Nursing and psychiatric assistants provide help and care for physically or mentally ill, injured, disabled, or infirm individuals, who are unavoidably confined to hospitals, nursing care facilities, and mental health settings. Home health aides have duties that are similar to those of a nursing assistant, but they work in patients’ homes or residential care facilities.

Nature of the Work

Nursing assistants perform routine tasks under the supervision of nursing and medical staff. They answer patients’ call lights, deliver messages, serve meals, make beds, and help patients to eat, dress, and bathe. Nursing assistants may also provide skin care to patients, take their temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure, and help them to get into and out of bed and walk.

They are also required to escort patients to operating and examining rooms, keep patients’ rooms clean and orderly, set up equipment, store and move supplies, and assist with some routine procedures. Further, nursing assistants keep close watch on patients’ physical, mental, and emotional conditions and report any change to superior nursing or medical staff, usually a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or a Registered Nurse (RN).

In a nutshell, a nursing assistant is needed to provide the routine care so that an LPN or an RN can focus on specific tasks, such as care plans, nursing assessments, administering medication, and assist in surgery room preparation. Thus the nursing assistant needs to be very skilled in the actual procedures being performed, and also be able to make quick observations of a patient's condition and report that back to LPN or RN. It is therefore apt that a nursing assistant is known as the senior nurse's "eyes and ears".

Working Conditions

Full-time nursing assistants usually work about 40 hours a week. Since< patients need 24-hour care, it is not uncommon to find nursing and holidays. Many however work part time. In 2004, 25 percent of them have worked part time compared to 16 percent of all workers. They are required to spend many hours standing and walking, and often face heavy workloads. Since they have to move patients into and out of bed or help them to stand or walk, nursing assistants are prone to back injury. Further, close association with patients makes them vulnerable to minor infections and major diseases, such as hepatitis. In most cases, it is entirely possible to avoid infections by following proper procedures.

Much as they disfavor, nursing assistants have to often attend to unpleasant duties, such as emptying bedpans and changing soiled bed linens. Patients under their care may at times be disoriented, irritable, or uncooperative. While admittedly their work can sometimes be emotionally demanding, many nursing assistants are known to derive satisfaction by assisting those in need of care.

Employment

Among 2.1 million jobs held by nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides in 2004, nursing assistants accounted for approximately 1.5 million of them. Clearly therefore, nursing assistants have a booming demand for their service. Around 42 percent of nursing assistants have worked in nursing care facilities, and another 27 percent in hospitals. Others are employed in State government agencies, residential mental retardation, mental health, and substance abuse facilities, outpatient care centers, and nursing care facilities.

Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement

Usually, a high school diploma or equivalent is all that is necessary for a job as a nursing assistant. For home health aides, even this is not mandatory. Hospitals prefer some previous experience as a nursing aide or home health aide. Often, nursing care facilities hire inexperienced workers, who are then required to complete a minimum of 75 hours of mandatory training and pass a competency evaluation as part of a State-approved training program within 4 months of their employment. After successful completion of training program, trainee aides are known as certified nurse assistants (CNAs) and are accommodated in the State registry of nursing assistants.

Other than above, nursing and psychiatric aide training is often included in school curriculum in high schools. Such trainings are also offered in vocational-technical centers, some nursing care facilities, and some community colleges. Courses commonly covered deal with basic knowledge about body mechanics, nutrition, anatomy and physiology, infection control, communication skills, and resident rights. Further, personal care skills, such as how to help patients to bathe, eat, and groom themselves, also are taught. Therefore, elementary knowledge of basic nursing skills are not that unknown to students of high schools and beyond.

Job Outlook

Employment opportunity for nursing assistants is expected to grow faster than average for all occupations through 2014, which is mainly because of long-term care needs of an increasing elderly population. Hospitals looking to improve finances, are likely to discharge patients as soon as possible, who will then shift to nursing care facilities till full recovery. This will result in more job opportunities for nursing assistants in numerous nursing and residential care facilities than in hospitals. In addition to above, modern medical technology will further ensure a steady demand for nursing assistants because, as the technology saves and extends more lives, it will in turn increase the need for long-term care provided by none other than skilled nursing assistants.

Earnings

Median hourly earnings of nursing assistants are $10.09 per hour as of May, 2004. The middle 50 percent earned between $8.59 and $12.09 an hour. The lowest 10 percent have earned less than $7.31, and the highest 10 percent have earned more than $14.02 an hour.

Median hourly earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of nursing assistants in May 2004 are as follows:

• Employment services $11.29
• Local government $11.10
• General medical and surgical hospitals $10.44
• Nursing carefacilities $ 9.86
• Community care facilities for theelderly $ 9.56

Nursing assistants working in hospitals generally receive at least 1 week of paid vacation after 1 year of paid service. Paid holidays and sick leave, hospital and medical benefits, extra pay for late-shift work and pension plans also are available to many hospital employees and t some nursing care facility employees as well.