Employment Opportunities for CNA - Where Can a CNA Work?

A certified nurse aide (CNA)’s leading role is to provide primary care and help patients with basic activities they might have trouble doing alone. To be a certified nursing aide, you must complete specific training and pass the associated examinations. The demand for CNAs has been rising, especially for more elderly, aging populations. However, there is a shortage of CNAs in the State of Wisconsin.

In order to confront the CNA shortage, LeadingAge Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Health Care Association, and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services partnered to design the WisCaregiver Careers program. This free program offers people of all ages jobs,training, incentives, and rewards to encourage them to kickstart their careers in health care and start working as CNAs with nursing home residents. This article shows some of the benefits of becoming a CNA, where they tend to work, and their responsibilities.

Advantages of a Certified Nursing Assistant Career

Continuing your career as a certified nurse aide is highly beneficial, allowing you to grow personally and professionally. The following are some of the advantages of being a CNA:

Quick Entrance

The CNA training program takes less time than other programs, about four to six weeks. This allows you to enter the field in less time and at no cost, since WisCaregiver Careers employers hire you first, then pay your salary throughout your training period. The WisCaregiver Careers program will fully subsidize 3,000 new certified nurse aides.

Flexibility

Flexibility is important in your job, depending on your life. In the CNA career, there are three shifts to consider working, or weekends; this means you can control and negotiate the hours you work.

Job Stability

The CNA job market is expected to grow by an average of 18% by 2024, creating more job opportunities where CNAs are almost guaranteed employment.

Emotionally Rewarding

Working as a CNA enables you to make a difference by improving people’s lives based on the care you provide. Being a CNA also helps you build relationships between residents and their families, which can impact their lives, as well as your own.

What Job Can You Do as a CNA?

CNAs hold important positions and have many essential responsibilities that make them an integral part of the patient process, as well as health care as a whole.

Some typical CNA responsibilities include the following:

Helping residents with daily cares
Preparing and organizing supplies for registered nurses
Checking on wounds to prevent infections
Taking vital signs, including blood pressure, temperature, and pulse
Talking with residents and reporting their symptoms
Helping with medical procedures
Passing on patient information to nurses and doctors
Helping residents enjoy daily activities

Where Can You Work as a CNA?

CNAs work in various health care settings. Some of the health care settings where CNAs work include:

Nursing Homes

Approximately 37% of CNAs work at skilled nursing care facilities, monitoring patients’ vital signs, assisting them with their daily activities, and offering companionship and support.

Long-Term Care Centers

General and special long-term care centers are common environments where CNAs work. CNAs encounter patients with various conditions at general and surgical long-term care centers. While at special long-term care centers, they serve patients with specific needs or people of a certain age. Special long-term care centers include rehabilitation centers where patients are recovering from a fall or other heath crises, or from an elective surgery such as a hip replacement.

Home Health Care

CNAs working in home health care often perform the same responsibilities as those working in nursing homes, but usually work with one patient at a time in the patient’s home. Most CNAs do not begin working in a home health care setting, since there is no direct supervision or mentoring available. CNAs can also go on to work with various agencies, such as local, state, or federal governments, where they can work in the departments of health and/or human services, the Veterans Health Administration, and the Bureau of Prisons.

How to Advance Your Career as a CNA

A CNA is an impactful and secure career. However, some people consider it a stepping-stone to another career in the health care industry. CNAs have the foundational skills they need to advance into new positions in health care, such as medication aide, licensed practical nurse (LPN), registered nurse (RN) or doctor (MD). CNAs can also elect to advance into additional positions at skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, such as activities coordinator, facilities manager, and other business and management positions, or become health care specialists in other related fields.

Are You Ready to Earn CNA Certification? Contact WisCaregiver Careers

The State of Wisconsin offers a smooth path to a CNA career through WisCaregiver Careers, an excellent program with numerous benefits. Contact WisCaregiver Careers for more information and sign up to start your CNA career.