How Much Does a Nurse Aide Make? | 2023

Nurses in developed countries make quite a lot of money from taking care of people’s aging parents and grandparents.

However, the work of nurse aides is not restricted to caring for aged people. Most nurse aides extend their care to patients in the hospital wards. If you are seeking an answer to ” how much does a nurse aide make?” This article explores what nurses aides do, their qualifications, training, salary as well as benefits accused to being a nurse aide.

What is a Nurse Aide: Nurse Aide Job Description

Nursing aides are well-trained healthcare professionals who help the weak and aged ones perform all necessary daily activities.

Remember most elderly people are frail and need special attention to make it through the day. So, it is the job of nurse aides to patiently and compassionately help them with some things as common as bathing, toileting, brushing teeth, and changing cloth wears.

Nurse aides may also help patients or elderly ones take their meals orally, parentally, or via a nasogastric tube. The responsibilities of nurse aides call for endurance and loving-kindness because it can be labor-intensive and tiring at times.

Nursing aides commonly work in nursing care facilities (geriatric nursing homes), the family house of an elderly person, and hospitals.

Sometimes, community care facilities may employ nursing aides for the elderly. Similar to registered nurses, nursing aides’ duties also include moving patients from one place to the next, and help transport patients from one operating room to the other or otherwise to the ICU for recovery.

Nursing aides may also help doctors in the theater in sterilizing medical equipment, and in the wards in taking daily records of vitals i.e blood pressure, blood glucose, and body temperature.

They are to change the patients’ bed linen, put in compression stockings & pressure foams for bed-ridden patients, and ensure they’re comfortable. From the above description, is obvious that nursing aides and assistants have the same job role.

Related Article: 20 Important Questions to ask in a Nursing Interview

Nurse Aide Qualifications

Becoming a nursing aide is a thing of joy for those who love helping people. Mainly, because the job requires endurance, patience, joy, and love for elderly seniors.

The good thing is that you do not need to complete the normal 4-year BSc nursing degree from a university. Some technical or vocational schools offer nursing aide training.

Community colleges and even high schools offer nursing aide training programs. Those who have completed their high school education with a diploma certificate can apply.

The nursing aide training process is less rigorous than medical or nursing students. Many US states require that a nursing aide complete at least 12-18 hours of in-service health education. Those nursing assistants who may not be actively involved in patient care may even begin the job while getting trained.

The subject areas often emphasized are infection control, sanitation & patient hygiene, in-ward transportation assistance, moral support, and measurement of patient’s body vitals such as blood pressure.

In the first few days of enrollment, these new recruits or students will be taught and allowed to practice under clinical supervision.

To finally become a nursing aide and nurse assistant, recruits or students must pass the trial exam to receive the job and be added to that state’s registry as a nursing aide/nursing assistant (the specific title depends on the nursing care facility or agency).

Related Article: 15 Best Nursing Resignation Letter and Email Samples

How Much Does a Nurse Aide Make in a Year?

A nurse aide worker makes $47,856 per year in the United States, according to Glassdoor, a well-known salary report website.

This $47,856 is estimated as the median salary for a nursing aide in the country. This implies that this figure may represent the average annual pay a nursing aide receive according to data collected from thousands of those workers. Indeed.com, another such site says that a nursing aide makes an average hourly rate of $16.73 per hour.

Interestingly, both website reports that job satisfaction is high compared to some jobs in various industries within a similar pay range. However, registered nurses exceeded nursing aides in average annual salary and job satisfaction.

Nursing aides receive overtime pay and some other benefits available to those in the healthcare sector. Insurance, 401(k) plans, paid sick leave, and employee assistance programs are just some benefits nurse aides receive.

In addition, some cities pay nurse aides better than the rest. Cities like Columbus ($31.33) & Cincinnati ($23.13) OH; Indianapolis ($20.04), IN; and New York City (18.26), NY, is among the highest paying cities for Nurse aides in the USA, according to indeed.com.

Is being a Nurse Aide a Good Career?

Do you feel you can work as a nursing aide in view to making it a long-term career? Or are you just doing it temporarily for just a short while? Many nursing aides fall into the latter category. If you’re in it for the short run, you may not fully enjoy the job as you’ll be tempted to find greener pastures instead.

Nurse aides may not earn as most as certified nurses and doctors, but they may get opportunities to advance into full healthcare practice.

The stress level is medium and job responsibilities might be slightly odd. But becoming a nurse aide is still a blessing, especially if you’re working this job as a middle-aged person close to retirement as you can still work well into your 60s as a nurse aide.

This career may become long-term in that situation and the job satisfaction of caring for mature senior citizens will be great.

Nevertheless, becoming a certified nurse assistant is the best decision. That way, you’ll be in a better position to get a raise and more opportunities for career advancement.

How to become a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA)

While the role of a CNA may be very similar to that of a nurse aide, some prefer to become the former for obvious reasons. In some facilities, a nurse aide may be allowed to take the name of a nurse or patient care assistant.

However, some perks come with becoming a certified nurse assistant. You would be preferred over a nurse aide during the hiring process.

Also, CNAs will quickly be accepted into a nursing program thus making your transition into being a full nurse possible.

It is like the difference between a registered and licensed technician in a firm and one that just learned the skills at a vocational center or from someone. To become a CNA, you must first have your High School Diploma or GED.

If you’ve already earned one, complete a State-Approved CNA Training Program wherein you will be put through in-person clinical training.

You will learn all the medical terminologies required to fulfill your nursing duties. Things like basic anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology. But the emphasis will be on attaining clinical skills such as wound dressing, assisting medical and surgical emergencies, setting up IV lines, and collecting patients’ specimen samples for lab tests.

At the end of your CNA training, you must write a State-Approved CNA Certification Exam which you must pass before being certified as a CNA.

Never forget that it’s not just the hard skills that matter but the soft skills of compassion, patience, and enduring that will count in your training.

Conclusion

To answer “how much does a nurse aide earn” is quite tricky. Because they have different avenues to rake in more income.

How much a nurse aide makes annually depends on their strength and how many jobs they decide to take up. Read through this piece to get clarity on how to improve your earnings as a Nurse aide.

FAQs

How much can a CNA make per hour in 2023

indeed.com reports that Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) make $15.35 per hour which amounts to an annual average salary of $34,670. Other job pay review websites (example, salary.com, payscale.com, zip recruiter) report figures similar to Indeed.

Where can a nurse aide earn more?

Ohio and New York are two of the highest-paying states in the US for nurse aides and nursing assistants. One can aim to work in those states or work extra hours in your locality to earn more.

How long does the nurse aide course take?

Most nurse aide training courses take at least 12 hours to get all the required information. but depending on the healthcare service providers training you and the specialty area you’ll be working in, your course my reach 28hours.

What is Nurse Aide Training?

A nurse aide training is a specialist vocational course that walks you through how to perform your job duties and responsibilities as a nurse aide or nurse assistant. You may visit the site below to learn more              https://pmi.edu/programs/certificate/nursing-assistant-nurse-aide

Do I need a degree to become a CNA?

The good thing is that you do not need to complete the normal 4-year BSc nursing degree from a university. Some technical or vocational schools offer nursing aide training. Community colleges and even high schools offer nursing aide training programs. Those who have completed their high school education with a diploma certificate can apply.

Recommendations

References

Leave a Reply
You May Also Like