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There are certainly many CNA career opportunities available for certified nurse assistants simply because of the nature of their jobs. One of the good things about becoming certified is that you will always have plenty of employment opportunities. You will hardly find a nursing facility that doesn’t rely on the services of nurse assistants. The number of people in need of health care is growing, not to mention the number of people with disabilities, and this provides an endless number of exciting and challenging job opportunities as a certified nursing assistant.
For anybody wanting to become a CNA, you may believe that working in a nursing home is your lot, but it is very far from being your only option. Yes, many do work in nursing homes, but there are plenty of other job opportunities. Certified nursing assistants are in demand for providing basic nursing services, even though these services are under the supervision of a licensed practical nurse or a registered nurse. The courses that they do focus on things like wound prevention, restorative care, nutrition, skin care as well as dementia care, and career opportunities center around what the CNA has been trained in.
CNAs Can Take On Specialty Care Responsibilities
After successfully completing training, CNAs can take on specialty care responsibilities. Many certified nursing assistants decide to study and advance from CNA to LPN positions. They can be found in a number of settings, providing many nursing tasks to make life in the nursing home, physician’s office, hospital or private nursing setting more efficient and lighter for more senior nurses. Certified nursing assistants are increasingly in demand and according to US Labor Bureau statistics, more of these nursing personnel will be needed than ever before.
CNAs do not have the same responsibilities and powers of a registered nurse, nonetheless their duties are broad; some of which are observing patients and reporting anything out of the ordinary to the supervising nursing staff. They feed and bath their patients, set up meal trays, and make records of the food and fluid intake of their patients.
Administrative- And Physician Office Careers
CNAs also fill administrative positions. They perform certain administrative requirements where they are taught how to manage billing and to also complete other administrative responsibilities. Many medical facilities prefer to hire certified nursing assistants to run the reception office. On top of that they may be required to have a driver’s license because as a travel nurse as well, they drive patients around or visit them in nursing homes and in home care environments. They will need to keep health care records of their findings in terms of their vital signs. In a physician’s office they assist with preparing the patient for medical examinations. They are taught to sterilize instruments and prepare medications , alter dressings of wounds, take electrocardiograms and so on.
Nursing Restrictions For CNAs
CNAs cannot provide health care without the supervision of a registered nurse. A CNA employed by a staffing agency that provides home care nursing will be required to take certain courses and be certified as a Home Health Provider, and even then, they are still under the supervision of a more senior nurse. Sometimes the agency will provide a more senior nurse to check in every once and again on CNAs in home health care positions. They provide health-related services like administering prescribed medications or they will be able to check the patient’s temperature. Mostly their services are related to housekeeping and personal care such as changing bed linens and helping the patient in and out of bed. They are not permitted to change wound dressings or catheters as well as attending to other more complex medical procedures.
Certain Training Is Required To Fulfill Career Critera
With CNA career opportunities you need to make sure that the training you have received meets the requirements of the state you are in. Each state has different requirements for the number of hours of training a nursing assistant must complete, and your state’s department of health can provide you on more information. The federal government stipulates that the minimum training hours for nurses in a nursing home for instance will be 75. Because the CNAs scope of practice is less than that of a licensed practical nurse or a registered nurse, the salary is also less. Many CNAs opt therefore to work and study at the same time towards becoming a licensed practical nurse, where the scope of practice provides more responsibilities and more pay.
Certification for a CNA will differ from state to state but generally it can be achieved within six months, and once the program is completed, the graduate will do the certification exam in order to be able to use the title of Certified Nursing Assistant. Although the job only requires a high school diploma, some US states may require more qualifications. In most states, a high school diploma is sufficient to become a CNA.
Writing Exams Opens Up More Career Opportunities
Different states have different requirements for the number of credit-hours to be completed. For any queries regarding eligibility for certification, you can check with your state Board of Nursing. The CNA will need to do written test and a practical exam. Without this exam your career opportunities are nil. There are many programs available and the cost of the program, whether it is done at a college or on-line, will all contribute to the qualities and training of the can in preparation for the variety ofjobs up for grabs. As the primary caregivers for millions of different age group patients, CNAs must be well trained and prepared to do their jobs well. CNA career opportunities are abundant and they fill many positions in settings where the LPN or RN can supervise them. With more training, CNA career opportunities mean more advancement and you too can go on to become a licensed practical nurse or a registered nurse.
