What is a Nurse Technician?

<h2 id="section---WhatIsANurseTechnician">What Is a Nurse Technician?</h2> <p>Nurse technicians, often called nurse's aides or nursing attendants, assist with the medical care of patients. These professionals work with licensed nurses to provide basic care to patients in hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and more. Effective technicians will be dependable and attentive to their patients with a high tolerance for the stresses of caring for the sick and injured. Most nurse technicians will have an associate's or bachelor's degree and are typically working towards licensing. </p> <p>Explore some basic information about this career in the table below. </p> <p /> <table border="1"><tr><td> <b>Degree Required</b> </td><td> Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) or Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)</td></tr> <tr><td> <b>Training Required</b> </td><td> Enrolled or completed a nursing program</td></tr> <tr><td> <b>Key Responsibilities</b> </td><td> Assist patients, collect bodily fluids, empty bedpans, change linens, clean rooms</td></tr> <tr><td> <b>Job Growth (2020-2030)</b> </td><td> 8%* (for nursing assistants)</td></tr> <tr><td> <b>Average Salary (2020)</b> </td><td> $32,050* (for nursing assistants)</td></tr> </table><p><i>Source: *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics</i> </p> <h3 id="section---WhatAreTheDutiesOfANurseTechnician">What Are the Duties of a Nurse Technician?</h3> <p>In a nurse technician position, you will primarily assist patients with basic personal care and mobility needs. These include bathing, personal grooming, standing up, and eating. You may also collect bodily fluids for lab tests, empty bedpans, change linens, and clean rooms. Depending on the limitations imposed by state laws, you might be given more advanced nursing tasks, such as monitoring ventilators and other life support equipment, drawing blood, checking vital signs, and keeping records of treatments. </p> <h3 id="section---WhereCanIWork">Where Can I Work?</h3> <p>You may work at nursing homes, hospitals, home health care services, assisted living facilities, and local governments and handle patients who require varying types of care. For example, you may work with patients who are recovering from a surgery and only need temporary help or you may work with patients who live in a nursing home and need long-term assistance. </p> <p>The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported, as of May 2020 around 1.4 million people worked as nursing assistants. From 2020-2030, employment was expected to increase 8% to about 1.4 million for nursing assistants. (<i>www.bls.gov</i>). </p> <h3 id="section---WhatCouldIExpectToEarn">What Could I Expect to Earn?</h3> <p>You could earn from $22,750-$42,110 based on reported 10th-90th percentile annual salaries of nursing assistants from the BLS, as of May 2020. November 2021 figures from <i>PayScale.com</i> for the same professionals in the 10th-90th percentiles show another estimated annual salary range of $20,000-$47,000. The <i>PayScale.com</i> figures include overtime and bonuses. </p> <h3 id="section---WhatEducationDoINeed">What Education Do I Need?</h3> <p>The general description of a nurse technician is a person who is currently enrolled in a nursing program or who has completed a nursing program, but has not been licensed as a nurse. The nursing program in which you are enrolled or have completed must be a program that would lead to licensing as a nurse. </p> <p>Completion of an Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) or Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program would allow you to meet the requirements to work as a nurse technician. In these programs, you will complete core courses in anatomy, mathematics, and communications. In addition, you may take courses in nursing theory, clinical data analysis, child development, and healthcare ethics. </p> <h3 id="section---WhatAreSomeRelatedCareers">What Are Some Related Careers?</h3> <p>Nurse technicians fulfill a similar role to a home health aide, caring for the chronically ill and disabled in their own homes to help them take care of basic needs. Personal care aides, as well, offer support and assistance to their clients to motivate them to interact with others in their communities. Medical assistants work in healthcare settings performing administrative tasks and helping doctors and nurses gather information on patients' conditions prior to being looked at by a medical professional.</p>