What Do Certified Nursing Assistants Do

Certified Nursing Assistants refer to non-technical staff that are supervised by Nurses in giving nursing care in hospitals or health care institutions. They are also referred to as nurse aids or home health aids. Being a Certified Nursing Assistant is considered to be a good training ground if one wants to take in the industry of health care. But what do certified nursing assistants do? The duties of the Certified Nursing Assistants start by being the patients’ constant watchers and informing the nurses and other higher ups about the condition of the patients. In fact, because Certified Nursing Assistants are constantly around patients, they are able to forge closer relationships with them and their relatives.

But aside from this, what do certified nursing assistants do? The Certified Nursing Assistants also take care of the personal hygiene. This means that she will be involved in the bathing, changing of clothes and other types of personal grooming. The Certified Nursing Assistants are also in charge of the patient’s toiletry needs. This involves guiding patients to their bedpans, and emptying these bedpans as well as catheters. Aside from this, they are also responsible for changing bed linens and keeping the surroundings of the patients as clean as possible.

The Certified Nursing Assistant is also responsible for the maintenance of the patients’ medical records, which includes the weight, temperature, blood pressure and other pertinent information about the patient. It is also important that the CNA records the treatments that were administered by the nurses to the patients.

In keeping and updating the patients’ records, it is also the responsibility of the Certified Nursing Assistant to inform the nurses of any changes in the patient’s health. In fact, some medical institutions require the Certified Nursing Assistants to submit reports on the medical conditions of the patients.

There are many more duties and responsibilities of a Certified Nursing Assistant. One of these is giving the patients assistance during meal times. They are in charge of setting up the meals for the patients, making sure that they are taking the prescribed supplements for nutrition. They also record the food intake of the patients. Aside from this, the Certified Nursing Assistants are also there in administering medicines to the patients.

Though their jobs are mostly non technical, the duties of the Certified Nursing Assistants are very important in making sure that the right and proper health and nursing care are provided to the patients. What do certified nursing assistants do ultimately? They take care of the patients.

Written By: Maye Fegi. Last Modified: 08 June 2011