Nurse assistants support nurses with patient care — providing personal care, taking vitals, assisting with mobility, and handling the hands-on work.
Nurse Assistant pay typically runs $36K–$46K at this level, and jobs in this field are projected to grow 2% through 2034.
Workdays involve rotating between patients for vitals, personal care, transport, and assistance with daily living. Documentation runs alongside, and the pace shifts depending on how busy the unit is on any given shift.
Collaboration involves nurses, patients, families, and other care staff. What's harder than expected is the consistency required — every patient deserves attentive care, even on busy shifts when you're running between rooms and nothing has gone the way the day plan suggested.
Those who thrive tend to be patient, physically capable, and emotionally grounded. If you find satisfaction in being part of patients' care, the role often fits. People who can't sustain warmth through busy shifts, or who can't handle the physical demands long-term, usually find nurse assistant work harder than the routine portion suggests — the cumulative wear is real.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Healthcare roles →Nurse assistants support nurses with patient care — providing personal care, taking vitals, assisting with mobility, and handling the hands-on work.
Median pay for a Nurse Assistant is about $40K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $31K to $50K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Monitoring, and Speaking.
Most people in this role hold a high school diploma.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 2.3% through 2034, with roughly 1.4 million people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Nursing Assistant, Nurse Sitter, and Gericare Aide.
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