Nursing Assistant Jobs
Training and Education Jobs and Salaries
Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides hold about 2.3 million jobs. Nursing aides hold the most jobs - approximately 1.4 million. Home health aides hold roughly 790,000 jobs, and psychiatric aides hold about 62,000 jobs. About 52 percent of nursing aides work in nursing and residential care facilities and another 29 percent work in hospitals. Home health aides were mainly employed by home health care services, nursing and residential care facilities and social assistance agencies. About 47 percent of all psychiatric aides work in hospitals, primarily in psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals, although some also work in the psychiatric units of general medical and surgical hospitals. Others are employed in State government agencies; residential mental retardation, mental health, and substance abuse facilities; and nursing and residential care facilities.
Excellent job opportunities for nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides will arise from a combination of rapid employment growth and the need to replace the many workers who leave the occupation each year. Overall employment of nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides is projected to grow 28 percent between 2006 and 2016, much faster than the average for all occupations however, growth will vary for the individual occupations. Home health aides are expected to gain jobs faster than other aides as a result of growing demand for home services from an aging population and efforts to contain costs by moving patients out of hospitals and nursing care facilities as quickly as possible.
Consumer preference for care in the home and improvements in medical technologies for in-home treatment also will contribute to much-faster-than-average employment growth for home health aides. Nursing aide employment will not grow as fast as home health aide employment, largely because nursing aides are concentrated in relatively slower-growing industries. Employment of nursing aides is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2016, in response to the long-term care needs of an increasing elderly population.
Financial pressures on hospitals to discharge patients as soon as possible should boost admissions to nursing care facilities. As a result, job openings will be more numerous in nursing and residential care facilities than in hospitals. Modern medical technology also will drive demand for nursing aides because as the technology saves and extends more lives, it increases the need for long-term care provided by aides. Little or no change is expected in employment of psychiatric aides - the smallest of the three occupations.
Most psychiatric aides currently work in hospitals, but the industries most likely to see growth will be residential facilities for people with developmental disabilities, mental illness, and substance abuse problems. There is a long-term trend toward treating psychiatric patients outside of hospitals because it is more cost effective and allows patients to live more independent lives. Demand for psychiatric aides in residential facilities will rise in response to the increase in the number of older persons, many of whom will require mental health services. Growing demand for these workers also rests on an increasing number of mentally disabled adults who were formerly cared for by their elderly parents and who will continue to need care.
Job growth also could be affected by changes in government funding of programs for the mentally ill. High replacement needs for nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides reflect modest entry requirements, low pay, high physical and emotional demands, and limited opportunities for advancement within the occupation. For these same reasons, the number of people looking to enter the occupation will be limited. Many aides leave the occupation to attend training programs for other health care occupations. Therefore, people who are interested in, and suited for, this work should have excellent job opportunities.
Median hourly earnings of nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants are about $11.00. The middle fifty percent earn between $9.50 and $13.00 an hour. The lowest ten percent earned less than $9.00, and the highest ten percent earn more than $15.00 an hour. Median hourly earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants are as follows: aide jobs offered by local governments pay around $12.50, jobs in employment services pay about $11.50, general medical and surgical hospitals pay about $11.00, aide jobs in nursing care facilities pay a little over $10.50, and nursing aide jobs in community care facilities for the elderlypay about $10.00 per hour.
Nursing and psychiatric aides in hospitals generally receive at least one week of paid vacation after one year of service. Paid holidays and sick leave, hospital and medical benefits, extra pay for late-shift work, and pension plans also are available to many hospital employees and to some nursing care facility employees. Median hourly earnings of home health aides are about $9.50. The middle fifty percent earn between $8.00 and $11.00 an hour. The lowest ten percent earn less than $8.00, and the highest ten percent earn more than $13.00 an hour. Median hourly earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of home health aides are as follows: home health aide jobs offered by nursing care facilities pay around $10.00, residential mental retardation facilities pay about $9.50, jobs in services for the elderly and persons with disabilities pay around $9.25, home health care services pay a little over $9.00, and home health aide jobs offered by community care facilities for the elderly pay about $9.00 an hour.
Home health aides receive slight pay increases with experience and added responsibility. Usually, they are paid only for the time worked in the home, not for travel time between jobs, and must pay for their travel costs from their earnings. Most employers hire only on-call hourly workers and provide no benefits. Median hourly earnings of psychiatric aides are around $11.50. The middle fifty percent earn between $9.50 and $14.50 an hour. The lowest ten percent earn less than $8.00, and the highest ten percent earn more than $17.50 an hour. Median hourly earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of psychiatric aides are as follows: jobs offered by state governments pay close to $13.50, general medical and surgical hospitals jobs pay around $12.50, aides working in psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals make about $12.00 an hour, jobs in residential mental health and substance abuse facilities pay close to $10.00, and assistant jobs in residential mental retardation facilities pay close to $9.00 an hour.
Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides help people who need routine care or treatment. So do child care workers, licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, medical assistants, occupational therapist assistants and aides, personal and home care aides, physical therapist assistants and aides, radiation therapists, and registered nurses. Social and human service assistants, who sometimes work with mental health patients, do work similar to that of psychiatric aides. Information about employment opportunities may be obtained from local hospitals, nursing care facilities, home health care agencies, psychiatric facilities, State boards of nursing, and local offices of the State employment service. Information on licensing requirements for nursing and home health aides, and lists of State-approved nursing aide programs are available from State departments of public health, departments of occupational licensing, boards of nursing, and home care associations.