In the United States, Certified Nursing Assistants or Certified Nurse Assistants (CNAs) assist residents or patients with activities of daily living (ADLs) and provide bedside care—including basic nursing procedures—all under the supervision of a Registered Nurse (RN) or Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) (Meyer, 2001:1-33,1-36).

Overview

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In today's hospitals and extended care facillities a nurse assistant is an important part of a healthcare team that includes many personnel outside of nurses. In the quest to make a profit from providing care many hospitals in the United States have reduced their nurse to patient ratios, requiring one nurse to take care of as many as twelve or fourteen patients at a time. In order for good care to be provided to those patients a nurse assistant is needed to provide the routine care so that the nurse can focus on tasks only he/she can do, such as care plans, nursing assessments, administering medication, and assist in surgery room preparation. The nurse assistant must not only be very skilled in the actual procedures being performed but must also be able to make quick observations of a patient's condition and report that information back to the nurse. Since the nurse cannot spend large amounts of time in the room with the patient, the nurse assistant is known as the nurse's "eyes and ears".

A nurse assistant must also have a strong grasp of emergency procedures and be able to stay calm in stressful situations. They must be able to initiate a Code Blue and be well-drilled in CPR.

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