Responsibilities of the nursing assistant

The responsibilities of a nursing assistant can vary depending on the setting and state where they work, but all nursing assistants operate within defined parameters or range of tasks they are legally permitted to perform.

In Oregon, the nursing assistant has a list of authorized duties that can be found in the Oregon Administrative Rules, Chapter 851, Division 63.

All the tasks performed by a nursing assistant will focus on helping nurses perform basic nursing skills that help clients meet their physical and emotional needs.

Meeting physical needs involves assisting clients with tasks related to hygiene, safety, food and water, comfort, exercise, and elimination.

Meeting emotional needs will involve connecting to the client, often by simply being willing to listen attentively when they need someone to talk to.

Finally, one of the most important duties of the nursing assistant is to act as a liaison between a client and the nursing team by observing and reporting to the nurse when they notice any changes in a client’s physical or mental status.

Now the standards and authorized duties for a nursing assistant is defined by their state and training, so it’s important to become familiar with these and work within your state’s rules.

For example, nursing assistants are not permitted to supervise other nursing assistants. Only licensed nurses may supervise nursing assistants. Now, you can mentor and coach another nursing assistant.

You can even assist in the orientation of a new nursing assistant to your facility but a licensed nurse will need to validate their competency and sign-off on their overall orientation.

Additionally, nursing assistants are not permitted to make diagnoses or prescribe medications or treatment, which are responsibilities of the health care provider.

In order to be a great nursing assistant, you must also possess certain personal characteristics, workplace skills, and physical capabilities.

You need to be courteous and respectful of others, in order to work well with your coworkers on the health care team and client who may be ill or disabled.

You must also have strong written and verbal communication skills in order to relay important information to the nursing team, and you must be able to exercise good judgement and exhibit excellent problem-solving ability in order to deal with potentially stressful situations that may arise when caring for clients.

You will also need to be able to move well and lift heavy loads, maybe even upwards of 50 pounds, when repositioning or turning clients.

Now, in order to make sure the nursing team operates smoothly and efficiently, nurses can delegate tasks to nursing assistants, meaning they can give responsibility to nursing assistants to perform tasks on their behalf.