CNA Job Description: Duties and Skills

A certified nursing assistant (CNA) helps patients and residents with daily living and basic care, working under the supervision of licensed nurses. That means bathing, dressing, toileting, feeding, moving and repositioning patients, taking vital signs, and telling the nurse when something seems off. CNAs often spend more time at the bedside than anyone else on the team, which makes them an early warning system for changes in condition.

What a CNA does on a typical shift

Duties vary by setting, but most shifts include:

• Activities of daily living (ADLs). Bathing, grooming, oral care, dressing, toileting and incontinence care.
• Mobility. Helping patients walk, transferring between bed and chair, using gait belts and mechanical lifts as trained, and turning and repositioning patients who cannot move on their own.
• Nutrition and hydration. Setting up meals, feeding patients who need help, and recording how much they eat and drink.
• Measurements. Vital signs, weights, and intake and output.
• Observation and reporting. Noticing new confusion, skin redness, pain, breathing changes, or a patient who just seems different, and reporting it to the nurse right away.
• Safety. Answering call lights quickly, following fall-prevention measures, using bed alarms, and keeping rooms clear.
• Infection control. Hand hygiene, gloves and gowns, isolation precautions and clean linen handling.
• Comfort and dignity. Privacy, companionship, and helping residents keep the routines that matter to them.
• Documentation. Recording the care you gave in the paper or electronic record.

What CNAs generally do not do

CNAs work within a defined scope. In general, CNAs do not give medications, perform sterile procedures, carry out assessments that require nursing judgment, or take orders from providers. Some states have a separate medication aide credential, with its own training and rules, that allows certain medications to be given in certain settings. Rules differ by state and employer, so check with your state's nurse aide registry or board of nursing and follow your facility's policy.

Skills that make a strong CNA

• Body mechanics. Moving patients safely without injuring them or yourself.
• Observation. Seeing and reporting small changes before they become big ones.
• Communication. Clear and respectful with patients who may be confused, hard of hearing or frightened, and concise with nurses.
• Patience and empathy, especially in dementia care.
• Time management. Many residents, many needs, and several call lights at once.
• Teamwork. Good CNAs and nurses lean on each other all shift.
• Reliability. Units plan their staffing around you.

Tips for your first weeks as a CNA

• Learn your residents' routines. Many people in long-term care have strong preferences about when they wake, bathe and eat, and honoring them prevents a lot of distress.
• Report early, even when you are unsure. Telling the nurse that a resident is not acting like herself today is never wasted effort.
• Use the lift and ask for help. Back injuries end careers, so follow your facility's safe patient handling policy every time.
• Chart as you go so nothing is missed at the end of a busy shift.
• Ask questions. Experienced CNAs and nurses would rather show you once than fix a mistake later.

Where CNAs work

• Nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities
• Hospitals, where the role may be called nursing assistant or patient care technician and can include extra skills such as ECGs or blood draws
• Assisted living communities
• Rehabilitation centers
• Home health and hospice agencies (home health aide training can have its own requirements)
• Adult day programs and group homes

Training and certification

Requirements are set by each state within federal minimums. Federal rules for nurse aides working in nursing homes that take Medicare or Medicaid require a training program of at least 75 hours, including at least 16 hours of supervised practical training, and many states require more. The usual path:

1. Complete a state-approved nurse aide training program. These are offered by community colleges, technical schools, some health care employers and other approved providers. Some employers pay for training or reimburse it if you work for them afterward, so ask before you enroll.
2. Pass your state's competency exam. It usually has a written or oral portion and a hands-on skills demonstration.
3. Get listed on your state's nurse aide registry. Employers check the registry before hiring.
4. Keep your certification active. Each state sets renewal rules, which often include proof that you have worked as a nursing assistant within a set period. Check your registry so you do not lapse.

Employers commonly also require BLS, a background check and health screening.

Schedule

Nursing homes and hospitals need CNAs around the clock, so 8- and 12-hour shifts, nights, weekends and holidays are normal. Home health and adult day programs tend to have more daytime hours. Part-time and per diem roles are common, which is one reason CNA work fits well around nursing school.

Career path

CNA work is one of the most common starting points in nursing. From here you can:

• Become a patient care technician or a medication aide where your state allows
• Move into areas such as hospice, rehab or memory care
• Go to nursing school to become an LPN (see the LPN job description) or an RN
• Use employer education benefits; here is what to check in tuition reimbursement

Bedside experience as a CNA helps in nursing school clinicals and in your first nursing job. Students juggling shifts and classes swap tips in the nursing students study group.

When you apply for your first CNA job or a nursing program, list your clinical hours, the settings you trained in, and any skills you are signed off on. Here is what to include on a nursing resume at every stage.

Where to see CNA pay

CNA pay varies by state, setting, shift and experience. Jobs posted on NurseTide show the pay, so current listings are the quickest way to see what employers near you are offering. Night and weekend shifts may add a differential; read how shift differentials work, then use the free pay calculator when you compare offers.

Next step

Browse CNA jobs near you; every listing shows the pay so you can compare employers before you apply.

General information for nurses, not medical, legal, tax or financial advice. Follow your facility's policies, your state board of nursing and the terms of your employer or contract.