Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Job Description

What are the roles and responsibilities of a CNA?

A CNA helps residents or patients with daily living (bathing, dressing, toileting, eating and moving safely), takes vital signs, keeps rooms safe, documents care and reports changes in condition to the nurse. Depending on training and state rules, some nursing assistants also give medications as certified medication aides. CNAs work under the supervision of registered or licensed practical nurses and do not perform licensed nursing tasks.

What are the job duties of a nursing assistant?

The core nurse assistant job duties are the same in most settings: cleaning and bathing patients, helping them use the toilet and dress, turning, repositioning and transferring them between beds and wheelchairs, measuring vital signs such as blood pressure and temperature, serving meals and helping patients eat, and listening to and recording patients' health concerns so they can be reported to the nurse. In some states, nursing assistants with an extra medication aide credential also give medications. Nursing assistants work under the supervision of licensed practical nurses or registered nurses.

Is a nursing assistant the same as a certified nursing assistant?

Nursing assistant (or nurse aide) is the job; certified nursing assistant is the status a nursing assistant earns by completing a state-approved programme and passing the state competency evaluation. Titles vary by state: you will see certified nurse aide, nurse aide and, in Ohio, state tested nurse aide (STNA). Federal nursing home rules use "nurse aide", so write the posting with your state's title and add "CNA" so applicants can find it.

What training and certification does a CNA need?

Federal rules for nursing homes that take Medicare or Medicaid require a state-approved training programme of at least 75 clock hours, including at least 16 hours of supervised practical training, followed by a competency evaluation with a written or oral exam and a skills demonstration. States can require more: California, for example, requires 160 hours. A nursing home may not use someone as a nurse aide for more than four months unless they have completed training and been found competent, and it must provide at least 12 hours of in-service training a year, including dementia care and abuse prevention.

How do I verify a CNA certification?

Search the nurse aide registry of the state where the candidate is certified. Federal rules require a nursing home to receive registry verification before an aide starts work, and the registry also records findings of abuse, neglect or misappropriation of resident property. If a candidate has gone 24 consecutive months without paid nursing or nursing-related work, they must complete a new training and competency evaluation programme or a new competency evaluation before working as a nurse aide in a nursing home.

What is the difference between a CNA and an LPN?

A CNA gives personal care and basic observation under nurse supervision after a short state-approved course. A licensed practical nurse (LPN) completes a state-approved programme that typically takes about a year, passes the NCLEX-PN and holds a nursing licence, which covers clinical tasks such as dressing changes and, in some states, giving medications or starting IV drips. Some states also let experienced LPNs oversee unlicensed staff such as CNAs.

Is there a CNA equivalent in India?

The closest equivalent is the General Duty Assistant (GDA), a qualification awarded by the Healthcare Sector Skill Council and listed on India's National Qualifications Register. A GDA gives patients personal care and comfort, helps with eating, drinking and elimination, and keeps them safe. It is a skills certificate with no US state registry listing, so a US employer cannot treat it as CNA certification.

How do you screen CNA applicants?

Check the registry before anything else, then look at reliability and care judgement. Ask about situations a CNA meets every shift, such as a resident refusing a bath, finding a resident on the floor at the start of a shift, or a new red area on a resident's skin, and listen for safety, dignity and prompt reporting to the nurse. A skills check on transfers and vital signs during orientation confirms technique.