Healthcare Support · Holland code SRC
Nursing Assistants
Provide or assist with basic care or support under the direction of onsite licensed nursing staff. Perform duties such as monitoring of health status, feeding, bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, or ambulation of patients in a health or nursing facility. May include medication administration and other health-related tasks. Includes nursing care attendants, nursing aides, and nursing attendants.
Also called: Certified Nurses Aide (CNA), Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Nursing Assistant, Patient Care Assistant (PCA), Certified Medication Aide (CMA), Certified Nurse Aide (CNA), Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA), Nurses' Aide.
O*NET 31-1131.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $42,260
- Middle half earn $37,260 to $47,220. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 39% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 3 of 5
- Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Turn or reposition bedridden patients.
- Answer patient call signals, signal lights, bells, or intercom systems to determine patients' needs.
- Feed patients or assist patients to eat or drink.
- Position or hold patients in position for surgical preparation.
- Measure and record food and liquid intake or urinary and fecal output, reporting changes to medical or nursing staff.
- Provide physical support to assist patients to perform daily living activities, such as getting out of bed, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, standing, walking, or exercising.
- Document or otherwise report observations of patient behavior, complaints, or physical symptoms to nurses.
- Remind patients to take medications or nutritional supplements.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Active Listening3.6 / 5
- Monitoring3.3 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.1 / 5
- Speaking3.1 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.1 / 5
- Active Learning2.9 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service3.9 / 5
- Administration and Management3.3 / 5
- English Language3.3 / 5
- Public Safety and Security3.2 / 5
- Medicine and Dentistry3.1 / 5
- Education and Training3.1 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic60
- Investigative29
- Artistic0
- Social78
- Enterprising13
- Conventional54
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- nurse responsible for general care · DE Krankenpfleger Allgemeine Krankenpflege/Krankenschwester Allgemeine Krankenpflege · FR infirmier de soins généraux/infirmière de soins généraux
- specialist nurse · DE Fachkrankenpfleger/Fachkrankenschwester · FR infirmier spécialiste/infirmière spécialiste
- midwife · DE Hebamme/Entbindungspfleger · FR maïeuticien/sage-femme
- maternity support worker · DE Assistent in der Geburtshilfe/Assistentin in der Geburtshilfe · FR assistant en maternité/assistante en maternité
- community health worker · DE Sozialmedizinischer Assistent/Sozialmedizinische Assistentin · FR agent de santé communautaire/agente de santé communautaire
- doctors' surgery assistant · DE Medizinischer Fachangestellter/Medizinische Fachangestellte · FR assistant en cabinet médical/assistante en cabinet médical
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Registered community nurses (2232)70,400 employed
- Registered specialist nurses (2233)82,300 employed
- Registered nurse practitioners (2234)91,500 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Japan
Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “看護助手”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.
- Median monthly pay
- ¥215,700
- Middle half earn ¥193,400 to ¥247,000 a month.
- Workers in the category
- 108,620
- Regular employees in firms of ten or more.
Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Service and sales workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €32,957 |
| Sweden | €32,596 |
| Netherlands | €29,198 |
| Austria | €29,068 |
| Germany | €27,471 |
| Ireland | €26,978 |
| Italy | €24,995 |
| France | €24,971 |
| Spain | €18,303 |
| Portugal | €10,656 |
| Poland | €7,579 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
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