Nursing Assistants

Median salary

$42,260

Average salary

$42,700

Employment

1,448,910

Projected growth

2.3% growth

Annual openings

204,100

Typical entry education

Postsecondary nondegree award

What Nursing Assistants Do

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.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None
Self-employed: 1.3%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 3 of 5

Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Experience: Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations.
Education: Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Job training: Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.9/5
Administration and Managementimportance 3.3/5
English Languageimportance 3.3/5
Public Safety and Securityimportance 3.2/5
Medicine and Dentistryimportance 3.1/5
Education and Trainingimportance 3.1/5
Therapy and Counselingimportance 3.0/5
Psychologyimportance 3.0/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

Contact With Others4.8/5
Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.7/5
Spend Time Walking or Running4.5/5
Importance of Being Exact or Accurate4.5/5
Spend Time Standing4.4/5
Health and Safety of Other Workers4.4/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Animal Caretakers96% skill match
Pharmacy Aides96% skill match
Phlebotomists95% skill match
Physical Therapist Aides95% skill match
Flight Attendants95% skill match
Passenger Attendants95% skill match
Registered Nurses95% skill match
Medical Assistants94% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

Service Orientationimportance 4.0/5
Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.6/5
Coordinationimportance 3.1/5
Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 2.9/5
Time Managementimportance 2.9/5
Complex Problem Solvingimportance 2.6/5
Instructingimportance 2.5/5
Operations Monitoringimportance 2.3/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Hot Technologies

Other Software Used

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

Empathy
Cooperation
Dependability
Optimism
Attention to Detail
Integrity
Social Orientation

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

SocialHigh
RealisticMedium
ConventionalMedium
InvestigativeLow
EnterprisingLow
ArtisticLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.