What Are the Requirements to Become a Nurse Technician?
- Nurse technicians are classified as nurse assistants or aides because they are responsible for performing basic patient care under the direction of nurses, such as bathing, dressing and eating. However, they are called "technicians" because nurses entrust them with more advanced duties such as administering medication or performing electrocardiograms to measure electrical activity in patients' hearts. Receiving formal training and certification as a nurse technician increases your chances for entering the field.
- In the United States, nurse assistants are required to complete a minimum of 75 hours in formal training, as well as pass a competency evaluation. To this end, community colleges, technical and high schools, and hospitals provide certificate/diploma programs, which can last from six months to a year. Coursework usually involves subject areas such as anatomy and physiology, communication skills, and patient care. Students will also have to do some clinical coursework to gain some hands-on experience.
- After completion of a certificate/diploma nurse assistant program, graduates can choose to get certification. This is voluntary. State nursing boards do not regulate nurse assistant certification, but employers prefer hiring people with credentials because they denote adherence to a set of standards expected in the health care industry. The National Healthcareer Association (NHA), a national professional certification agency for more than 10 types of health care professionals in the U.S., offers a credential for nursing technicians that costs $149, as of July 2010, earned by passing an exam. To retain certification, the NHA offers an annual five-credit continuing education program.
- Upon certification, nursing technicians can expect to be employed in a variety of workplaces. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics--a unit of the Department of Labor that specializes in labor statistical data--reports that almost 50 percent of nurse assistants worked in nursing care facilities in 2009. However, other employers include hospitals, home health care centers and community care centers for the elderly.
According to CB Salary--a salary calculator by the employment website CareerBuilder.com--the median salary for nursing technicians is around $27,000 as of July 2010, with the bottom 25 percent making around $22,000 and the top 25 percent making around $37,000. Even with employment, nurse technicians are the recipients of on-the-job training that may include lectures and workshops, and they will have to take continuing education credits for NHA recertification to keep up with changes and updates in the health care industry.