New York CNA Jobs

New York is one of the top states in the US that employs CNA’s (Certified Nursing Assistants). The city of New York has undergone numerous steps to provide increased funding and educational training in the CNA discipline. It’s been estimated that New York will experience a shortage of roughly 38,000 Certified Nursing Assistant’s by the year 2015, most of these jobs will all be available within the New York City area. This estimate is set to grow in number over the coming years, so needless to say if you are a CNA, or considering CNA Training and live in the New York area, this could not be a better time to get a job and further your career in the field.

Additionally, the Health Care Association of New York State (HANYS) estimates that at least 4 out of every 5 hospitals in the state are experiencing nursing staff shortages.

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) – What is a CNA?

A certified nursing assistant (CNA) is trained to assist patients with their daily living activities. CNA’s are also known as Nurse Aides, Patient Care Technicians, Orderlies, and Home Health Aides. A CNA works under the supervision of a trained Nurse, and are responsible for providing their patients/clients with basic care services, eg; Grooming, Bathing, Feeding Patients, and also checking their vital signs and fluid input/output.

In order to become a qualified CNA, you must first complete the CNA Training program (specific for each state, so if you live in NY and plan to work in NY, then make sure you become certified in NY and according to that states standards). The length of each CNA program varies from state to state, but it generally last from 6 to 12 weeks. After which you need to sit a CNA Certification Exam.

The role of a CNA is a very important one, and should not be underestimated. Certified Nursing Assistants are thought of as the ‘Eyes and Ears’ of the nursing staff, and being so close to their patients and working with them daily means that normally a CNA will be the first to spot if anything is wrong with their patient, so they can quickly report this to their superiors. CNA’s can be found in many different types of institution, including Medical Hospitals, Group Homes, Nursing Homes, Assisted Living Facilities, Sheltered Housing (on-call CNA’s) and many more. Becoming a CNA can serve as a great career move and stepping stone for those who are interested in moving on to becoming a Nurse at a later date.

You can find a list of CNA Jobs Available in New York Here

Taking the CNA exam is actually one of the last steps prior to starting your new occupation as a certified nursing assistant. The actual CNA examination is provided in 2 components, a written component and a clinical component, or CNA abilities test. In order to take the examination, you may need to have a volunteer or “test subject” with you. This is an individual which you may utilize in order to demonstrate your clinical abilities to the instructor. As far as the actual written examination is concerned, very much of it is actually a mixture of the info you learned in your classes, and a blend of common sense.

The majority of individuals getting ready for his or her examination become anxious, considering that this will be where all the actual training comes to its fruition. Even though you will possibly be nervous, the actual fact is that the majority of individuals discover the written test to end up being a breeze. Of course it helps to prepare yourself previous to sitting the examination simply by going over your own notes and whichever additional materials you ideally stored from your CNA classes.

A few basic examination taking guidelines may assist you. On multiple choice questions, in the event that you are not certain of the correct answer, try taking away the particular answers you know are definitely not correct. That may possibly leave you with an less complicated clearer selection. Additionally, rely on your own intuition. More frequently than not, your very first answer will probably end up being the correct answer.

The clinical section will consist of several of the particular skills you learned and practiced within your training. You will most likely end up being requested to exhibit fundamental nurse assistant skills such as taking vital signs. Don’t forget to take your time. Taking a few minutes to relax yourself can certainly help a great deal.

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There are several places that you can enroll in CNA Training to become a Certified Nursing Assistant, one of the most popular being The American Red Cross. Some of the reasons that the red cross training program is so popular is that the course is widely available all over the US, and the quality of the course and its instructors is very high.  However, it is worth remembering that the Red Cross CNA Class is not free, although it can be a lot less expensive than many other CNA Training programs. If you are low on budget, you could search around for some free CNA training.

As of February 2nd, 2010, The American Red Cross has in excess of 36 CNA Training programs available across the United States. It goes without saying, that the Red Cross CNA Class is a great way to begin your training as a CNA, and is reputed to be one of the best. For many people, becoming a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) is merely a stepping stone on the way to becoming a fully Registered Nurse (RN), although many people have had lifelong enjoyable and immensely satisfying careers by staying at the CNA level. The choice is entirely up to you, depending on how far you want to go and what type of work you wish to do.

All CNA training programs ran by the American Red Cross meet the Federal CNA training standards, although each chapter has the ability to design their own program to meet specific state requirements and laws, including the number of hours you must spend on a course, and also the clinical training standards of practises and procedures. As an example, the San Bernardino chapter in California consists of a 164 hour course in total, whilst The ARC of Maryland course consists of only 114 hours. It is worth keeping in mind, that the more hours in a course there are, does not mean that they provide ‘more’ (or a better level of) training, the difference in hours can be attributed to many different variables, including of course different states having different laws.

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CNA registration (Certified Nursing Assistant) means that you must be registered on the state nursing board databases, including the federal database (Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank, or HIPDB for short). This info is administered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing – NCSBN, which is a non-profit organization that operates as a collective national nursing board comprised of 60 Member Boards.

Board members include 1 in all 50 states, Washington DC and all US territories. The NCSBN was founded in 1978, as organisers realised the need for regulation within nursing, excluding organisations representing professional nurses.

