CNA Salary

Is The CNA Salary Worth It?

Is the CNA salary competitive? A certified nurse assistant works between 8 to 12 hours a day. Yes, the demand is always high for a nurse assistant (CNA), but the pay could actually be better.

Work vs pay

The entry-level CNA salary ranges from $19,925 to $29,764. For the more experienced, the certified nursing assistant salary is around $35,377. On the average, the hourly rate for CNAs is $10. For doing most of the "dirty work" it may not seem much.

But the pay scale for CNA careers does vary for each job depending on the kind of facility that employs you. A certified nursing assistant is a front liner in patient care so nurses rely on them greatly, especially in hospitals and long-term care facilities. But in spite being an invaluable member of the team of health care providers, the CNA salary median Salaries also vary greatly by location.

Nursing assistant training is relatively easy. A CNA training program can be completed in 6 to 12 weeks and the skills needed to be certified are basic. The training is mostly hands-on, with classroom instruction just a fraction of the total number of required hours. It's mostly compassion and dedication that will fuel your desire to excel as a certified nursing assistant.

What's the motivation?

But CNA careers thrive even with the smaller nursing assistant salary ranges because it cost less time and money to be qualified for employment. Compared to attending medical school or nursing school, it takes a smaller investment to enrol at a nursing assistant school. A few weeks of training, and certification in hand, you're ready to go. Even a medical assistant and dental hygienist require a longer period of time before they are qualified to work.

Add to that, you have several job options where to practice and earn a CNA salary -- hospitals, nursing homes, long term care facilities, or private homes -- not long after earning your certification.

Even if the pay is just minimum wage, jobs are always available. And that is more important especially at a time when unemployment is a prospect people fear facing. Presently, the CNA salary may just be sufficient to augment one's income. Still, it can be handy in meeting day-to-day expenses.

A stepping stone

But perhaps what draws people to this kind of career is the possibility of pursuing further studies. So the certified nursing assistant salary may not be the reason to want to excel in this field but the future for
advancement in the medical field.

Many CNAs successfully earned nursing degrees after starting with nursing assistant training, and eventually became a nurse practitioner after accumulating years of experience and further studies. 

There are also stories of how certified nursing assistants stayed on in this career because it became a vocation and a life of service. Perhaps, there are really those who have a calling to be such, regardless of the CNA salary.