CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) – An Overview



CNA stands for Certified Nursing Assistant. The acronym is also known as Certified Nurse Assistant.

The certified nursing professionals can practice their job in many institutions such as hospitals, assisted living facilities, adult day health centers, nursing homes and they even can practice in private homes when needed and allowed.

Certified Nursing Assistants are trained to provide professional personal medical care and assistance. It is common for a CNA to work under the supervision of a nurse. Often along with the personal medical care Certified Nursing Assistants perform, depending on patient’s health condition and abilities, the most basic needs for them. Because of the extensive daily contact with the patients, Certified Nursing Assistants perform key role, providing to the nurse or the doctor in charge important information about the patient’s medical condition.

As a Certified Nursing Assistant, every professional performs extensive list of functions which highly depend on the institution where the certified professional practice. Some of the most common functions are such as taking patients vital signs, assisting nurses with medical equipment, documentation and record keeping of patient’s vitals, medications and activities, reporting changes of patient’s physical and mental condition to the nurses and doctors in charge. Because of the larger amount of time Certified Nursing Assistants spend with patients, they are often responsible for the emotional support patients require during hospitalization.

In the field of personal care Certified Nurse Assistants provide help with motion exercises, depending on patients needs and condition ranging from minimal assistance to totally dependent. CNAs also provide help with feeding, bathing, grooming, dressing, they take care of making beds and organizing patient’s rooms and belongings.

Although it is not as lengthy as the training to become medical assistant or as the training to become a nurse, the training to become a CNA gives all the basic medical skills and knowledge needed to perform the duties of a Nurse Aide. The CNA Training is obligatory in the USA for every health care professional who has decided to work as a nurse aide. A CNA training program must be completed by every prospective Certified Nurse Assistant and only after a CNA training program is completed and the prospective Nurse Aide is successfully certified the professional gets the right to perform the CNA duties. The CNA training length depends on the US state in which the prospective CNA resides in, and all the CNA training programs are prepared in compliance with the regulatory bodies and also all the training programs aim to meet the CNA Certification requirements, which are examined by а CNA Certification test that evaluates the level of the skills and knowledge gained during the CNA training course for every prospective certified professional.

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