In America, an individual can work in any health care facility by completing state and OBRA-87 approved certified nurse aide training programs offered by various community and vocational colleges, post secondary schools, long term care units, technical institutes and adult education centers. The completion of training programs provides a candidate opportunity to sit for the respective state CNA Certification test. The passing of competency evaluation test offers a listing with state Nurse Aide Registry and permit to work legally in various hospitals, long term care units, nursing homes and numerous other health care facilities.

The training programs prepares a student to provide quality and competent care to ailing patients, who are in these facilities for short term or long term cares. Though, job duties are common and that is, to offer quality heath care to patients, but job functions in different facilities and settings varies as per requirements. For example, job function for hospital based patient and home care settings are different. In the same way, responsibilities for Nursing homes differ from hospital duties due to different types of patients admitted there.

Hospital caters to all types of patients but nursing home based patients are mostly elderly or senior citizens, who are admitted for long term cares. In nursing homes a CNA has to perform duties, such as dressing or undressing, movement of patients, reposition of patients after every 2 hours due to bed sores. Other functions include, changing of diapers, clean room, change bed linen, collects non-invasive body fluid specimens, record and measure vital signs, assist patient in washing bathing and feeding, documents patient interactions as needed and so on.

Even salaries for different health care facilities differ according to their job functions and types of environments they work. For example, in Nursing Homes, a CNA is paid $9.01 – $11.51 hourly wages or $19,704 to $ 26,840 annually as per their experience, location, type and size of facility, working hours and other benefits. The average median salary of a Certified Nurse Assistant, working in American Nursing Homes comes to around   $23,937.