Patients and residents in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, and inpatients in hospitals, often require a high level of daily assistance to maintain their quality of life. It's a necessary part of their care, but doesn't require the advanced skills of a trained nurse. Nurses aides and nursing assistants fill that role, providing basic daily care. Their job titles vary from state to state, but in the state of Washington they're known as a Nursing Assistant - Certified or NAC.
What They Do
NACs represent the first line of hands-on care for patients and residents in long-term care facilities. For healthy and mobile residents, they help with dressing, grooming, exercise programs and mobility. They provide a higher level of care for patients in poor health, including bathing them and helping them with toilet functions. As needed, NACs also take and record the patients vital signs, reposition them to avoid bedsores, and provide catheter care. In most facilities NACs have more interaction with patients than the other caregivers, and are the first to notice if a patient's physical or mental condition begins to deteriorate.
Training and Certification
Many community and technical colleges in Washington state offer NAC training, as do some private for-profit schools. Schools typically offer the program four times each year. The curriculum teaches students subjects including their legal and ethical responsibilities toward patients, the limitations of their professional scope, and appropriate standards of hygiene and workplace safety. Hands-on supervised experience should also be a part of the training program. After graduation, candidates must apply to the state's department of health for a license to practice.
Other states have varying titles for the same health care profession, including certified nurses aide, certified nursing assistant, licensed nursing assistant and state tested nurse aide. Although licensing and continuing education requirements vary between states, the job's duties are similar enough overall to allow reciprocity between states. That means a CNA, LNA or STNA licensed in another state can simply apply for recognition in Washington as an NAC, without any further training or testing. In the same way, a Washington-trained NAC can apply for licensing in any other state.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projected 20 percent job growth for nursing aides between 2010 and 2020, well above the 14 percent average for all occupations. As of May 2012, the average wage for nurses aides nationally was $25,620. Washington's NACs fare rather better, at an average wage of $28,710 a year. The highest-paid 10 percent of NACs reported earnings of $37,810 or more.
- Explore Health Careers: Nurses Aide/Nursing Assistant
- Pierce College: NAC (Nursing Assistant Certified) Training
- South Seattle Community College: Nursing Assistant Certified (NAC) Program
- Washington State Department of Health: Nursing Assistant Certification Endorsement Application Packet
- Washington State Department of Health: Nursing Assistant
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook -- Nursing Aides, Orderlies, and Attendants
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment Statistics -- Nursing Assistants
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