The Certified Nursing Assistant Can Advance Their Career
To further your career to an LPN, you can expect to get a much more generous salary. CNA to LPN programs are offered by community colleges, universities and nursing schools and this bridge program takes about one year to complete and covers fundamental nursing knowledge, preparing the CNA for the license examination. The beauty of these bridging programs is that you can take the CNA to LPN program part-time and still carry on working. To qualify you should be at least 18 years old and have graduated from high school with your diploma.
With a CNA to Registered Nurse Program, you will have to take a two-year associate’s degree in nursing to prepare you for the NCLEX-RN licensure examination. After examination, there will be just that many more job opportunities awaiting you.
Lots of Exciting Career Opportunities For The CNA
There are nursing agencies who specialize in matching qualified certified nursing assistants to the job best suited to them and in a variety of different locations. They prefer their nurses to have technical training beyond that of high school as well as a number of hours of relevant continuing education to maintain CNA registration. There are a variety of career opportunities open to certified nursing assistants and some of these are:
- psychiatric care
- acute care
- care of geriatrics
- private clinics
- correctional services
- hospital nursing
- schools
- home care… and others
CNA career opportunities don’t extend to merely making beds and taking daily care of patients. They are also trained to take care of those with mental problems like in a nursing home that would have a unit for alzheimer’s patients. Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative cognitive disease, and the fact that it affects millions of people around the world, it is important to have caring nursing staff with the knowledge in the care of Alzheimer’s patients.
Working With The Mentally Impaired Is A Rewarding Career Opportunity
Often the nursing staff with the most direct contact with Alzheimer’s patients is the certified nursing assistant who assists these patients. The registered nurse in charge of the dementia unit relies heavily on CNAs for their assistance during the day and the ability to report changes in the patient’s condition. Certified nursing assistants who care for Alzheimer’s patients will try to assist the patient to achieve as much independence as possible. The CNA will assist the patient with mobility and take part in activities with the patient that will stimulate the mind. Caring for an Alzheimer’s patient is mentally and physically demanding, Nursing care facilities rely heavily on the limited but essential nursing care which the certified nursing assistant provides to those with Alzheimer’s disease as well as other memory impairments. Nursing homes are always looking for CNA applicants who enjoy working with the memory impaired and who have an interest in making a difference in the lives of these patients.
Career Opportunities In Home Health Care
Many people are deciding to keep their loved ones at home; and in fact the trend toward individualized care is demanding more from CNAs, and with appropriate training and support, these nurses and the patient both thrive in these home care environments. Take Bayada Home Health Care as an example. They were founded in 1975 and they provides nursing, rehabilitative, therapeutic and hospice care to adults and children in their homes. They employ thousands of nurses, social workers and therapists who serve many different communities. They value the work of certified nursing assistants, and employ them to fit into many different home care nursing jobs. A typical advertisement for a certified nursing assistant which was recently posted on their website read like this:
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Bayada Home Health Care needs certified nursing assistants to help in these specific area and they offer excellent pay and benefits for a certified nursing assistant applying for these jobs. They invite certified nursing assistants to review all their CNA job openings for positions that will suit their interests and qualifications. Some of the outstanding benefits that full time CNAs can expect are amongst others:
- paid holidays
- medical insurance
- life insurance
- disability income protection
- retirement program
Conclusion
Around the world, apart from the hospitality industry, there isn’t another career that offers so many employment opportunities as nursing. Hospital and nursing homes are permanently full with young and old people suffering from all manner of illnesses and injuries. From certified nursing assistants to licensed practical nurses to registered nurses as well as psychiatric nurses, nursing personnel work in many different settings whether it is research, administration, education or in the health care system. Most nurses work in hospitals but CNA career opportunities extend to working in clinics, schools, research institutes, correctional facilities, health care organizations and nursing homes and clinics as well as home care.
Providing basic nursing services to patients is the main requirement of most CNA jobs, but these jobs are found in a variety of settings and descriptions. There is no hard and fast rule of a typical CNA job because each health care job will have its own set of characteristics which will determine whether it becomes popular with the certified nursing assistant or not. It is true that the certified nursing assistant must also perform tasks that are unpleasant like emptying bedpans, but then no experience is eve wasted and it may be the motivation the nurse needs to investigate further studies to advance to a more senior position and different career opportunities.
There are plenty of opportunities for the certified nursing assistant to further their careers and study to be an LPN, RN or to specialize. Nurses start with the basic high school diploma and acquire additional training to take on increasingly more exciting jobs with more challenges and responsibilities.