Nurses aide
Nurses assistant
Nurses aide, nurses assistant, or patient care assistant, depending on where you are it may have a different name, but essentially they do the same thing.
They assist the nurse with bedside care, taking vital signs and other nursing tasks as delegated by the RN. They assist the patient with activities of daily living (ADL's), such as bathing.
Assistants are a great benefit to the medical team in freeing up time for the nurse to perform duties such as assessments, procedures and medication administration. They answer call bells and can attend to a variety of patient requests that do not require a nurse. They can alert the nurse to potential concerns and offer assitance as needed. Nurses aides help promote safe and quality patient care.
Training is often offered at community colleges or at certain health care facilities as a certificate program. Many offer the certification exam upon completion of the program to become a certified nursing assistant or registered aide.
Many aides/assistants will later return to school to obtain a nursing license.
At some facilities a nursing student, in a registered nursing or bachelors of nursing program, may work as a assistant while they complete their nursing education.
This option will depend on where you are training and the facility you would like to work at, many do not require a certification in this case but that will vary.
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