Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) Employment in New Jersey
Most full-time CNA in New Jersey work 40 hours a week, but because patients need care 24 hours a day, some aides work evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays. Many CNA work part time. Nursing aides spend many hours standing and walking, and they often face heavy workloads. CNA must have a New Jersey certificate to work as a Certified Nursing Assistant and therefore, Certified Medical Assistants (CMA), Home Health Aides and Medical Assistants are not allowed to work in a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) capacity without a CNA certificate.
New Jersey certified nurse aides must guard against back injury because they may have to move patients into and out of bed or help them to stand or walk. A CNA is exposed to hazards like infections and diseases, such as hepatitis, but certified nurse aides can avoid contamination by following the proper procedures. Nursing aides often have unpleasant duties, such as emptying bedpans and changing soiled bed linens. The patients a CNA cares for may be disoriented, irritable, or uncooperative therefore understanding and patience are required characteristics for this career.
A certified nurse aide working on a psychiatric unit must be prepared to care and respond to patients whose illness may cause violent behavior. While your work as a CNA can be emotionally and physically demanding, one might gain satisfaction from assisting those in need.
A CNA working in home health may be assigned to the same patient's home for months or even years. However, most nurse aides in New Jersey work with a number of different patients, each job lasting a few hours, days, or weeks. Home health aides often visit multiple patients on the same day.
Home health aides generally work alone, with periodic visits from their supervisor. They receive detailed instructions explaining when to visit patients and what services to perform. The CNA is individually responsible for getting to patients' homes, and one may spend a good portion of the working day traveling from one patient to another. Because mechanical lifting devices available in hospitals are rarely available in patients' homes, a nurse aide is particularly susceptible to injuries resulting from lifting when assisting patients.
Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides hold over 2.1 million jobs throughout the U.S. and nursing aides hold the most jobs - approximately 1.5 million. Home health aides hold roughly 624,000 jobs and psychiatric aides hold about 59,000 jobs. Around 42 percent of the nursing aide population works in nursing care facilities, and another 27 percent works in hospitals. Most home health aides (about 34 percent) are employed by home health care agencies. Other certified nursing aides are employed in nursing and residential care facilities and social assistance agencies. Around 54% of all psychiatric nurse aides work in hospitals, primarily in psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals, although CNA workers are also employed on the psychiatric units of general medical and surgical hospitals. Some nurse aides are employed by the State of New Jersey in residential mental retardation facilities, mental health, and substance abuse facilities.
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