A nursing assistant is a trained professional who assists nurses in providing basic care to patients in hospitals, long-term care facilities, rehabilitation clinics, and doctor’s offices. Ability to lift patients, excellent people skills, a sense of humor, and tolerance for cleaning and caring for patients who are unable to care for themselves are all possible requirements. The majority of nursing assistants, also known as healthcare workers, are educated through programs offered colleges, medical and technical schools, and organizations such as the Red Cross. Depending on the program, training can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, and classes are frequently taught registered nurses (RNs). The majority of nursing assistant jobs require certification, which can be obtained taking a class and passing the exams at the end.
The certified nursing assistant assists in the healthcare profession’s basic human needs. They may assist with bathing, feeding, changing diapers or beds, emptying bedpans, and directing patients to restrooms or toileting facilities. They are also taught how to take vital signs, such as pulse, blood pressure, and respiration, and are responsible for charting vital signs several times throughout each shift. Any changes in vitals, as well as any significant changes in a patient’s condition, must be reported to the nursing staff the nursing assistant.
In facilities where patients are hospitalized for extended periods of time, the nursing assistant, sometimes with the assistance of hospital orderlies, will help patients turn over every couple of hours so that bedsores do not develop. When patients who are ill or recovering need to get up to walk around, change their clothes, or go to the bathroom, a nursing assistant may be the first person to respond. The job can also require some heavy lifting. Working as a nursing assistant necessitates some physical strength and knowledge of safe lifting techniques.
Patients may also benefit from nursing assistants’ assistance with prescribed physical or respiratory therapy exercises. Nursing assistants can be trained to assist patients who are paralyzed or in comas with exercise in long-term care facilities. These health care professionals may also work with patients in home care settings, and they may be the primary caregivers for patients who are recovering from illnesses or who have long-term disabilities.
Nursing assistants perform a variety of tasks that allow nurses to focus on tasks that require more training, such as administering IV medications and starting IVs, giving appropriate medications on time, charting and noting significant changes in a patient’s health, and alerting doctors to potential problems. In many care settings, the recent increase in the patient-to-nurse ratio is a problem that skilled nursing assistants can help to alleviate. However, when the patient-to-nurse ratio is particularly high, the amount of work required of these assistants can be significant and exhausting.