Where do CNAs Typically Work

There are a number of facilities in which CNAs can actually work. You will find CNAs typically working in:

• Assisted Living Facilities 
• Nursing Homes 
• Clinics 
• Doctor Offices 
• Hospitals 
• Home Health Care Agencies 
• Hospices 
• Urgent Care Centers 

According to the Federal government, it is necessary for nursing homes to hire certified nursing assistants. Other facilities, however, may hire CNAs exclusively.

Once you have completed the CNA training and certification, you will be in search of a job and may be thinking as to where can you work so that you will be able to make use of your training. The common answer to this question is that CNAs can work in clinics, hospitals, hospices and nursing homes. Following is a detailed list about the facilities where CNAs can work:

Hospital 

A hospital is a place that offers health care and specialized medical treatment to patients. In the setting of a hospital, CNAs will find themselves working with a variety of patients of different age and gender. They may be helping small children or taking care of the elderly patients.

Based on the kind of medical condition the patient is in or the kind of diseases the patients have, the duties of a CNA will vary. For instance, in the emergency rooms, the CNAs may be required to measure and record the patients' vitals such as blood pressure and heart rate and settle them while waiting for the Registered Nurse or the doctor.

On the floor, the CNAs may be involved in carrying out simpler tasks such as asking the patients about their illness, the reason why they are being admitted or simply drawing blood and so on.

Clinics 

In clinics, the CNAs are the first persons to greet the patient and ask them the necessary information about their illness. They need to record this information to help the Registered Nurse or the doctor to review it and decide the course of treatment for the patients.

Home Care, Assisted Living and Long Term Facilities 

The elderly patients require special care which can be provided to them in nursing homes, home care, assisted living facilities as well as long term facilities by the CNAs who work there. In these facilities, the CNAs help the elderly patients with their day-to-day duties such as bathing, feeding, changing linen, helping them with bed pan as well as other duties like measuring the vitals and drawing blood as and when necessary. The CNAs also need to behave in a friendly manner with the elderly patients and give them all the essential support to make them feel comfortable and help them recover at a faster rate.

Hospice 

The toughest job for CNAs is when they are employed in hospice as most of the patients in a hospice are terminal or in a very critical condition. As the patients are suffering from severe medical condition, they mostly have lost hope for recovery. Here, the CNAs need to provide mental support and psychological help to the patients to make them feel at ease. The CNAs may have to move the patients in bed to avoid bedsores, bath them on a daily basis either in the bed or the bathroom, and help them to move around in general. They need to do all these tasks with great care to make sure that they are not harming the patients in any way.

CNAs Provide Support with ADLs 

In nursing homes as well as in assisted living facilities, the nursing assistants are responsible for more than just their regular duties and they help the patients with activities of daily living. These activities include bathing, feeding, dressing the patients, transferring the patients from the bed to the wheel chair, as well as toileting. Most of the patients in the nursing homes are unable to carry out these tasks on their own and need help. Here's where the CNAs play a vital role in helping the patients do their daily duties.

The patients also need a lot of mental and emotional support as they are suffering from diseases and tend to feel a little depressed and anxious about their condition. In such cases, it is the duty of the CNA to be friendly to them, provide the necessary mental support and cheer them up so that it can speed up the recovery process. As providing psychological help to patients is crucial, CNAs also undergo psychological training during the CNA course. This helps them offer the necessary support to the patients to help them get well soon.

In most of the other facilities, CNAs are responsible for carrying out the traditional and common duties associated with being a nurse. These duties include helping the patients to get ready for surgery, measuring their vitals such as blood pressure, heart rate, sugar levels, as well as administering certain medications for the patients. The duties that are allowed to be performed by the CNAs vary depending upon the state and the country that they are working in.