CNA – Certified Nursing Assistant
CNA Overview
There are thousands of patients who are bedridden or need assistance to take care of their day-to-day basic needs. Though there are professional nurses who can help them to a certain extent, the patients do need assistance in their daily routines. The needs of these people who assist are increasing in hospitals as well as personally by the patients who are aged, handicapped, or diseased and are at home.
Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) are people who are trained by various CNA institutes and certified to become nursing assistants. Once they are trained, they are professionally ready to take care and assist patients who need monitoring or help. They normally work under an LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) or RN (Registered Nurse) to help provide assistance to patients who cannot take care of routine tasks like bathing, eating, grooming etc. They also assist the nurses in handling equipment and checking the patient’s conditions and getting the patient’s vital information.
A Certified Nursing Assistant(CNA) are also called as orderlies, patient care technicians, Patient Care Assistant (PCA), Nursing Assistant-Registered (NA/R), or State tested Nurse Aid (STNA). In other countries such as the United Kingdom, CNAs are also referred to as Nursing Assistant (NA), Patient Care Associate (PCA), Auxiliary Nurse (Aux-N), Health Support Worker (HSW), or Clinical Support Worker (CSW). At the end of the day, irrespective of the designation, they all do the same job.
An ideal candidate to become a CNA are students who want to involve themselves in social activities like serving people, who enjoy taking care of others, find this the best way to serve the society as well as earn for themselves. People with passion to serve others find this very interesting as this includes taking care of elderly, handicapped, depressed patients including pediatric and Alzheimer patients.
This job not only requires the compassion and care for the patients, but also needs responsibility and skill to handle other tasks like preparing the room for the surgery, monitor the patient’s condition and report to the nurse, to transport the patient in a wheel chair or stretcher, maintaining the patient’s cleanliness as well as the surroundings, helping the patient exercise, apply dressings if necessary, having a watch on the patient’s intake as instructed by the doctor or nurse, turn the position of the patient having bedsore, etc. Attentiveness and alertness is very essential in case the patient is not able to talk and shows only actions.
The duration of the CNA courses vary. One can choose according to their experience and qualification already existing. There are full time courses up to 18 weeks, which provide hands-on experience and elaborate study. For students who are new to this field, such courses are ideal. Whereas, if the student already has some experience or basic qualification in the nursing field, there are quick 4 week courses too.
The CNA courses cover all topics like Medical terminology, infection control, basic nursing skills, measuring vital signs, emergency care, patient safety, basic human anatomy and physiology, record keeping, etc., which are very essential for his profession.
Federal government regulations demand that every CNA has to obtain a license. To obtain this license, there is a state certification examination and one has to clear this exam. The rules and regulations of states differ and one has to check with the respective State Nurse Aide or Licensing Board, to have a thorough knowledge of the state mandated requirements to ensure that he or she meets the required criteria.
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