Nurse’s aide is a person who works in health care under the supervision of a registered nurse. A nurse’s aide also may be called a certified nursing assistant or a patient care assistant.
Nurse’s aides help by answering patients’ calls; feeding, washing, and walking patients; and recording vital signs and other indications of a patient’s care. If patients have to go to some other part of the hospital, nurse’s aides may go along. They may help support patients during treatment or help move them onto or off of beds and stretchers. Nurse’s aides give important social and emotional support to patients, as the registered nurses may not to have enough time to spend with the patients. In larger hospitals, nurse’s aides may act as diet assistants or as clerks.
The Red Cross and other schools train nurse’s aides. Most certified nursing assistant training programs can be completed in 6 to 12 weeks. Most require only a high school diploma. Many young people work as nurse’s aides in a hospital for a while to find out whether or not they want to become nurses.
