What is the full form of CNA?

Introduction

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) is an entry-level position in any healthcare institution. A CNA is often confused with a nurse; he/she is not a nurse but a person being certified to work in a healthcare facility under a licensed nurse.

They provide basic care to patients and assist nurses and other medical staff. They can work in hospitals, day-care centres, rehabilitation centres, and nursing homes. It is one of the options to start a career in a medical field.

Meaning of CNA

CNA means Certified Nursing Assistant. They are also known as nurse’s aid, patient care assistant, or simply nursing assistant.

A Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) can be found working wherever people need care either in a hospital or any other medical organization. CNAs work directly with the patients and nurses and are responsible for providing medical care to a number of patients and assistance to higher medical staff. It is a completely devoted, emotional, and helping service performed with love, care, and empathy toward others.

Education and Training for CNA

The education and training for CNAs are not very intensive as compared to other medical professionals such as medical assistants or nurses as it is just an entry-level position with limited duties.

The education and training may vary from place to place but they should have a certificate that can be taken at any level, high school, college, vocational centers, or at a hospital also.

The training program for CNAs should be a state-approved training program that can be as short as 4 weeks and as long as approximately 8-10 weeks. Their training includes detailed knowledge of how to take care of patients, basic medical skills, and essential moral and ethical understandings required to work as a healthcare provider.

Roles and Responsibilities of CNA

The roles and responsibilities of a CNA may vary from institution to institution according to their requirements and the type of medical facility they are providing. But their basic duty is to provide daily living assistance to the patients. Here are some of the responsibilities played by CNA −

• Helping patients move on wheelchairs or stretchers.

• Feeding patients with the prescribed food and noting their food and fluid intake.

• Cleaning rooms and bed sheets of patients.

• Bathing and grooming patients.

• Monitoring their vitals and informing any change to nurse or head staff.

• Checking and stocking the medical supplies.

• Answering phone calls of patients and reporting emergencies.

• Setting up equipment for some medical tests.

• Changing the dressing and bandages of the patients.

• Briefing about the procedure of tests for the patient and his family.

• Assisting minor medical procedures.

CNA in the Healthcare Industry

Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) are helping hands in the healthcare industry. They are the ones directly spending time with patients by taking care of their basic daily needs such as bathing, eating, and toileting.

As they spend more time with the patients, they are aware of their behavior and their health status and are the first ones to notice changes in the emotional and physical states of patients. They are also often the first ones to detect any symptomatic change such as increased pain, decreased mobility, memory change, etc., and inform the same to higher medical staff. Thus, they are an important part of the medical profession.

Conclusion

In the medical field, CNA is a Certified Nursing Assistant who is an essential member of the nursing profession working under a registered or licensed nurse.

Though it is a great opportunity to enter the nursing profession and take care of patients whenever needed, at the same time it is very demanding and stressful also. Sometimes CNAs have to work with angry and chronically irritated patients, they have to perform their duties at regular shifts and even on weekends.

Being a CNA, demands a lot of physical strength and work while dealing with patients and it is a completely dedicated field of work.

FAQs

Q1. What is the difference between CNAs and medical assistants?

Certified nursing assistants and medical assistants may sound similar and are often confused but they differ in their training and the responsibility they perform. CNAs are more directly linked to patients and take care of the daily needs of patients while medical assistants perform both administrative and clinical tasks.

Q2. What are the skills required by a CNA?

Working as a CNA is a very demanding job, as you have to deal with a patient for his daily basic needs, the following skills should be present in a CNA −

• Empathy

• Dedicated to work

• Ability to work in a team

• Physically sound

• Patience

• Good communicator

• Observational skills

• Critical thinking

• Reliable

Q3. Who are LPNs?

LPNs are Licensed Practical Nurses who require additional training as compared to CNAs and pass a licensing exam to become LPN. Their duty is to perform basic medical tasks like checking vitals.