Nursing assistants provide or assist with basic care or support under the direction of onsite licensed nursing staff. They perform duties such as monitoring of health status, feeding, bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, or ambulation of patients in a health or nursing facility. Responsibilities may include medication administration and other health-related tasks.
Most nursing assistants work in nursing and residential care facilities and in hospitals. They are physically active and may need to help lift or move patients.
Nursing assistants often need to complete a state-approved education program and pass their state’s competency exam to become licensed or certified.
Overall employment of nursing assistants is projected to grow 8 percent from 2020 to 2030, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
About 192,800 openings for nursing assistants are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
The DC Health Care Workforce Partnership is managed by the District of Columbia Hospital Association Program Services Company, Inc.
The DC Health Care Workforce Partnership is funded wholly or in part by the Government of the District of Columbia Workforce Investment Council (WIC).