CNA Duties

[CNA2424]

Could anyone please tell me the duties of a CNA working in a hospital? Also what do you recomend as a good area of the hospital to start off working in? Thanks

[chadash]

OK, I am a beginner, but I will give this a go:

It does depend on the department, and can vary even in the same hospital.

You will be measuring vital signs, for most patients every four hours, some once a shift, post ops and others every hour. You will measure blood glucose before meals and before bedtime for diabetic patients. Some need more frequent monitoring. You will be giving bed baths for most patients in the am.

YOu measure input and out put for all patients. Feed total care patients and turn every two hours. Report any changes in skin, alertness, complaints of pain, and any iffy vitals. You will need to document everything, usually on the door chart, your own sheets, and then enter them in the hospital computer medical records system.

Assist your nurses by being available to help them with patients, including transporting them at discharge.

Depending on the unit, there will be specific task: maintaining polar cares in ortho for instance.

I wish I could suggest a place to start, but what would be one persons trash would be someone elses treasure. Good luck!

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

It's hard to say where is a "good" place to start out. Many will sat LTC, but I'm happy to have begun at a hospital on a cardio/gen med floor. With the gen med I get to see a variety of patients with a variety of needs from complete care to being fairly independent.