What does a nurse technician do?
Nurse technicians, also known as nursing aides, assistants, or attendants, usually work in clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes. Primarily, they help a registered nurse by providing essential mobility, care, and support to patients. Everyday routine duties include maintaining patients' hygiene and moving them using wheelchairs or stretchers around the facility for their meals, treatment, events, and other activities. They do tasks that help improve a patient's comfort level and become their caregivers in the long run. This job requires a high school diploma along with the completed certified nursing assistant (CNA) program.
Nurse technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real nurse technician resumes:
- Manage memory unity within facility.
- Deliver timely and quality patient care on rehabilitation unit under direct supervision of staff nurses.
- Assist patients with ADL's: bathing, transferring, ambulating, changing bed linens, skin care, etc.
- Assist and serve patients with activities of daily living (ADL) in a manner conductive to their safety and comfort.
- Assist new surgical patients with appropriate equipment to meet rehabilitation needs, and offer mental encouragement for a more positive recovery.
- Pick up patient for surgery.
- Work on a busy med-surg unit.
- Empty bedpans and change dirty linens.
- Handle emesis bags, urinal, and bedpans.
- Give medications, IM and SC injections and oral/PO.
- Perform patient tests and document results in all scripts EMR and professional system.
- Complete training in team building, management of care and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
- Perform physical assessments, administer TB skin tests, draw blood, and administer medications.
- Prepare or set up traction as requested by the physicians and can assess patients in traction.
- Prepare and administer medication per doctor's orders via peg tube, rectally, IM and PO.
Nurse technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 26% of Nurse Technicians are proficient in Patients, CPR, and Vital Signs. They’re also known for soft skills such as Observational skills, Emotional stability, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Nurse Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 26%
Assisted patients in returning to their maximum potential after a neurological or orthopedic incident.
- CPR, 9%
Assisted with multiple emergency situations including performing CPR.
- Vital Signs, 8%
Prepped patients for medical examinations vital sign.
- Rehabilitation, 5%
Assisted new surgical patients with appropriate equipment to meet rehabilitation needs, and offer mental encouragement for a more positive recovery.
- Home Health, 5%
Advised physician, nursing staff, home health agencies as applicable of all changes to client condition.
- Direct Patient Care, 5%
Performed direct patient care nursing tasks under the supervision of a Registered Nurse and performed various tasks as competency documentation designated.
"patients," "cpr," and "vital signs" are among the most common skills that nurse technicians use at work. You can find even more nurse technician responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. For certain nurse technician responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "communication skills." The day-to-day duties of a nurse technician rely on this skill, as "nursing assistants and orderlies must communicate effectively to address patients’ or residents’ concerns." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what nurse technicians do: "developed a system of staff communication that ensured proper implementation of treatment plans and comprehensive patient care. "
Compassion. Another common skill required for nurse technician responsibilities is "compassion." This skill comes up in the duties of nurse technicians all the time, as "nursing assistants and orderlies assist and care for the sick, injured, and elderly." An excerpt from a real nurse technician resume shows how this skill is central to what a nurse technician does: "provided compassionate patient care to elderly and those with alzheimer's. "
Physical stamina. While "physical stamina" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to nurse technician responsibilities. Much of what a nurse technician does relies on this skill, seeing as "nursing assistants and orderlies spend much of their time on their feet." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of nurse technicians: "provide physical assistance with patient care supervision of the therapists/licensed personnel. "
The three companies that hire the most nurse technicians are:
- Encompass Health602 nurse technicians jobs
- Spectrum Health144 nurse technicians jobs
- PEDIATRIC SPECIALTY CARE140 nurse technicians jobs
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Compare different nurse technicians
Nurse technician vs. Phlebotomist
Phlebotomists are workers in the medical field who specialize in drawing blood from patients. They ensure that patients are prepared by explaining the procedure to them, showing them tools they will use and where their blood will be stored, and answering any questions the patients may have. Phlebotomists then draw blood from the patient, patch up the area where the blood was drawn, and store the blood samples in properly labeled vials or blood bags. After the procedure, they send the blood samples to the laboratory for testing, transfusion, or any other use that there may be.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, nurse technician responsibilities require skills like "cpr," "rehabilitation," "home health," and "direct patient care." Meanwhile a typical phlebotomist has skills in areas such as "blood samples," "blood specimens," "osha," and "standing orders." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Phlebotomists tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $34,086. In contrast, nurse technicians make the biggest average salary, $32,642, in the health care industry.On average, phlebotomists reach similar levels of education than nurse technicians. Phlebotomists are 1.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Nurse technician vs. Certified phlebotomist
A certified phlebotomist is a medical professional who specializes in drawing blood through venipuncture or finger and heel pricks, preparing the samples for laboratory procedures. Besides collecting blood, a phlebotomist is also responsible for gathering patient information, verifying identification, reviewing medical histories, labeling vials, and maintaining records, including diagnostic findings. They are also in charge of keeping laboratory equipment clean, discarding trash appropriately, and organizing supplies according to policies, ordering new supplies when necessary. Above all, a certified phlebotomist maintains an open and transparent communication line with nurses and physicians for an efficient workflow.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that nurse technician responsibilities requires skills like "rehabilitation," "direct patient care," "customer service," and "direct supervision." But a certified phlebotomist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "blood specimens," "phlebotomy procedures," "laboratory specimens," and "blood samples."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Certified phlebotomists tend to reach similar levels of education than nurse technicians. In fact, they're 1.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for nurse technicians in the next 3-5 years?
Michael Williams Ph.D.
Director and Associate Professor, Eastern Michigan University
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.
Nurse technician vs. Mobile phlebotomist
A mobile phlebotomist mostly travels to various places such as patients' homes and nursing facilities to draw blood samples for laboratory analysis and medical condition diagnosis. Their responsibilities revolve around gathering information to verify the patient's identification, coordinating with nurses or facility officials, labeling and organizing samples according to a set of protocols, delivering samples to designated areas, and maintaining patient records. Furthermore, as a mobile phlebotomist, it is essential to monitor the quantity and cleanliness of supply, properly discarding used items such as syringes and cotton.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from nurse technician resumes include skills like "cpr," "rehabilitation," "home health," and "direct patient care," whereas a mobile phlebotomist is more likely to list skills in "blood specimens," "phlebotomy training," "tourniquet," and "blood samples. "
Mobile phlebotomists earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $33,452. Comparatively, nurse technicians have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $32,642.When it comes to education, mobile phlebotomists tend to earn similar degree levels compared to nurse technicians. In fact, they're 1.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Nurse technician vs. Medical assistant/phlebotomist
Medical assistants/phlebotomists are medical personnel who execute administrative and clinical tasks in healthcare facilities or units. They are responsible for providing healthcare to patients such as immunization administration, orthopedic supplies, and wound care. It is part of their job to take the blood of patients for blood testing. They also take charge of handling other medical tests for the upkeep of patients' health. These professionals should exhibit compatibility, initiative, and cohesiveness within the team.
Types of nurse technician
Updated January 8, 2025
