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Career Colleges    » California    » Health, Medical, and Nursing     » Nursing Assistant

California Nursing Assistant Degrees

Nursing Assistant Degrees: California Colleges

Looking for accredited career colleges, technical schools, and universities in California offering Nursing Assistant degrees. A nursing assistant is also called an aide or attendant. In most states, you can complete training to become a certified nursing assistant (CNA) as long as you have a high school diploma or equivalent.

Attending a California college should be an easy decision. After all, the Golden State has something for everyone. The educational quality is some of the highest in the nation, if not the world, and the after-college activities are endless. Within a four-hour drive in any direction you can be hiking some of the highest peaks in North America, driving through the furnace-like heat of Death Valley, losing your heart in immortally beautiful San Franciso, wandering dreamily through ferny forests crowned with 300-foot redwoods, rubbing shoulders with celebrities in L.A., or diving into the wild and welcoming surf of the great Pacific ocean.

California Colleges: Nursing Assistant Degrees

Patient care technicians: The human face of health care

Patient care technicians provide supervised care to patients in health care facilities such as hospitals or nursing homes. Patient care technicians may also be called attendants or nursing assistants. Training in patient care prepares you to carry out basic health care responsibilities such as taking vital signs and assisting with patient examinations.

Clinical job duties of a patient care technician may include:

• Administering medications or treatments
• Applying clean dressings, slings or support bandages
• Cleaning and sanitizing patient rooms and areas
• Collecting specimens for medical testing
• Assisting patients with hygiene and eating

You may also be required to position and lift patients, which requires knowledge of body mechanics and proper techniques.

Patient care education and training

Training is offered at vocational schools and community colleges. Patient care education programs typically include instruction in CPR and lab procedures. Other courses covered may include:

1. Body mechanics
2. Nutrition
3. Anatomy and physiology
4. Infection control
5. Resident rights

Patient care technician schools offer classroom study and practical training, which can prepare you for the certified nursing assistant examination. The federal government requires individuals working in nursing care facilities to complete a minimum of 75 hours of certified training and a competency evaluation. Your patient care technician training may also be a stepping-stone to further training as a licensed vocational or registered nurse or a physical or respiratory therapy assistant.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean annual wage for nursing and psychiatric aids, including patient care technicians, was $25,140 in 2010. Employment is projected to grow 18 percent between 2008 and 2018.

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