Training to be a CNA, or Certified Nursing Assistant, is an excellent educational path to travel if you wish to enjoy an interesting health care career that also rewards you with excellent pay.
Certified Nursing Assistant income potential ranges from $17,510 to $33,970 per year, according to 2009 Board of Labor Statistics. Hourly pay rates are $8.42 to $16.43, for part-time or full time employment as a CNA or general nursing assistant. Certified nursing assistant wages vary from hospital to just care center. These jobs can be found in many business or medical settings, including health care centers, nursing homes, rehabilitation facilities, and hospitals. Home health care is another area of employment where Certified Nursing Assistant income potential is good and in high demand.
The predominate number of certified nursing assistants are female, and about half are still in the early first four years of their careers. Some have CNA training in addition to a high school diploma or GED, while many obtain schooling in an associate degree program in Nursing, or they get into a program that leads to certification as a CNA.
In addition to good Certified Nursing Assistant income potential, jobs in this career field are located in every geographic area. Duties include general cleaning, distribution of supplies, basic patient care, vital sign reading, transporting patients, delivering food trays, and changing or making beds. Actual patient contact duties might include helping patients to get in or out of bed, bathing patients, assisting them with feeding or dressing.
Jobs that have the highest Certified Nursing Assistant income potential are in the government sector of employment, in prisons, with long-term care, and in permanent government positions. These can pay well above average CNA salaries. The higher paying nursing assistant jobs naturally involve more difficult or dangerous tasks, unusual working conditions or hours, and may require more years of on-the-job experience and/or training and educational degrees.
Compared to other average U.S. job income potential, becoming a CNA offers students a good income with good job opportunity and room for advancement with experience. The actual pay is about half of the 1009 U.S. average that runs about $40,000. This is an excellent job that is relatively easy to enter, and attracts many female employees. CNA training is readily available and tuition assistance can be located by contacting local schools.