The health care industry has been growing steady every year, and future projections only show it continuing to grow. In fact, it is one of the few fields that showed steady growth during the economic recession.
Whether your long-term career goal is as a licensed practical nurse (LPN), registered nurse (RN), nurse practitioner, etc.. , a certified nursing assistant (CNA) role can be a jumping off point to your future health care career. The courses, certifications, and practical skills that are necessary to become a certified nurse will not only help prepare you for future education degrees, they will give you insight about how the health care system works from the bottom up. It is hard to supervise certified nursing assistants if you don’t have any insight as to the details of the job.
That said, a nurse assistant is also an excellent career on it’s own. A certified nurse assistant will not be the most glamorous or praised position, but it is one of the most vital and personally rewarding positions. Nurses generally do not get to spend much face-to-face time with all of their patients. It is the certified nurse assistant who will feed, bathe, clothe, groom, and provide all the activities of daily living that the patient needs assistance with. The empathy, skill, and emotional and social support you provide while attending to those patient care needs and other job duties (vital signs, linen changes, range of motion, etc) is key to patient well being . Essentially, the nurse assistant is on the front line of patient care.
As a nursing assistant, you will have an array of choices for employment- nursing home, mental health, home health, hospital, clinic, etc.. Having so many options helps to provide you with job security and a setting that you can enjoy working in.
If you think that you should become a certified nursing assistant, all you need is a high school diploma or a GED. You will then need to complete a 6-12 week CNA certification program that will teach you about basic nursing skills, nutrition, infection control, and basic anatomy. Most states will require you to take a certification exam once you finish the program. Some potential employers will even offer to pay for the training if you agree to work for them a certain set amount of time.
It is never too early or too late to have a rewarding career. If you find helping others satisfying and rewarding, then maybe you should become a certified nurse assistant.
Tags: cna, health care, LPN, nursing assistant, RN