Certified Nursing Assistant

Administrative Functions:

• Identify residents before administering treatments, serving meals, etc., as necessary.
• Record all entries on flow sheets, notes, charts, etc., in an informative and descriptive manner.
• Use only authorized abbreviations established by the facility when recording information.
• Report all observed incidents of abuse and accidents on the shift that they occur.

• Ensure that resident’s room is ready for receiving the resident (i.e., bed made, nametags up, admission kit available, etc.)
• Greet residents and escort them to their room.
• Introduce resident to his/her roommate, if any, and other residents and personnel as appropriate.
• Make resident comfortable (i.e. put to bed, get water, etc.)
• Inventory and mark the resident’s personal possessions as instructed.
• Store resident’s clothing.
• Assist residents with packing their personal possessions when they are being transferred to a new room, or when being discharged.
• Transport residents to new rooms or to the receiving area.
• Assist with loading/unloading residents from vehicles as necessary.

Personal Functions:

• Perform all assigned tasks in accordance with our established policies and procedures, and as instructed by supervisors.
• Follow work assignments, and/or work schedules in completing and performing assigned tasks.
• Cooperate with inter-departmental personnel, as well as other facility personnel to ensure that nursing services can be adequately maintained to meet the needs of the residents.
• Create and maintain an atmosphere of warmth, personal interest and positive emphasis, as well as a calm environment throughout the unit and shift.
• Meet with shift nursing personnel, on a regularly scheduled basis, to assist in identifying and correcting problem areas, and/or the improvement of services.
• Report all complaints and grievances made by the resident.
• Notify the facility when you will be late or absent from work.
• Report occupational exposures to blood, body fluids, infectious materials, and hazardous chemicals to supervisors.

• Participate in and receive the nursing report upon reporting to duty.
• Follow established policies concerning exposure to blood/body fluids.
• Assist residents with daily dental and mouth care (i.e., brushing teeth/dentures, oral hygiene, special mouth care, etc.).
• Assist residents with bath functions (i.e., bedbath, tub or shower bath, etc.,) as directed.
• Give backrubs as instructed.
• Assist residents with dressing/undressing as necessary.
• Assist residents with hair care functions (i.e., combing, brushing, shampooing, etc.).
• Assist residents with nail care (i.e., clipping, trimming, and cleaning the finger/toenails). (NOTE: Does not include diabetic residents.)
• Shave male residents.
• Keep hair on female resident’s clean (i.e., facial hair, under arms, on legs, etc.) as instructed.
• Keep residents dry (i.e., change gown, clothing, linen, etc., when if becomes wet or soiled).
• Change bed linens.  Keep linens tight to avoid wrinkles from forming under the resident.
• Make beds (occupied and unoccupied).
• Put extra covers on beds as requested.
• Position bedfast residents in correct and comfortable position.
• Assist resident with bowel and bladder functions (i.e., take to bathroom, offer bedpan/urinal, portable commode, etc.).
• Maintain intake and output records as instructed.
• Keep incontinent residents clean and dry.
• Check and report bowel movements and character of stools as instructed.
• Prepare and give enemas.  Report results as instructed.
• Collect specimens as instructed (i.e., urine, sputum, stools, etc.).
• Assist residents in preparing for medical tests (i.e., lab work, x-ray, therapy, dental, etc.).
• Assist residents in preparing for activity and social programs (i.e., church services, parties, visitors, etc.).
• Assist in transporting resident’s to/from appointments, activity and social programs, etc., as necessary.
• Assist with lifting, turning, moving, positioning, and transporting residents into and out of beds, chairs, bathtubs, wheelchairs, lifts, etc.
• Assist residents to walk with or without self-help devices as instructed.
• Perform restorative and rehabilitative procedures as instructed.
• Change, bandages, binders, , protective and adaptive equipment etc., as instructed
• Provide eye and ear care (i.e., warm/cold compresses, eye/ear installation, cleaning eye glasses/hearing aides, etc.) as instructed.
• Assist with the application of non-sterile (moist and dry) warm/cold compresses.
• Assist in preparing the resident for a physical examination.
• Weigh and measure residents as instructed.
• Measure and record temperatures, pulse, and respirations (TPRs), as instructed.
• Answer resident calls promptly.
• Ensure that residents who are unable to call for help are checked frequently.
• Check each resident routinely to ensure that his/her personal care needs are being met in accordance with his/her wishes.
• Assist with the care of the dying resident.
• Provide post-mortem care as instructed.

