Nursing Assistant Program: Objectives and Skills
A nursing assistant works with patients when they are at their most vulnerable – doing day to day tasks such as getting dressed or bathing. While it doesn’t require expert training to help someone get dressed, it does take the right training to help someone who isn’t well or has lost some of their independence get dressed with dignity.
The Allen School nursing assistant programs are designed to prepare you for a career in helping people, not just a job. Our program will help prepare you for a career as a nursing assistant in which you will encounter a variety of structured settings that will require medical knowledge and interpersonal skills.
We take NA training very seriously which shows in our nursing assistant training objectives which are focused on developing critical thinking skills as well as giving you the medical knowledge you need to be successful.
Some of these skills include:
- Taking vital medical signs from patients and assisting doctors with exams
- A clear understanding of HIPAA, Medical, legal and ethical obligations
- How to count respiration rate, use a sphygmomanometer, take rectal and tympanic temperatures, check oxygen flow rates and perform various other medical procedures
- First aid preparedness and first response training in or out of the workplace
- A clear understanding of physiology, anatomy, and biomedical terms
- OSHA standards for proper handwashing technique, the use of personal protective equipment, isolation procedures
- How to promote a resident’s independence
- How to transfer and reposition a patient as well as how to care for a patient who has fallen, proper wheelchair positioning, the ambulation of a blind patient, and proper lifting of a patient from various positions
- Proper nutrition, assisting a patient with eating, measuring fluid intake and elimination
- Proper care of a catheter, urine and fecal specimen collection technique
- Hygiene and grooming of patients including bathing, oral hygiene for both conscious and unconscious patients, and personal grooming
One of the most important things you will learn is how to facilitate communication between patients, their family members and the medical staff caring for them. Our NA training program is designed to give you all of the skills you need to give patients the compassionate care they need and help improve their quality of life.
Are you ready to start your rewarding career as a nursing assistant? Contact the Allen School today and get started on a career that makes a difference in people’s lives.