About CNA Nursing Careers

Certified nursing assistants do a number of things in nursing home and hospital settings. They must take a certain amount of courses to become certified. These are usually taught by a registered nurse and include taking vital signs and feeding and washing patients. 

Hospitals

Many CNA’s go to work in a hospital. Some of the duties they will perform there include taking the patients vital signs, and taking food trays to patients. CNA’s also may monitor a patient’s fluid intake and make them comfortable. Taking vitals includes taking their blood pressure, temperature, pulse and respiration.

Nursing Homes

The responsibilities in the nursing home are much the same with some added in. A CNA should be tolerant and have great communication skills to work with the elderly as they sometimes can’t make their needs well-known. CNA’s will also watch for signs of weakness and age-related physical frailty in nursing home patients as well. They are also more likely to perform personal duties such as grooming and help going to the toilet in a nursing home environment.

Home Health Care

Working in a private home gives a CNA more responsibilities since they work independently. For example, if something goes wrong a CNA has to make the judgment call on what to do since there is no doctor onboard to consult. That is why CNA’s that work in home health care are usually required to have more training than those who choose to work in a hospital or nursing home environment.