Basic Nurse Assistant Training Program--Career Opportunities

Marketable Skill – Use your BNAT Training to get a job!
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook 2008–2009 describes the nature of the work as follows:

Nursing aides also known as nurse aides, nursing assistants, certified nursing assistants, geriatric aides, unlicensed assistive personnel, … provide hands-on care and perform routine tasks under the supervision of nursing and medical staff. Specific tasks vary, with aides handling many aspects of a patient’s care. They often help patients to eat, dress, and bathe. They also answer calls for help, deliver messages, serve meals, make beds, and tidy up rooms. Aides sometimes are responsible for taking a patient’s temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, or blood pressure. They also may help provide care to patients by helping them get into and out of bed and walk, escorting them to operating and examining rooms, or providing skin care. Some aides help other medical staff by setting up equipment, storing and moving supplies, and assisting with some procedures. Aides also observe patients’ physical, mental, and emotional conditions and report any change to the nursing or medical staff.

Nurse aides employed in nursing care facilities often are the principal caregivers, having far more contact with residents than do other members of the staff. Because some residents may stay in a nursing care facility for months or even years, aides develop ongoing relationships with them and interact with them in a positive, caring way. (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos165.htm)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook 2008–2009 describes the employment outlook and earnings for nurse’s aides as follows:

Employment change—Overall employment of nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides is projected to grow 28 percent between 2006 and 2016, much faster than the average for all occupations. However, growth will vary for the individual occupations… Employment of nursing aides is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2016, in response to the long-term care needs of an increasing elderly population. Financial pressures on hospitals to discharge patients as soon as possible should boost admissions to nursing care facilities. (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos165.htm)

Earnings—Median hourly earnings of nursing aides…were $10.67 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $9.09 and $12.80 an hour. (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos165.htm)

Transferable Skill
Because this program offers students exceptional patient care skill experience, the knowledge and skills learned by students in the BNAT program may be transferable to other programs such as:

• Nursing: BNAT is a prerequisite to the Associate Degree Nursing program
• Massage Therapy
• Medical Assistant
  Phlebotomy: Nurse aides with phlebotomy training have a higher earning capacity.
• Recreation Therapy
• Moraine Valley's Job Placement Center has current job postings for nurse’s aide positions. For more information, visit www.morainevalley.edu/JRC.