How to become an assistant in nursing

An assistant in nursing is a job that can see you working across the entire healthcare industry. 

It is also the first step to becoming a fully qualified nurse (if that’s your goal).

With the health care industry growing rapidly to look after Australia’s ageing and growing population, it is also a job that’s in high demand.

Keep reading to find out how to become an assistant in nursing and whether it’s the job for you.

An assistant in nursing (also known as AIN or nursing assistant) works with other nursing staff to care for patients in a wide range of health care facilities.

As an assistant nurse, you will be generally supervised by a more qualified nurse when performing some medical tasks.

However, you will mostly be working with other assistant nurses as part of a care team.

Your daily tasks could include but are not limited to:

• Tending to patients’ personal care needs such as hygiene, dressing, and eating.

• Observing and recording patients’ health conditions.

• Assisting with therapy plans for behaviour or physical rehabilitation.

• Maintaining patient records.

• Assisting the nursing team in setting up for medical procedures.

• Helping patients to communicate and be active.

A job in nursing means a lot of your day will revolve around caring for people. So one of the most important skills for nurses is of course having a caring and empathetic nature!

But just being a caring person isn’t all you need.

Nursing can be a dynamic and challenging profession so being adaptable and quick-thinking are both traits that will make you more successful as an assistant nurse.

You will also need to have attention to detail and good observational skills to notice subtle changes in behaviours which could be important signs of declining health

It is also important to be able to communicate well, not just with your team but with your patients as well.

Being able to develop relationships with patients is very important for them to feel comfortable enough with you to be honest about their condition.

Nursing assistant jobs as well as higher qualified nurses are in strong demand all over Australia. This demand does not seem to be slowing down either!

You can find jobs within aged care facilities, hospitals, day surgeries and GPs offices or working out in the community.

Nursing roles can also be very flexible with 24 hr rosters. So, if 9 -5 doesn’t quite suit you, you have a lot of other options that offer a better work-life balance.

The first step to becoming a nursing assistant is to get qualified. The CHC33015 Certificate III in Individual Support will give you the knowledge and confidence to get a job in the field.

Most states and territories offer some sort of guarantee for those with no prior training to receive a subsidised, or in some cases, completely free certificate III.

It is best to speak to your consultant to see if that applies to your situation.

Depending on the role and business some jobs will allow you to start work while you are studying for your certificate so you can start earning right away!

A nursing assistant can be a truly rewarding and fulfilling occupation.

For those that enjoy the role, there are also opportunities to travel to rural and remote areas of Australia and you can earn a respectable wage with more experience.

Generally, you would do further study to become a more qualified nurse to unlock more of these opportunities.

Like most industries, you could also one day move into supervisory or management roles depending on where you work as a nurse assistant.

Are you interested in a career in nursing?