What does a certified nurses' aide do?

A certified nurses' aide specializes in providing health care and welfare support to patients in nursing homes, hospitals, hospice, or any facilities that offer long-term care. A nurses' aide is responsible for assisting patients in bathing and dressing, toilet and catheter use, essential daily exercise and walks, and preparing and feeding meals. Furthermore, a nurses' aide must monitor a patient's vital signs and overall condition. It is also essential to coordinate with nurses and other health care workers by reporting changes or improvements.
Certified nurses' aide responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real certified nurses' aide resumes:
- Recognize by physicians for ability to meticulously prepare patient's chest and attach leads to obtain excellent quality EKG tracings.
- Administer nursing care under direct supervision to assign residents and patients in order to achieve maximum level of independence.
- Assist residents with bathing, feeding, transferring, oral care, etc., care track on vital signs and ADL 's
- Demonstrate understanding of the needs of the patients and make appropriate matches between HHA and patients.
- Provide companionship to keep patients mentally healthy.
- Establish compassion by providing emotional/spiritual support to patients and families.
- Record medical information which include vital signs, specimens and catheter.
- Provide client orient nursing and residential care to the elderly or patients undergoing rehabilitation and convalescent care.
- Maintain all certifications including CPR, first aid and mandatory training classes for patient safety.
- Lift, push, turn, stretch, and perform CPR as needed on residents.
- Instruct or advise clients on issues such as household cleanliness, utilities, hygiene and nutrition.
- Obtain patient information, take vitals, ensure medications are current and perform EKG's as needed.
- Assist patient with toileting, bedside commodes, bedpans, urinals, empty urinal, and change colostomy bags.
- Operate mechanical lift and perform catheter care.
- Maintain patient confidentiality according to HIPAA regulations.
Certified nurses' aide skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Certified Nurses' Aides are proficient in Patients, Vital Signs, and Care Plan. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Patience.
We break down the percentage of Certified Nurses' Aides that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 17%
Provided assistance for disabled patients through daily living activities to enable the highest level of patient independence
- Vital Signs, 15%
Recorded vital signs/information in medical records prepared and administered medications as directed by a physician and nurses.
- Care Plan, 6%
Follow resident care plans, walking/transfer instructions and restorative program as indicated.
- Blood Pressure, 5%
Distributed daily vitamins and monitored blood pressure.
- Customer Service, 5%
Enhanced customer service and improved quality of living by providing a positive experience for every patient.
- Infection Control, 4%
Maintained departmental policies and procedures, objectives, quality assurance program, safety, environmental and infection control standards.
Common skills that a certified nurses' aide uses to do their job include "patients," "vital signs," and "care plan." You can find details on the most important certified nurses' aide responsibilities below.
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a certified nurses' aide to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "nursing assistants and orderlies must communicate effectively to address patients’ or residents’ concerns." Additionally, a certified nurses' aide resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "cited for excellence in interpersonal communications, teamwork, patient care, flexibility and reliability. "
Compassion. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling certified nurses' aide duties is compassion. The role rewards competence in this skill because "nursing assistants and orderlies assist and care for the sick, injured, and elderly." According to a certified nurses' aide resume, here's how certified nurses' aides can utilize compassion in their job responsibilities: "provided compassionate hospice care for residents administered medications and maintained the medication administration record"
Patience. This is an important skill for certified nurses' aides to perform their duties. For an example of how certified nurses' aide responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "the routine tasks of cleaning, feeding, and bathing patients or residents can be stressful." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a certified nurses' aide: "exhibited patience, respect and compassion while assisting patients. ".
Physical stamina. For certain certified nurses' aide responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "physical stamina." The day-to-day duties of a certified nurses' aide rely on this skill, as "nursing assistants and orderlies spend much of their time on their feet." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what certified nurses' aides do: "provided full assistance with meal preparation, bathing needs, physical therapy, and more. "
The three companies that hire the most certified nurses' aides are:
- Regency Health Services Inc130 certified nurses' aides jobs
- Interim HealthCare115 certified nurses' aides jobs
- Gardant Management Solutions115 certified nurses' aides jobs
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Certified nurses' aide vs. Student medical assistant-externship
Student Medical Assistant Externship is a broad term for catering students for short, reliable, and practical work experience. Once you graduate, you can get a chance to meet contacts that may be useful for your career. You can have a better chance to work in a clinic, hospital, and any medical platform after going through this kind of externship.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, certified nurses' aide responsibilities require skills like "care plan," "customer service," "infection control," and "fluid intake." Meanwhile a typical student medical assistant-externship has skills in areas such as "ekg," "data entry," "surgery," and "urinalysis." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Student medical assistant-externships tend to reach similar levels of education than certified nurses' aides. In fact, student medical assistant-externships are 2.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Certified nurses' aide vs. Patient sitter
The primary job of a patient sitter is to provide patients with care and companionship. You will be responsible for a few duties that always include supervising patients, assisting them with basic personal hygiene and care, and monitoring their vital signs. As a patient sitter, you are expected to refrain from doing unauthorized or additional functions, identifying changes in patient's conditions, and maintaining patient information confidentiality. You are also expected to comply with relevant standards, procedures, and policies.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that certified nurses' aide responsibilities requires skills like "care plan," "fluid intake," "home health," and "resident care." But a patient sitter might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "bls," "patient observation," "continuous observation," and "direct observation."
On average, patient sitters earn a lower salary than certified nurses' aides. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, patient sitters earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $29,697. Whereas certified nurses' aides have higher pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $31,818.patient sitters earn similar levels of education than certified nurses' aides in general. They're 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Certified nurses' aide vs. Medical assistant externship
Medical assistant externs are medical school students who took the opportunity to get on-the-job training at a medical facility, usually a hospital. They spend a set amount of time in the facility. Medical assistant externs do job shadowing. They join their mentors, who are usually doctors or other health professionals, in their daily activities. Unlike usual on-the-job trainees, medical assistant externs do not really work on administrative activities. Instead, they are given the opportunity to truly be exposed to the actual work in a medical facility. They experience talking to patients and their families, performing basic medical tasks under the supervision of a doctor, and interpreting laboratory results with their mentors.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a certified nurses' aide is likely to be skilled in "care plan," "customer service," "infection control," and "fluid intake," while a typical medical assistant externship is skilled in "ekg," "office procedures," "exam rooms," and "laboratory specimens."
Medical assistant externships typically earn similar educational levels compared to certified nurses' aides. Specifically, they're 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Certified nurses' aide vs. Patient escort
A patient escort assists health care staff in providing patient care by managing a patient's immediate needs. Typical duties that you will perform include organizing and coordinating the transport of patients, assisting patients in personal hygiene such as dressing and bathing, and engaging with patients. As a patient escort, you are expected to create good relationships with patients by treating them with dignity and respect. You may also provide support services such as restocking supplies and changing linens.
Types of certified nurses' aide
Updated January 8, 2025











