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

Utah Nursing Assistant Degrees

Nursing Assistant Degrees: Utah Colleges

Looking for accredited career colleges, technical schools, and universities in Utah 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.

The Golden Spike linking the eastern and western segments of the Great Transcontinental Railway was driven into the railroad ties in Promontory Summit, Utah, linking East and West on May 10, 1869. And that's just one of the historic facts that will make your days at a Utah college or university interesting. Utah has a long and vibrant history, starting with tens of thousands of years of Native American settlement. The long wagon trains moving Americans west in the Gold Rush and beyond crossed Utah, and perhaps its most celebrated settlers were the Mormons, who found sanctuary at last in 1846, after many years of continued exile and oppression as they wandered across the country.

Today, the strong influence of the significant Mormon population makes Utah an industrious and self-reliant state, where neighbors look out for neighbors, and everyone does their best to make strangers feel welcome. Attending college in Utah is likely to be a memorable and valuable experience.

Utah 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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