Now is an as good time as ever to become a certified nursing assistant. The demand for nursing assistants is expected to grow 8% over the next decade, which is twice as fast as the average for all occupations.
When you decide on your next career move, it’s always important to look at the financial side of things, or in other words, how much you’re going to get paid.
In this article, we’ll answer the question “how much are nurses’ assistant salaries hourly” and what you can expect from a nursing assistant’s hourly salary. Those numbers can change pretty dramatically based on several factors.
Table of contents
Duties And Responsibilities of A Nursing Assistant
A certified nursing assistant is a healthcare professional who assists patients, residents, or hospital staff with their medical needs and practices under the direct supervision of a registered nurse (RN) or licensed vocational nurse (LVN).
Nurse assistants often work in nursing homes, hospitals, assisted living facilities, and other healthcare facilities.
The responsibilities of a nursing assistant include:
- Assisting with wound care.
- Assisting patient education.
- Assisting with medication administration.
- Assisting with other healthcare needs.
This job often requires great physical strength, as nursing assistants will walk and stand for most of their shifts as they make rounds and tend to patients.
Lifting heavy objects is vital, as they often help patients from place to place. In addition to caring for patients, they should ensure the environment is clean and tidy by performing basic housekeeping tasks.
Also, education, training, and current valid certification are required to become a certified nurse assistant.
Also, see, How Much Does A Family Nurse Practitioner Make?
How Much Does A Nursing Assistant Make An Hour
The average certified nurse assistant salary hourly is $23. However, nurse assistant salary hourly rates can vary quite a bit by location and experience, as well as the number of shifts worked per week.
Therefore, the best way to know what you can expect to make as a certified nursing assistant is to look at hourly nurse assistant salary survey data or contact nursing assistant employers and ask for salary information.
Apart from this, a nurse assistant’s salary varies according to the following:
Workplace
What better place to get work being a nursing assistant if not in nursing care facilities? These facilities are known to have the most significant employers who need nursing assistants due to the need for various ongoing routine care.
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Nursing assistants working in these facilities make an average of $13.20 hourly. The next set of largest employers of nursing assistants can be found in various hospitals; their average pay is $14.73 per hour.
The third-largest set of employers in this field is the community care facilities, employers. These facilities are made mainly for older adults, paying an average of $12.84 per hour for the services received.
A certified nurse assistant’s salary can be as high as an average of $18.43 per hour when suitable for federal government work.
Also, they can earn an average of $17.42 per hour working for scientific research and development services and an average of $16.49 per hour when they work for colleges and universities.
Location
Nursing assistants’ hourly can also vary by location. This depends on factors such as the current location’s demands, local minimum wages, and living costs.
The states with the first, second, and third highest average wages for nursing assistants are Alaska at $18.24 per hour, New York at $16.87 per hour, and Nevada at $16.58 per hour, respectively.
The District of Columbia and California carried out this estimation of the list of highest-paying states.
Also, the lowest-paid nursing assistants’ states include Louisiana, paying an average of $10.52 per hour, Mississippi, paying an average of $10.96 per hour; and Arkansas, paying an average of $10.52 per hour.
Apart from these states, Oklahoma and Georgia are among the lowest-paying states.
So, due to the growth of the healthcare sector worldwide, the need for certified nursing assistants is increasing monthly and yearly.
With many persons willing to fill the required positions, the nurse’s assistant salary hourly has slightly decreased even with the high need for staff in the nursing care facilities.
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Reasons To Become A Certified Nursing Assistant
The following are good reasons to be a nursing assistant despite the salary ranges. They include:
- You can provide direct care to various patients in your workplace and at home.
- You can contribute positively to people’s life and way of living.
- Being a certified nursing assistant can equip you with the knowledge that can last a lifetime as you continue to learn throughout your career.
- You can switch your type of job at any time because this field allows you to work with children and older people.
- It gives you experience as a nurse and can serve as a head start for those pursuing a nursing career.
- You can decide what type of healthcare facility you wish to work in.
- You will receive an attractive salary coupled with additional benefits from most employers.
- There’s high demand for certified nursing assistants, so you can quickly get a job in this field compared to other health-related areas.
- Certified nursing assistant programs are affordable, and some institutions offer these programs online for those who might be busy but still very interested in chasing this line of work.
- CNA programs don’t require a college degree. Having a high school diploma or a GED credential can get you started.
- It takes a short duration of two to three weeks to be all set and ready as a certified nursing assistant.
Additional Benefits Of Being A Certified Nursing Assistant
Some employers go as far as offering other valuable benefits beyond salary to their certified nursing assistants.
So, when looking for a job in this field, you should look out for the additional benefits you might be privileged to receive. Some of the additional benefits offered to these certified nursing assistants include the following:
- Having free time
- A paid vacation
- Health, workers’ compensation, and disability insurance
- Family leave sometimes
- Paid continuing education by the employer
- Mentoring and some professional development opportunities
- Pension or Retirement plans
- Tuition assistance
- An employee assistance program by the organization
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FAQs On nurse’s assistant salary hourly
Yes, certified nursing assistants can help older people at healthcare facilities, hospitals, or anywhere suitable. They can help them perform activities such as bathing and eating.
Most certified nursing assistant programs can take a duration of between four and twelve weeks before a certificate is earned and proper training is conducted. In order words, it will take you between four to twelve weeks as you receive lectures and clinical practices.
The two most common assistant-level jobs in this field are nurse and medical assistant.
Being a certified nursing assistant means you are an entry-level member of a healthcare team performing important tasks centered on patients while being under the supervision of a nursing staff that’s properly licensed. This, therefore, does not make you a nurse but makes you work very closely with nurses and various health care providers.
The cost of becoming a certified nursing assistant is quite affordable when compared to other healthcare training.
The average cost of a certified nursing assistant program is $1,300. $125 is required for the examination, and $50 is for registration with your state to get proof of certification.
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Conclusion
Being a nursing assistant requires you to perform one of the most delicate jobs in the world, which is taking care of people. Some other work and skills will be required for you to know before you can work in this field.
Also, a certified nurse assistant’s salary might be a bit out of what you have expected but don’t forget that this is hourly and might be worth trying out when calculated yearly.
Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean you will quit and give up on this career if that’s what you want. You can pursue this dream of becoming a certified nursing assistant and try switching to nursing only if you’re going to become a nurse.
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