Medical and Nursing can qualify you to work as an allied health professional in nursing.