Almost as important as doctors or nurses today are nursing
assistants without whom a medical procedure cannot be begun, nor ended.
Certified nursing assistants are in high demand and are required by almost
every nursing home, health facility, hospital and sometimes even by private
homes where patients are recuperating.
While the primary duties in nursing assistant jobs include checking and monitoring the patient’s blood
pressure, pulse, heart rate and respiratory rate, they are also required to
perform a number of other activities like administrating medication, keeping
the patients room clean and hygienic, mapping the patient’s condition
constantly and reporting same to the nurse and a few other non medical yet highly
crucial duties that are imperative to the treatment.
Nursing assistants are also required to bathe, groom, feed, walk
and basically help patients recover from illnesses or injuries, or recuperate after
a strenuous surgery or long treatment.
With the help of modern technology, more and more lives are being
saved and extended. People are living longer but not necessarily in the best of
health. Most aged people still need long term care and that is where nursing
assistants play a major role.
The demand for Certified
Nursing Assistants is increasing steadily and as per the U.S department of
Labor’s projections, it is expected to grow at a rate between 22 to 28 % by
2018.
Various factors have lead to an increase in demand for nursing assistant jobs. Some of these
include:
·
Growth
in the number of residential nursing care homes
·
Increased
life expectancy and thus geriatric population
·
Increased
number of public and private healthcare facilities and hospitals
·
Increased
medical attention required for babies, particularly those born premature.
·
High
rate of turnover amongst nursing assistants
·
Vital
and indispensable nature of the duties they perform
·
Specialization
and branching out of nursing assistants making them experts in niche medical
genres
Certified nursing assistants also have a better chance of getting
accepted into a nursing school program. Most budding nurses prefer to train as
nursing assistants first for a few years before the go on to study at nursing
school.
All these and few other factors have significantly contributed to
the increase in demand for nursing assistants.
