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Nursing Assistant/Aide
Do you consider yourself a patient person?  Do you respect your elders and naturally treat all elderly people with the utmost respect?  If so and if you love people and genuinely enjoy caring for them, particularly the elderly, then beginning your career as a Nursing Assistant is an excellent way to mold you into the perfect Nurse.

A Nursing Assistant or Aide is an unlicensed health care worker (paraprofessional) acting in a basic care-giving capacity who provides support to the nursing staff.  Working directly under the supervision of Registered Nurses (RN), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN), or Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN), Nursing Assistants typically care for patients in hospitals, residents of nursing facilities, clients in private homes, or hospice patients, performing everyday living tasks for the elderly, chronically sick, or rehabilitation patients who cannot care for themselves.

The duties of a Nursing Assistant include but are not limited to:  helping patients bathe, dress up, take medicine, eat, and walk; emptying bedpans and changing soiled bed sheets; helping nurses take vital signs; transporting patients to examining or operating rooms; and providing emotional support to patients and their families.  

High school students interested in becoming a Nursing Assistant benefit from taking Algebra, Biology/Anatomy, Nutrition, and Chemistry.  Students entering Nursing Assistant programs from high school with no previous Nursing Assistant training should expect a period of 4 months to complete said program.  Most community colleges and trade schools offer CNA training in one semester, where the basic principles of nursing is taught and supervised clinical work is completed.  Other sources offer accelerated programs.  Some high schools even offer Nursing Aide programs, which students should strongly consider completing thus becoming certified prior to graduating high school.  Becoming a Nursing Aide/Assistant should be a stepping stone toward eventually becoming a Nurse.

NAs spend most of their time on their feet taking care of many patients.  The work is strenuous and involves working with patients who may be completely immobile, irritable, uncooperative, or even violent. Therefore, NAs are expect to be of stable mind, possessing patience and restraint. Because they frequently lift people and do other physically demanding tasks, on-the-job injuries are more common than for most other occupations.   They should be trained in how to properly lift and move patients, which can reduce the risk of injury, and they should attain certification in basic cardiac life support (BCLS) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).   Because nursing homes and hospitals provide care at all hours, Nursing Aides may need to work nights, weekends, and holidays.

Psychiatric Nursing Assistants help in providing health care for the mentally impaired or emotionally disturbed, while Pediatric Nursing Assistants offer assistance in the well-being of child patients and Geriatric Nursing Assistants for the well-being of elderly patients.

Nursing Assistants will always be needed, as people will always get sick and will always grow old.  And with the influx of "baby boomers" reaching retirement age, there is a sharp rise in demand for Nursing Assistants, rising nearly twice as fast as the overall job growth rate.
Job Description
Median Salary & Range
​Median Salary:  $24,190

Salary Range:  ~$18,060 - $35,170+
College Majors & Attainment Routes
​The normal routes to becoming a Nursing Assistant have been to attain certification by completing a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program, which are designed to be a one-semester (4-month) course.  Students are encouraged to take and complete this course while still in high school by coordinating their course curriculum between their high school and the local community college, if the course is not provided by their high school.
Colleges That Provide Above Majors
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) programs are offered at most community colleges and health care trade and technical schools and are offered at some high schools.  However, some accelerated courses are provided that would take less time.  
Available Scholarships

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