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The differences between nurse externs and certified nursing assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a nurse extern, becoming a certified nursing assistant takes usually requires 1-3 months. Additionally, a nurse extern has an average salary of $37,156, which is higher than the $32,597 average annual salary of a certified nursing assistant.
The top three skills for a nurse extern include patients, vital signs and CPR. The most important skills for a certified nursing assistant are patients, vital signs, and home health.
| Nurse Extern | Certified Nursing Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $37,156 | $32,597 |
| Hourly rate | $17.86 | $15.67 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 569,180 | 225,834 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3.12 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | High School Diploma, 29% |
| Average age | 44 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 3 |
The job of a nurse extern is to assist the mentor nurse in their nursing duties. They help the mentor nurse in various medical procedures such as administering medications or starting intravenous therapies. They provide or help with personal patient care, including changing bed linens, oral hygiene, and bathing. Nurse externships typically have different requirements that include having finished nursing school, completing a clinical nursing course before the training, and being registered in a nursing program.
A certified nursing assistant generally assists patients in their healthcare needs and medical procedures. They support patients in their daily activities by monitoring patients' temperature and food intake, ensuring the cleanliness of the patient's room, and keeping documentation of patients' conditions for reference of nurses and doctors. A certified nursing assistant should also communicate with patients' families and provide updates as often as needed. It is also important that a nursing assistant is patient and compassionate enough to attend to direct patient needs, which could get demanding or challenging at times.
Nurse externs and certified nursing assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Nurse Extern | Certified Nursing Assistant | |
| Average salary | $37,156 | $32,597 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $47,000 | Between $24,000 And $42,000 |
| Highest paying City | Huntington Park, CA | Portland, ME |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Menorah Medical Center | Valley Presbyterian Hospital |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a nurse extern and a certified nursing assistant in terms of educational background:
| Nurse Extern | Certified Nursing Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | High School Diploma, 29% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | Emory University | - |
Here are the differences between nurse externs' and certified nursing assistants' demographics:
| Nurse Extern | Certified Nursing Assistant | |
| Average age | 44 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 14.3% Female, 85.7% | Male, 12.3% Female, 87.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 9.9% White, 64.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 7.8% White, 62.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 7% |