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What does a licensed nursing assistant do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read
Quoted expert
Michael Williams Ph.D.
What does a licensed nursing assistant do

A licensed or certified nursing assistant (CNA) is a healthcare professional who is responsible for providing basic health care to patients in medical settings. Under the supervision of a registered nurse, licensed nursing assistants help in repositioning bedridden patients as well as take vital signs of patients such as temperature and blood pressure. They can work with medical technology such as billing, health information, and medical recording charting software. Depending on their level of training and state regulations, licensed nursing staff can also administer medication to patients.

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Licensed nursing assistant responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real licensed nursing assistant resumes:

  • Manage memory unity within facility.
  • Perform assessments, responsible for medication administration, wind care treatment, documentation and aiding in the residents' ADL's.
  • Set up telemetry units, EKG remove hep locks, stock order, assist patients with healing and recovery after surgery.
  • Provide medical assistance and perform duties as a license nursing assistant at local nursing home and rehabilitation centers.
  • Support the entire interdisciplinary ICU team in providing high quality patient care.
  • Involve in maintenance of compliance measures for OSHA regulations for office practice.
  • Perform capillary glucose monitoring and EKG's under direct supervision of the RN.
  • Assist in the insertion, positioning, or suturing of closed-wound drainage systems.
  • Staff nurse functioning as both clinical and charge nurse between ER and ICU.
  • Clean, sterilize and package all instruments according to OSHA guidelines and standards.
  • Provide patient care by supplying and emptying bedpans, applying dressings and supervising exercise routines.
  • Provide basic first aide and CPR when appropriate and notify doctors of any emergencies concerning patient care.
  • Provide basic care and assist nursing team with the elderly and Alzheimer's patients within the long-term care setting
  • Design layout for a common source inductively degenerate LNA using IBM7RF process, with DRC clean and LVS match.
  • Facilitate clients with ADL's, cleaning, cooking, transportation, shopping, anything that the client need.

Licensed nursing assistant skills and personality traits

We calculated that 22% of Licensed Nursing Assistants are proficient in Patients, Vital Signs, and LNA. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Patience.

We break down the percentage of Licensed Nursing Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 22%

    Provided patients and families with support and instructions to promote independent living and adaption to disability or illness

  • Vital Signs, 10%

    Provided residents care in long-term care facilities including monitoring and documenting vital signs, and effectively engaged in good teamwork.

  • LNA, 7%

    Mentored other LNA's* Geriatric Nursing Assistant Specialist* Team Leader

  • ADL, 5%

    Performed assessments, responsible for medication administration, wound care treatment, documentation and aiding in the residents' ADL's.

  • Adaptive, 5%

    Maintained sanitary residents' and program rooms assisted with transferring residents in and out of wheelchairs and adaptive equipment.

  • Rehabilitation, 4%

    Provided medical assistance and performed duties as a licensed nursing assistant at local nursing home and rehabilitation centers.

"patients," "vital signs," and "lna" are among the most common skills that licensed nursing assistants use at work. You can find even more licensed nursing assistant responsibilities below, including:

Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a licensed nursing assistant to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what licensed nursing assistants do because "nursing assistants and orderlies must communicate effectively to address patients’ or residents’ concerns." Additionally, a licensed nursing assistant resume shows how licensed nursing assistants use communication skills: "uphold all institutional policies regarding confidentiality, patient safety, communication, and the minimization of hazards. "

Compassion. Another essential skill to perform licensed nursing assistant duties is compassion. Licensed nursing assistants responsibilities require that "nursing assistants and orderlies assist and care for the sick, injured, and elderly." Licensed nursing assistants also use compassion in their role according to a real resume snippet: "selected to train new staff in resident care, resulting in more team cohesion/increased collaboration and compassion for residents. "

Patience. licensed nursing assistants are also known for patience, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to licensed nursing assistant responsibilities, because "the routine tasks of cleaning, feeding, and bathing patients or residents can be stressful." A licensed nursing assistant resume example shows how patience is used in the workplace: "treated them with dignity, respect, and compassion, and helped them with patience and care. "

Physical stamina. A big part of what licensed nursing assistants do relies on "physical stamina." You can see how essential it is to licensed nursing assistant responsibilities because "nursing assistants and orderlies spend much of their time on their feet." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical licensed nursing assistant tasks: "established and maintained daily documentation of specialized physical health care services and procedures which included medication administration. "

See the full list of licensed nursing assistant skills

The three companies that hire the most licensed nursing assistants are:

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Compare different licensed nursing assistants

Licensed nursing assistant vs. Prn

A PRN or a "pro re nata" employee is responsible for covering a shift or a specific situation, especially during short-staffing or the need to complete a particular task. The PRNs often work for a medical industry without a regular or full-time commitment, having the freedom to manage their time and take multiple assignments from different organizations. A PRN must have excellent communication and organization skills, providing quality healthcare services to the patients and the organization.

