A certified nursing assistant (CNA) is a trained and state-registered member of the nursing team who gives hands-on personal care to residents and patients under the supervision of licensed nurses.
CNAs bathe, dress, feed, transfer and monitor the people in their care, and they report changes to the nurse.
This guide explains what the role involves, where CNAs work, what they may not do, and how to become one.
What is a certified nursing assistant (CNA)?
A certified nursing assistant (CNA) is a credentialed, hands-on member of the nursing team who helps residents and patients with the daily activities they can no longer manage alone.
The work is hands-on: bathing, dressing, meals, mobility, toileting, and the close observation that keeps the nurses caring for the person informed.
Federal nursing home regulation defines the role precisely: a nurse aide is any individual providing nursing or nursing-related services to residents who is not a licensed health professional, a registered dietitian or an unpaid volunteer, including people supplied through an agency (42 CFR 483.5).
The "certified" in the title is the credential: state-approved training, a two-part competency exam, and a listing on the state's nurse aide registry.
Each part is built on a federal floor that states can exceed.
What does CNA stand for and what other titles are used?
CNA stands for Certified Nursing Assistant, and the same credential also appears as Certified Nurse Aide.
The federal nursing home rules use a third name: "nurse aide" is the term the regulation itself defines (42 CFR 483.5).
O*NET's reported job titles for Nursing Assistants (SOC 31-1131) include Certified Nurse Aide (CNA), Certified Nursing Assistant, Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA), State Tested Nursing Assistant (STNA), Nurses' Aide, Nursing Assistant, Patient Care Assistant and Certified Medication Aide (CMA).
Not all of those name the same credential.
Titles such as LNA and STNA are names used for the nurse aide credential in particular states, and job postings follow the title that state's rules and employers use; Patient Care Assistant is a job title.
Certified Medication Aide is a separate credential — where state rules allow, a nursing assistant can add a medication credential and take on medication tasks, which the scope section below explains.
What does a CNA do on a shift?
The heart of the shift is activities of daily living: bathing, grooming and mouth care, dressing, toileting, helping with meals and hydration, feeding, and skin care.
Federal training rules list those as the personal care skills every nurse aide program must teach, alongside basic nursing skills — taking and recording vital signs, measuring height and weight, and recognizing and reporting abnormal changes (42 CFR 483.152).
Day to day, O*NET's task list for nursing assistants adds turning and repositioning bedridden patients, answering call signals, measuring and recording food and liquid intake and urinary and fecal output, recording vital signs as directed, and documenting observations for the nurses.
Observation and reporting run through the shift: nursing assistants are tasked with watching for symptoms that may require medical attention — bruises, open wounds, blood in urine — and reporting patient behavior, complaints and physical symptoms to the nurse.
Some nursing assistants also remind patients to take medications.
Giving medication is a different task: whether an aide may do it depends on the state and the aide's training — the scope section below explains.
Where do CNAs work?
BLS counts nursing homes as the largest employers of nursing assistants: in 2025, nursing care facilities employed 36%, hospitals 32%, continuing care retirement communities and assisted living 11%, home healthcare services 5%, and government 3%.
The same skills read differently by setting: a nursing home aide supports residents through their daily routine, a hospital aide assists a unit's patients, an assisted living aide works in a residential setting, and a home health aide brings the role into one patient's home.
Nursing and residential care facilities and hospitals provide care at all hours, so shifts may cover nights, weekends and holidays; per BLS, most nursing assistants and orderlies work full time, with some working part time.
What can a CNA not do?
A CNA is not a licensed nurse.
The federal definition of a nurse aide excludes licensed health professionals, and aides work under licensed nurses rather than in place of them.
The exact boundary of the job is set by state law and employer policy, not a national checklist.
The NCSBN–ANA national guidelines on nursing delegation put it plainly: a licensed nurse cannot delegate nursing judgment, and what an aide may do depends on the state and the employer.
Medication is the clearest example.
Whether a nursing assistant can give medication depends on the state and the aide's training; BLS notes that where a state allows it, CNAs can earn an additional credential, such as Certified Medication Assistant (CMA), and may dispense medications under it.
That is why two CNAs in different states — or even different facilities in the same state — can hold the same title and work under different task lists.
Scope of practice is state-specific
How do you become a CNA (overview)?
The route runs through three gates — train, test, register — and the details on top of the federal floor are state-set: hour totals, exam vendors and fees.
Complete a state-approved training program
Federal rules set the floor at 75 clock hours, including at least 16 hours of supervised practical training, and states can require more. Supervised practical training means performing tasks on a person in a lab or similar setting under the direct supervision of an RN or LPN — which is why CNA training cannot be completed entirely online.Pass the competency evaluation
The federal evaluation has two parts and you must pass both: a written or oral exam (the candidate chooses) and a skills demonstration of randomly selected tasks. Federal rules require the skills part to be administered and evaluated by an RN with at least one year of experience caring for the elderly or chronically ill.Get listed on your state's nurse aide registry
Successful completion goes on the state nurse aide registry within 30 days. You must be on the registry to work as a nursing assistant in a nursing home.Apply for your first CNA job
Nursing homes, hospitals, assisted living communities and home health agencies all employ nursing assistants. The Find CNA jobs section below is where to browse openings.
One rule matters if you step away from paid care work.
If a nurse aide goes 24 consecutive months without providing nursing or nursing-related services for pay, federal nursing home rules require a new training and competency evaluation program, or a new competency evaluation, before that person works as a nurse aide again.
Confirm the requirements with your state
How much do CNAs make?
BLS has an exact occupation for this role: nursing assistants, SOC 31-1131, the occupation that covers CNAs.
In the May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, the median wage was $20.32 an hour — $42,260 a year — with 1,448,910 nursing assistants employed nationally.
The 10th percentile earned $16.32 an hour and the 90th percentile $24.99.
BLS's Occupational Outlook Handbook reports a different figure, $41,870 a year for 2025, because it combines nursing assistants with orderlies; the same source projects 3% employment growth from 2025 to 2035, about as fast as average.
Pay varies by state.
The CNA pay by state page lists the BLS figures for nursing assistants state by state, so you can compare before you apply.
Is being a CNA worth it?
What pulls people in: the work is direct, human and needed — you are the person who gets someone up, fed, clean and comfortable, and the nurses you work with depend on what you see and report.
The credential is also achievable: one state-approved course, one two-part exam, one registry listing, with a federal floor of 75 training hours.
The honest trade-offs are physical and scheduling.
BLS counts nursing assistants and orderlies among the occupations with the highest rates of injuries and illnesses because they frequently move patients.
The work means much of the shift on your feet, and care continues around the clock, so nights, weekends and holidays may be part of your schedule.
Demand is steady rather than booming: BLS projects 3% growth for nursing assistants and orderlies from 2025 to 2035, about as fast as average.
If those trade-offs read as acceptable to you, the role is a direct, defined entry into paid healthcare work; if they do not, the same facts are the reason to keep looking.
Find CNA jobs
CaregiverHires lists only senior and home care work, so the CNA openings you see are from the settings this guide describes: nursing homes, home health and hospice providers, assisted living and memory care communities, and the agencies that staff them.
Browse CNA jobs for certified nursing assistant openings, and filter the list by pay and benefits.
If you are on the employer side and hiring CNAs, post a job to put your opening in front of CNAs looking for senior and home care work.
Career information, not licensing, legal, medical or tax advice: certification and training rules are state rules, so confirm current requirements with your state's nurse aide registry or board of nursing before you enroll, test or apply.