Welcome to the world of nursing assistants. Nursing assistants are a vital link between patients, nurses and doctors. They provide patient care under the direct supervision of physicians, registered nurses and other licensed healthcare professionals.

The scope of practice for nursing assistants (NA) varies from state to state but in general NAs are responsible for assisting patients with daily living activities such as bathing, grooming, dressing and feeding. These duties are performed in accordance with established policies and procedures that have been approved by the healthcare facility administration or governing body. They also provide basic first aid treatment if needed; however they will not perform any invasive procedures such as administering injections or taking blood samples without specific training provided by a nurse or physician assistant

Mosby’S Textbook For Nursing Assistants

1. Personal Care Skills

Personal care is an important part of the nursing assistant role. Personal care focuses on basic hygiene and comfort for patients, including bathing and keeping patients clean, as well as changing bandages, dressing wounds, and helping patients use the bathroom.

In addition to basic hygiene practices like toileting assistance (washing and cleaning oneself after using the toilet), personal care also includes assisting with dressing changes; shaving or trimming hair; applying makeup or nail polish; brushing teeth; practicing mouth care (cleaning teeth); using dentures/false teeth; taking pills at bedtime or during meals.

It’s important to know what’s expected of you before carrying out any personal care tasks. For example: if a patient has diabetes, they may require insulin injections on a regular basis—assisting with these injections would be considered part of your duty as a nursing assistant in this case.

2. Bedmaking

Bedmaking is the process of making a patient’s bed.

To make sure your patients’ beds are properly made, you should follow these steps:

• Remove any soiled sheets and wash them or change them as necessary.
• Make the bed with clean linens, ensuring that they are wrinkle-free and fresh smelling.
• Make sure the mattress is clean and dry before putting on fresh linens; otherwise, mold can form in humid conditions. This may cause skin irritation to those who sleep on it regularly (and even to visitors). If you notice that there are stains on your patient’s mattress or box springs, notify housekeeping staff as soon as possible so they can be cleaned professionally while avoiding any potential allergies caused by dust mites or mold growth inside these items

3. Restorative Care Skills

Restorative Care Skills

You will learn how to help patients who need assistance with dressing, toileting, positioning, and transfer. You will also learn how to change bed linens and assess skin integrity. The following topics are covered:

• Dressing
• Positioning
• Transferring
• Toileting
• Skin care (including bathing)

4. Patient Mobility

In order to help you prevent injuries, skin breakdown and immobility, you will need to assess the patient’s mobility. You will then be able to assist them in moving through the following activities:

• Transfer from bed or chair (to toilet)
• Ambulate in the room (with assistance)
• Ambulate outside of room with assistance

5. Vital Signs

Vital signs are the physical characteristics of a person’s condition, such as temperature, respiratory rate and blood pressure. The nurse or aide performs vital signs to assess the overall health status of his/her patients.

• Temperature: 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees C) or lower
• Respirations: less than 24 breaths per minute for adults; more than 30 breaths per minute for children
• Blood Pressure: Systolic greater than 90 mm Hg and diastolic less than 60 mm Hg; systolic greater than 140 mm Hg and diastolic greater than 90 mm Hg with an irregular pulse

The values listed above can be used as a quick reference guide when taking each patient’s vital signs. However, it is important to remember that people may have different normal ranges depending on their age group because every body functions differently from one individual to another. It is also important not only to look at what the numbers mean but also why they have changed since their last visit with you so that appropriate action can be taken if needed before returning home from work (or school).

5. EKG/Cardiac Monitoring

An electrocardiograph, or EKG, is a test used to measure the electrical activity of the heart. It documents information about your heart rate and rhythm. An EKG should be done when you have chest pain or other symptoms that could indicate a condition affecting your heart.

The procedure involves placing small stickers (electrodes) on your chest, arms and legs to detect electrical impulses from each area as they travel through your body. Your blood pressure will also be measured at this time so doctors can determine whether there’s enough oxygen getting into your lungs for proper circulation throughout the rest of your body.

If an abnormal heartbeat is detected during this test, further testing may be needed before a diagnosis can be made about what caused it:

6. Infection Control

Infection control is one of the most important concepts that nursing assistants must understand. Infection control is the prevention and control of transmission of infectious agents from one person or animal to another. It also includes procedures for handling contaminated items, such as surgical equipment and used needles, in a manner that protects personnel from exposure.

Infection Control Precautions

Hands should be washed frequently with warm running water and soap or an alcohol-based hand disinfectant agent (such as chlorhexidine gluconate) before and after each direct patient contact activity; when hands are visibly soiled; any time gloves are removed; after touching body fluids or excretions, mucous membranes, nonintact skin surfaces, contaminated items, animals (living or dead), or food utensils; if caring for someone who has been vomiting recently; upon returning to work after coughing severely into your elbow—you can spread disease agents by doing this repeatedly in close proximity to other people’s faces! If you have symptoms of respiratory tract infection such as runny nose/nasal congestion/coughing ____times per day over ____days then it is imperative that you wear surgical mask while working until all symptoms resolve completely before returning back again with normal face mask usage again during work hours.”

7. Complications of Illness and Treatment

• Infection:

Most infections are caused by bacteria. Other types of germs can also cause infection, but are less common. Bacteria live in the body and on the skin, and enter the bloodstream when a person is exposed to them. It is important to understand how an infection happens so that you can take steps to prevent it or treat it quickly if it occurs.

• Pneumonia:

Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi (yeast), or parasites (worms). It may be mild with only flu-like symptoms or severe enough to require hospitalization and intensive care treatment with antibiotics along with oxygen therapy if respiratory failure occurs as well

8. This book will help nursing assistants learn their skills.

Mosby’s Textbook for Nursing Assistants is a comprehensive resource that will help you learn your tasks. This book covers many topics, including safety and infection control, communication skills, medical knowledge, documentation methods and procedures. The text is easy to read, contains many pictures and diagrams to support the information presented in each chapter. It also provides a great reference tool for nursing assistants who want to learn more about their role in healthcare settings.