The annual salary of prns is $1,753 lower than the average salary of licensed nursing assistants.Even though licensed nursing assistants and prns are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require patients, vital signs, and adl in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, licensed nursing assistant responsibilities require skills like "lna," "adaptive," "slings," and "compassion." Meanwhile a typical prn has skills in areas such as "healthcare," "occupational therapy," "acute care," and "surgery." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Prns earn the highest salaries when working in the professional industry, with an average yearly salary of $49,871. On the other hand, licensed nursing assistants are paid more in the education industry with an average salary of $41,284.On average, prns reach higher levels of education than licensed nursing assistants. Prns are 8.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Licensed nursing assistant vs. Home health care

Home health aides are healthcare professionals who are responsible for providing support and personal services to patients. These aides are required to monitor their patients by observing the physical and mental condition of their patients. They must provide services such as housekeeping and laundry, buying food and other household requirements, and preparing and serving meals and snacks. Home health aides must also help the family members of their patients by teaching them the appropriate ways to lift, turn, and re-position their positions.

On average, home health cares earn a $3,712 lower salary than licensed nursing assistants a year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Licensed nursing assistants and home health cares both require similar skills like "patients," "vital signs," and "adl" to carry out their responsibilities.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real licensed nursing assistant resumes. While licensed nursing assistant responsibilities can utilize skills like "lna," "adaptive," "rehabilitation," and "slings," home health cares use skills like "social work," "laundry services," "health care services," and "companionship."

In general, home health cares achieve similar levels of education than licensed nursing assistants. They're 2.3% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for licensed nursing assistants in the next 3-5 years?

Michael Williams Ph.D.Michael Williams Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Director and Associate Professor, Eastern Michigan University

Many technologies are growing in importance in healthcare. Healthcare trackers, wearables, and sensors will continue to grow and allow patients to self-monitor and report their health findings to providers in real-time. Wearable diabetes monitors that provide real-time blood sugar reports and control have revolutionized a person's life with diabetes. FitBit and other technologies can monitor heart rate, rhythm, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation will also expand in use.

The electronic health record (EHR) integration continues to build in decision aids and artificial intelligence for making better decisions. The EHR has made accessing patient information more available to other practitioners and patients themselves. Another technology that will continue to expand in use is a point of care testing (POC). POC allows for greater flexibility to meet the patient wherever they are, and will see continued expansion. And perhaps, the technology that has indeed expanded, out of necessity during the pandemic, is telehealth.

While telehealth has been available for many years, particularly in rural areas, it wasn't nearly as common in high population areas--patients were expected to go to the provider. Telehealth can eliminate many unnecessary "non-emergency" visits to emergency rooms and can be available, quite easily, in off-hours.

Licensed nursing assistant 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.

An average patient sitter eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of licensed nursing assistants. The difference in salaries amounts to patient sitters earning a $11,746 lower average salary than licensed nursing assistants.licensed nursing assistants and patient sitters both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "patients," "vital signs," and "adl," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from licensed nursing assistant resumes include skills like "lna," "adaptive," "home health," and "slings," whereas a patient sitter is more likely to list skills in "bls," "patient observation," "continuous observation," and "direct observation. "

Patient sitters earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $29,697. Licensed nursing assistants earn the highest pay from the education industry, with an average salary of $41,284.patient sitters typically earn similar educational levels compared to licensed nursing assistants. Specifically, they're 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Licensed nursing assistant vs. Medication aide

A medication aide is a healthcare professional who is responsible for administering medication to patients daily in a hospital or medical facility. As certified nursing assistants, medication aides should possess knowledge of patient care procedures so that they can coordinate with different nurses to deliver them. They follow written or verbal instructions from physicians on how to manage their patients' medications. Medication aides are also required to observe their patients and document changes in their conditions.

Medication aides typically earn lower pay than licensed nursing assistants. On average, medication aides earn a $596 lower salary per year.While both licensed nursing assistants and medication aides complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like patients, vital signs, and adl, the two careers vary in some skills.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "lna," "adaptive," "slings," and "skin care" are skills that commonly show up on licensed nursing assistant resumes. On the other hand, medication aides use skills like state regulations, incident reports, memory care, and medication distribution on their resumes.In general, medication aides earn the most working in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $39,103. The highest-paying industry for a licensed nursing assistant is the education industry.medication aides reach similar levels of education compared to licensed nursing assistants, in general. The difference is that they're 0.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of licensed nursing assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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