CNA Job Description – Duties And Responsibilities

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Find out what the job description for a CNA is.  A CNA or a certified nursing assistant completes a variety of tasks each day to help provide care for patients in a healthcare or home health setting.

A nursing assistant is often responsible for taking and recording vital signs for patients.  In some settings, they might even be trained to monitor blood sugar levels.  A nursing assistant might be asked to note how much/what a patient eats during their shift, urine outfit and other important details to help ensure a comprehensive chart for each patient.

Typically a CNA will help patients with activities of daily living.  They will aid a patient in getting dressed and groomed.  A Nursing assistant will help a patient to safely shower or bathe or directly bathe the patient if they are unable to do so own their own.  Some patients will need more help than others depending on their condition.

Quick Tip: If you’re interested in becoming a CNA, we highly recommend reading our expert articles on How To Get Free CNA Training as well as What it’s Like to be a CNA

A CNAs job description might include assisting patients with range of motion activities.  Patients, who are bedridden, will need to be turned and repositioned during a nursing assistant’s shift.  Sometimes a CNA will aide patients in other exercises including helping a patient go for a walk.  A CNA might push a patient in their wheelchair for a change of scenery or fresh air.
Certified nursing assistants need to help some patient’s to eat their meals.  A CNA might transport residents (in a continuing care community) to the dining room for meals or social room for special events.  They will help to make sure that a patient is comfortable throughout their shift.  A CNA can be asked to assist nurses with some other basic tasks and duties as well.

Certified nursing assistants who work in a home health setting, often have some additional duties.  A home health aide often provides companionship as well as care for their clients.  They might also be asked to read with clients and interact with them in order to help improve cognitive skills.  Some certified nursing assistants would even be asked to complete some light cooking and household duties during their shift.

Some nursing assistants accompany patients to physical therapy, doctor’s appointments and other health related visits.  Sometimes a nursing assistant will go with patients for other outings such as shopping or a hair appointment.  This is especially common for home healthcare aides.

The exact CNA job description will vary from employer to employer.  The exact duties can also vary depending on the state where an individual is working.  Some states allow nursing assistants to perform more duties than others.  If a CNA has additional training, their job description might be even more extensive.  Some CNAs do go on for additional training in order to have the ability to complete more tasks and even to earn a higher income.

If you are interviewing for a CNA position, you should ask what duties you will complete in an average day.  Ask to see a job description for the position for which you are applying.

We’ve wrtten some other more detailed posts on this as well. Read: Duties of a CNA and Introduction to CNA Training Also read about the limits to the job description of a CNA

There’s another good writeup over at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos327.htm where there’s even a job prospect outlook for the nurse aide field as a whole.