As soon as you move to medical care or public hospital, you come across nurse assistants or nurse aides. They are responsible for the primary care of patients. You might be wondering about their job roles alongside the salary of a nurse assistant in Australia. So, let's get a post that's all about a nurse Assistant, like what an assistant does and how much money a nurse assistant makes.

Who is a Nursing Assistant?

As the name explains it all, a nurse assistant works as an aide for a nurse. This job isn't straightforward as you have direct interaction with your patients. You need to have strong communication and interpersonal skills to excel in this career. 

 For getting a complete idea of this job role, please explore the details and responsibilities of a nurse aide.

Nursing Assistant Duties and Job Descriptions

They join the healthcare team and work under the supervision of registered nurses, vocational nurses, or licensed nurses. Their job role involves providing help and care with routine activities. 

• Cleaning and bathing patients
• Assisting patient while they use a toilet seat
• Helping patient in dressing up properly
• Applying wound dressing
• Transferring, repositioning, and turning patient from bed to wheelchairs, vice versa
• Listen to patients and keeping a full report of patient's health concerns
• Reporting health concern of patient to nurses
• Recording vital signs of patients such as body temperature and blood pressure
• Serving a daily meal to a patient and help them to eat
• Some nursing assistants may dispense medication if they are trained and allowed for it.

Many nursing assistants have to stay with patients in nursing and residential care facilities. Thereby they develop some relationships with patients because many patients stay in these facilities for a long time.

Please Check: Nurse Cover letter tips 

How to Become an Assistant in Nursing in Australia?

If you have an empathetic nature and have a caring heart, you can become a nursing assistant. You need to complete a degree in health assistance. The minimum qualification level is Certificate III. You will have to complete 120 hours of work placement training. This specific position doesn't require a bachelor's degree. However, an undergraduate nursing program may consider this career while studying.

Read: How to become a Freelance Writer

How much do Assistant Nurses Earn in Australia?

An assistant nurse usually gets paid per hour, and the average pay is $25. The average annual pay of nursing assistants in Australia is $48,000. At an entry-level position, they can earn almost $46,000, while an experienced person can get a salary of up to $71,000 per annum.

Work Schedule

In most cases, a nursing assistant works full time. However, some others work part-time. They get paid on an hourly basis. Therefore Australian health care facilities have flexible schedules for them.

5 Most Important Nursing Assistant Skills

If you want to get a job as a nursing assistant, you need to showcase the following skills.

1. Communication: You must be good at communication. It doesn't mean to speak and speak but also to listen up. It's common to spend half of your day listening to patients and saying nothing but keeping a record.  Please check Common nursing job interview questions.
2. Compassion: Another most essential skill you should have is an empathetic attitude. It would be best if you showed compassion and care to your patients. As you will be working as an aid, so be ready to have a helpful attitude so people can see that you are there to assist them.
3. Professionalism: Assistants often develop relationships with patients, but you need to follow strict professional guidelines. It means doing what's suitable for the patient. You can be friendly to them, but you have to keep your professional attitude intact.
4. Physical Stamina: You need to work all day with patients. Job roles require you to transfer patients from one place to another. Thereby you must be strong. A physically strong person can handle the recurring challenges involved with this job role.
5. Patience: Not every patient has a good temper; some have good manners while others are nerve-wreckers and challenging to handle. If you want to become a successful nursing assistant in Australia, you must have patience as your ultimate skill. You need to give a patient a bath, food, or change their dress, and these tasks are super easy unless you come across a difficult person.

Wrap up

You need to be a dedicated worker to become a successful nursing assistant. After getting the required qualification in healthcare, you must have to get on-job training to learn every basic and advanced aspect of this field. Working with patients is a way to know how to treat them and the specific challenges of this career. 

If you can take good care of patients and help them during your stay, it won't be difficult for you to become their favorite nurses. The more experience you get from the field, the better pay rate you can expect from a healthcare facility.