• Observe and report the presence of pressure areas and skin breakdowns to prevent decubitus ulcers (bedsores).
• Report injuries of an unknown source, including skin tears.
• Provide indwelling catheter care.
• Provide  perineal care.
• Assist with the application of slings, elastic bandages, binders, etc.
• Give tepid sponge baths.
• Provide daily Range of Motion Exercises.  Record data as instructed.
• Turn bedfast residents at least every two (2) hours.
• Perform diabetic urine testing (i.e., clinitest, acetest, etc.).
• Observe disoriented and comatose residents.  Record and report data as instructed.
• Turn all medications found in the resident’s room/possession over to the Nurse Supervisor/Charge Nurse.
• Provide residents with Reality Orientation as instructed.
• Watch for and report any change in room temperature, ventilation, lighting, etc.

• Prepare residents for meals (i.e., take to bathroom, wash hands, comb hair, raise bed, position tables, place bibs, take to/from dining room, etc.).
• Serve food trays.  Assist with feeding as indicated (i.e., cutting foods, feeding, assist in dining room supervision, etc.).
• Assist residents with identifying food arrangements (i.e., informing resident with sight problems of foods that are on his/her tray, where it is located, if it is hot or cold, etc.).
• Record the resident’s food/fluid intake.  Report changes in the resident’s eating habits.
• Keep resident’s water pitchers clean and filled with fresh water (on each shift), and within easy reach of the resident.
• Serve between meal and bedtime snacks.
• Perform after meal care (i.e., remove trays, clean resident’s hands, face, clothing, take to bathroom, brush teeth, clean dentures, etc.).
• Check rooms for food articles (i.e., food in proper container, unauthorized food items, etc.).

Staff Development:

• Attend and participate in scheduled training and educational classes up to 18 hours annually to maintain current certification as a Nursing Assistant.
• Attend and participate in scheduled orientation programs and activities.
• Attend and participate in annual OSHA and CDC in-service training programs for hazard communication, TB management, and bloodborne pathogens standard.
• Attend and participate in advance directive in-service training programs as scheduled.

Safety and Sanitation:

• Apply and monitor restraints as instructed in chair/bed as instructed.   Check restrained residents at least every thirty- (30) minutes.
• Release restraints at least every two (2) hours for range of motion exercises, taking to bathroom, etc. utilize side rail as instructed.
• Maintain a record of restrained residents, the time’s restraints were released, and how long the restraints were released.
• Participate in appropriate in-service training programs prior to performing tasks that involve potential exposure to blood/body fluids.
• Wash hands before and after performing any service for the resident.
• Keep the nurses’ call system within easy reach of the resident.
• Immediately notify the Nurse Supervisor/Charge Nurse of any resident leaving/mission from the facility.
• Follow established safety precautions in the performance of all duties.
• Keep residents’ personal possessions off the floor and properly stored.
• Keep floors dry.  Report spills immediately.
• Wash wheelchairs, walkers, etc., as instructed.
• Clean, disinfect, and return all resident care equipment to its designated storage area after each use.
• Perform routine housekeeping duties (i.e., clean bedrails, overbed table, nightstand, etc., that relate to nursing care procedures).
• Before leaving work area for breaks, or at the end of the workday, store all tools, equipment, and supplies.
• Report all hazardous conditions and equipment to the Nurse Supervisor/Charge Nurse immediately.
• Report all safety violations.
• Follow established smoking regulations.  Report all violations.
• Report any communicable or infectious disease to the Director of Nursing Services and/or to the Infection Control Coordinator.
• Follow established isolation precautions and procedures.
• Wash hands before entering and after leaving an isolation room/area.
• Follow established procedures in the use and disposal of personal protective equipment.
• Wear and/or use safety equipment and supplies (e.g., back brace, mechanical lifts, etc.) when lifting or moving residents.
• Report missing/illegible labels and MSDSs to supervisor.
• Use only the equipment you have been trained to use and operate in a safe manner.
• Keep all exit areas and hallways clear of clutter, keeping all items to one side of the hallway.

Care Plan Functions:

• Review care plans daily to determine if changes in the resident’s daily care routine have been made on the care plan.
• Inform the Nurse Supervisor/Charge Nurse of any changes in the resident’s condition so that appropriate information can be entered on the resident’s care plan.
• Ensure that ADL Flow records reflect that the care plan is being followed.

Resident Rights:

• Maintain the confidentiality of all resident care information.
• Ensure that all residents are treated fairly, with kindness, dignity, and respect.
• Ensure that all nursing care is provided in privacy.
• Knock before entering the resident’s room
• Report all grievances and complaints made by the resident to the Nurse Supervisor/Charge Nurse.
• Report all allegations of resident abuse and/or misappropriation of resident property.
• Honor the resident’s refusal of treatment request.  Report such requests to supervisors.