Job duties of Certified Nursing Assistants

Being a Certified Nursing Assistant can be a very demanding but also quite rewarding job! But one has to wonder, which are the job duties of Certified Nursing Assistant and how can they help the local community? Read onward to find that out!

The main role of a Certified Nursing Assistant is the offer basic care to patients but at the same time he/she will also have to assist the patients in their day to day activities such as bathing for example. If you want to be a CNA, then one of the most important traits you need to have is to enjoy helping others and to be compassionate. There are many situations in which a CNA will be the main caregiver for a patient, so he/she needs to fully understand the needs and demands of the patient in order to deliver a stellar care.

Aside from that, Certified Nursing Assistants also tend to work with medical technology so they need to have a good understanding of how that technology works and how it can be used to deliver the best possible results. Things like billing software, medical record charting software or health information software are widely used by a CNA, so he/she needs to learn how to use them properly in order to deliver the best care and results.

There are situation when a Certified Nursing Assistant will offer medication to patients, but most of the time this is attributed to a CNA that has a lot of experience in the sector, not to mention that sometimes there are also some state regulations to keep in mind in this regard as well.

A Certified Nursing Assistant will report to license vocational nurses, license practical or registered nurses. Because of that, the CNA is required to have incredible communication skills.

Tasks that need to be performed by a Certified Nursing Assistant:

• Clean the bed sheets and restock the patient room with supplies
• Sanitize the patient areas
• Answer phone calls for the patient
• See if the patient has wounds or injuries
• Lift patients to the bed or wheelchair
• Monitor the vital signs of the patient
• Serve meals to the patient
• Collect treatment info and share it with the doctor
• Offer and empty bed pans
• Dress and bathe patients that are unable to do so on their own
• Act as a middle man when it comes to communicating patient needs to the doctor
• Transporting patients to operating rooms
• Setting up operating equipment upon request

While there are situations in which being a Certified Nursing Assistant might not be that easy, this job does come with an incredible satisfaction and truly extraordinary results. It’s one of the most appealing and exciting jobs for new professionals in the industry and it can definitely bring in front outstanding experiences for both the CNA and his/her patients. If you care about the life of others and you enjoy nurturing people in need of help, then being a Certified Nursing Assistant and it’s a good idea to become one right away, you will certainly enjoy the experience!

Find additional nursing resources here.

Relationship Between Nurses and CNAs

A CNA is quite simply a Certified Nursing Assistant. It seems like CNAs and nurses always seem to have something of a love hate relationship with each other. This is unfortunate because both of these professions depend on each other. As a direct result of that fact, CNAs depend on nurses on a more personal level, just as nurses depend on them. The truth is, CNAs would not have a job if it were not for the presence of the nurses. By the same token, a nurse’s job would become much more difficult and their schedule would be far more hectic if it were not for the presence of the CNA.

Essentially, a CNA is there to help make the nurse’s job easier. Nurses are expected to deal with a myriad of problems and issues related to the patients that they are taking care of. They have to deal with the onset of new symptoms or continue to manage the symptoms the patient has been experiencing for quite some time. Therefore, they are required to follow doctor’s orders, hand out medications and communicate effectively with physicians when the condition of the patient changes. In many cases, a nurse has to play detective in order to figure out what is going on with a patient so that this information can be effectively communicated to the doctor. This means that they really don’t have much time for the more mundane tasks like ensuring that a patient makes it to the bathroom on time or changing the sheets on the bed. This is where the CNA comes in.

Unfortunately, the job of a CNA can often be a thankless one. The pay is relatively low and in some cases, they are not treated with the respect they deserve. This is where a great deal of friction between the two often comes in. In a perfect world, everyone would be respectful of the other individual and would realize that each job function is necessary in order for things to flow smoothly (read more here). However, that is not always the case. The best solution is for CNAs to do everything in their power to help nurses understand that they are there to do their job right and they don’t even need to be told what to do once they have developed their skills to a certain level. This in turn fosters cooperation between nurses and CNAs. In reality, the relationship between the two is vitally important and the best thing that the other party can do is work well with everyone involved.