A Career of Certified Nursing Assistant

Certified nursing assistants, or CNA for short, can work in many different places including: hospitals, nursing home, and assisted living facilities. The job requires general care for the patient for things like taking vital signs, feeding the patient meals, personal hygiene, adjust patients’ beds, apply bandages, etc.

The education required for a CNA is a high-school diploma or a GED along with a 6 to 12 week CNA class a college or medical facility. What you learn in these classes are basic nursing skills, anatomy and physiology, nutrition, and infection control. Students are also to get a lot of hands on experience in these classes with clinical activities. To become certified, most states have a certification exam that one must take in order to be official. Many students may end up continuing school after receiving certification to become an RN.

To become officially licensed, you need to pass a state issued exam. The test contains a multiple choice section and a section where the person must demonstrate their skills. In order for a person to keep their licensure, they must receive continuing education every two years.

There are a few different types of salaries for a CNA, those being: annual salary, minimum starting salary, and maximum salary. Salaries tend to differ from state to state, but the average annual salary is $27,520. The average minimum starting salary is $17,800. The maximum salary for a CNA is $31,314. The salary for a CNA isn’t exactly ideal, however, it can be a good job for a student going to college trying to pay for bills, tuition, etc. This can definitely assist college students financially while providing them with great experience in the medical field. It can help students acquire connections in their working facility, creating a very effective network for the student.

A lifetime career as a CNA may not necessarily be the ideal outcome (financially speaking) for most people but it definitely has its benefits. A CNA has a plethora of working conditions, but to start the list off, a CNA works about 40 hours per week which splits up to about 8 hours per day in a 5 day week or about 5.7 hours per day in a 7 day week. The time put into the job is not very demanding, it’s fairly average for a full-time job. There are many hazards and advantages to being a CNA, starting with hazards/disadvantages for the job:

CNAs don’t exactly get paid a lot of money which can be a factor that turns many people away, there is also limited room for advancement for the job because there isn’t really any further training, the job can be physically demanding for some people due to the fact that patients may have to be carried from or onto their beds, the job can also be emotionally rough because many ill patients may pass away which can be very hard for some individuals to handle, and bodily fluids can discourage others because some people may not necessarily like to be working with feces or urine.

Now with all these hazards/disadvantages there are many advantages (it’s always better to leave the best for last). The advantages are: the short school time which is a course of about 6-12 weeks long, there are many job opportunities for CNAs, the physical work of the job can be a benefit to some people who despise sitting and staring at a computer, some people prefer to be active and on their feet, the job can also be emotionally beneficial because it can help many patients feel satisfied and comfortable with the care they’re are receiving and that can help people feel good, and the ability to work in a plethora of different work places like a hospital, nursing home, assisted living facility, patient homes, etc. can be very beneficial to some.

There aren’t really any career ladders in the field of being a CNA. Due to the fact that it only requires someone to have a high school diploma or a GED and a 6-12 week course, there isn’t really anything before a CNA that can help create a ladder of sorts. However, being a CNA can help to later become an RN, which is extremely useful because it is a pretty impressive upgrade from a CNA.

In my overall opinion, I believe this job is very beneficial from both a selfish and an altruistic point of view. From the selfish point a view, the job can be helpful in a plentiful amount of way like the pay. As a college freshman, financial issues being to arise and a job as a CNA can help pay for any bills. The job can also help a student create many connections in a workplace like a hospital in case the student may want to advance to a higher job like an RN. Now, looking at the job from an altruistic point of view, you are helping people at the end of the day and you’re really making the world a better place by satisfying someone else. The jobs disadvantages are rather trivial and honestly not really worth a second mention but it’s always better took look at the bright side of things, look at the positives and benefits that this job can provide you with.

In conclusion, I chose this career because I am currently studying to become a certified nursing assistant myself and I found the job rather interesting. The job does have hazards/disadvantages but it also has a plethora of advantages with it like the fact that it’s easy to get into, the pay is good for a college student who is trying manage his/her financial situations, and it can help gain experience and create connections. I very much forward to becoming certified at the end of this school year because I am very committed to being successful.

Works Cited

1. American Red Cross. (2020). Nurse Assistant Training. Retrieved from https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/cna
2. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022). Nursing Assistants and Orderlies. Occupational Outlook Handbook. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/nursing-assistants.htm
3. Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. (n.d.). Find Accredited Programs. Retrieved from https://www.aacnnursing.org/CCNE-Accreditation/Accredited-Programs
4. National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (n.d.). National Nurse Aide Assessment Program (NNAAP).
5. National Network of Career Nursing Assistants. (n.d.). Career Ladder. Retrieved from https://www.cna-network.org/career-ladder/
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