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Nursing Assistant - Career Profile |
Career OverviewThe role of the nursing assistant is specifically that of a basic caretaker for ill patients. Nursing assistants help registered nursing staff to provide routine daily care to patients in a variety of settings, including nursing homes, acute-care hospitals, chronic-care hospitals, residential facilities, and private households.
Nurse assistants are sometimes called nursing aides and hospital assistants. They work under the direct and often close supervision of nursing staff. Their function is to reduce the amount of time that trained and thus more advanced medical care personnel, from registered nurses to clinical nursing specialists, spend performing routine daily tasks.
On a typical day, nurse assistants are responsible for helping patients to eat, dress, wash, exercise, and take medication. They are also trained and sometimes responsible for reading patient vital signs, including temperature and pulse. Amongst their specific responsibilities, nurse assistants provide massages to patients to improve circulation and maintain skin health. They are also trained to assist with transportation of patients in many cases. They may assist patients to travel from hospitals, care centers, or their homes to treatment, therapy, or recreational appointments.
In the next decade, nursing will be one of the top 10 fastest growing professions in the United States according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Health care facilities will be looking to cut back on general costs so clinical nurse specialists may become the preferred alternative to more specialized medical professionals.
The future looks bright in the nursing field, with the number of jobs for registered nurses expected to increase at a rate far greater than that of most other jobs in the next couple of years.
Over the next decade or so, the nursing profession is expected to change as well. Nearly one out of every eight Americans is over 65 years of age and the size of the elderly population looks set to double by 2050, according to the US Census Bureau. Nurses specializing in care of the elderly will be in particular demand.
Hospitals are constantly downsizing, cutting back on the number of general staff, and reducing the time of patients' stay as well, so at home patient care is likely to be the standard practice for nurses in the not too distant future. Nurse assistants will have a significant role to play in this context.
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Career RequirementsWhilst no formal education is needed for an individual to become a nurse assistant, a high school diploma is preferred as a minimum and is certainly required for further advancement in the medical field.
Nurse assistants must be dependable and physically strong to work full-time in what is sometimes a labor-intensive job. It is also desirable for them to be in good general health because working with chronically ill patients can be intensely stressful.
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Job OutlookEmployment prospects of nurse assistants are good at present and they are expected to remain good for the next decade. The expanding elderly population in the United States determines that there will be numerous opportunities for nurse assistants in nursing homes and long-term care facilities for the elderly.
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Career TrackAlthough opportunities for advancement as nurse assistants are relatively limited, experience as a nurse assistant certainly transfers to other health care occupations, from nursing to medical degrees. Regardless, to enter most other health care occupations, aides and assistants require additional formal training.
Sometimes employers and specialist agencies do offer fast-track educational and training programs to become advanced health care professionals.
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CompensationTypically, compensations for nursing assistants ranges from $15,000 to $28,000 annually. Although the opportunities for advancement are minimal, the career opportunities for nurse assistants are considered good.
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