The main goal and responsibilities of the NCSBN is to inform about, and enforce a set of nursing standards, while keeping the Nursing Assistive Personnel Registry up to date. Licensees in this database include Certified Nursing Assistant I (CNA), Certified Nursing Assistant II (CNA II) and Medication Assistant Certified (MA-C). The NCSBN operates as a national ‘watchdog’, which co-ordinates issues that arise relating to discipline, education, and certification. Certain info, such as warnings and disciplinary actions taken against a CNA or nurse by a state board is shared with the NCSBN, which then compiles and stores the info, providing background resources for disciplinary issues and other actions taken.

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If you are considering a career in the health sector or nursing, you may be eligible to receive free CNA training through your current employer or ‘potential’ employer. Currently, the U.S Government offers health industry employers re-imbursement for the expense of training for certain occupations throughout the Medicare sector.

This includes training for Certified Nursing Assistants, who by law, must complete a competency test. Usually, although not ‘always’ the case, a home health aide will receive free training before taking the state exam. In addition to this, the National Association for Home Care and Hospice offers voluntary certification, particularly in states that require nursing aides to be licensed.

Some high schools also offer free training to prepare individuals for the CNA certification test. While most home health aides and nursing assistants are not required to hold a high school diploma, most do anyway.

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The primary aim of CNA training is learning how to provide proper care to your patients or clients. Throughout your career as a Certified Nursing Assistant you will be caring for many different types of patients. Some of your patients will have very little mobility, and it’ll be your responsibility and duty to ensure that you take of them properly, helping them get around when needed, and manually moving patients who are unable to do so by themselves. One of the main things a CNA will have to look out for when working with patients with limited mobility is bedsores and rashes. Bedsores can become very painful, and if they are left untreated they can even be fatal.

There are a variety of things that can cause bedsores, the main culprit is prolonged pressure on a specific area on the body. Because of the pressure the affected area is under, it soon becomes deprived of oxygen causing the muscle and tissue to deteriorate. Another cause  of bedsores is repeated friction on specific areas on the body, incotinence (causes a rash) and improper cleansing of the area. People who have diabetes and suffer from circulatory problems are at an increased risk of getting bedsores, as their circulation is already affected by their pre-existing condition.

Other high risk patients are those who are paralysed. A paralysed patient cannot feel the pain and discomfort bedsores can cause, therefore it is vital that the patients assigned Certified Nursing Assistant spots the appearance of bedsores early, and treats them as promptly as possible.

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The duties of a Certified Nursing Assistant will differ, depending on where it is that you work. For example, a CNA’s duty at a hospital will be different than a CNA’s duties at a Nursing Home. Some jobs may require a considerable amount of physical work and exertion, while other may require less so.

A Certified Nursing Assistant must have the ability to carry out routine directions given to them by a registered nurse or doctor, in relation to their patients or residents they care for. They must be willing to follow a prescribed routine with due care and technical apt, while maintaining patient privacy and discretion. CNA’s should have the ability to get along well with others, and to work hard to gain co-operation from patients and residents. Certified Nursing Assistants must be punctual, neatness and personal cleanliness are paramount.

However, that said, the main duties of a Certified Nursing Assistant will always be the care of their patient(s). This will likely include basic daily care of a patient, giving assistance where appropriate such as helping with eating, getting dressed, movement, toilet, exercise, etc etc.

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As with most CNA jobs, the duties a Certified Nursing Assistant performs can be numerous. Becoming a CNA will give you the opportunity to help and assist people in a most basic, but profoundly helpful way, every single day. Certified Nursing Assistants that work in nursing homes normally help people who are elderly and/or bedridden to maintain a daily routine in their life. Being employed as a certified nurse requires a good deal of commitment and willingness to provide patients with a high level of care who otherwise could not perform these tasks on their own.

Certified Nursing Assistants are in essence, the people who ensure that residents of nursing homes are cared for properly in the most basic but essential ways. Responsibilities that a CNA has are things like ensuring residents are clean (bathing or helping them bathe), and insuring that they are completely dry so that skin irritations and problems do not arise. Other CNA duties consist of things like brushing teeth, maintaining a patients hair (brushing and cleaning) and also many other basic hygeine tasks you would do for yourself, but for the patients you are caring for who are unable to do these things for themselves.

In addition to this, some patients in nursing homes may require to be fed by certified nursing assistants, specially so if they have suffered a stroke or other illness that impairs their motor skills. As such, having a Certified Nursing Assistant to care for them  is essential to them maintaining a high standard of living each and every day.

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One of the very first things you’ll learn while doing your CNA Training is how to take vital signs. Vital signs are a very important part of a CNA’s daily routine, as they provide information on how well a persons body is functioning, and how well their major organs are performing. Taking a patients vital signs includes taking their pulse, taking their temperature, checking the patients blood pressure, and monitoring the lungs to ascertain the breathing rate.

Checking a patients vital signs is very important, because it provides valuable information on whether or not a patients body is functioning as it should. The rate of a patients vital signs is compared against a chart containing the standard number for that persons age and sex. Learning how to perform the vital signs test accurately will ensure you have an up to date and current assessment of your patients condition, which can then be related back to the supervising nurse and/or doctor.

Taking a persons pulse gives a superficial idea of how their heart is functioning. If a pulse is too fast or slow, or skips a beat, these are crucial indicators that a patient may have an underlying medical condition that needs to be dealt with. There are a variety of places you can take a patients pulse from, the most common being placing the index and middle finger over the patients artery located on their wrist. There are also arteries available on the neck, arms, chest, abdomen, thighs and back of the knees in which a pulse can be taken. Having multiple areas in which to take a pulse from can be benificial if the patient has impairment or pain in any of their limbs, and ensures you will always have a place in which to gain a superficial idea of how well their heart is performing.

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