The strain health care professionals like certified nursing assistants endure can be daunting. Recent findings from the University of Georgia indicate that assisting CNAs in pursuing career growth may help reduce their resignation rates.

As the demographic swells with elderly individuals requiring long-term care, the need for CNAs keeps escalating. However, the annual turnover rate among CNAs stands at approximately 27.7%, influenced by elements such as pressure and low wages.

This not only exacerbates the existing scarcity of health care personnel but could also leave the remaining CNAs, nurses, and physicians grappling to meet their patients’ demands.

To explore potential solutions, researchers from the UGA Institute of Gerontology and Institute for Disaster Management conducted a survey with over 200 CNAs regarding their job satisfaction, chances for advancement, professional contentment, and burnout levels.

“CNAs are the people who will spend the daily hours with older adults and those with disabilities—individuals who genuinely require long-term assistance. They truly possess the passion to engage in this field,” stated Anita Reina, the primary author of the research and a postdoctoral fellow in UGA’s Cognitive Aging Research and Education Center within the College of Public Health. “If we lose skilled professionals in these areas, we risk facing a generation of individuals who aren’t receiving the vital daily support they require.”

Opportunities for career advancement foster professional satisfaction and reduce burnout

The researchers aimed to investigate the connection between job contentment and burnout that might drive CNAs to leave their positions. They assessed the CNAs’ perceptions of career progression, measuring interest in continuing education initiatives and identifying the skills they wish to acquire for advancement.

The findings revealed that CNAs who had access to continuing education programs generally reported higher job satisfaction and lower burnout rates. However, merely about one in three CNAs were afforded such opportunities.

“CNAs expressed happiness about their jobs and the career paths they chose. What they were dissatisfied with was their advancement prospects,” Reina noted. “A limited number of the workplaces they were in provided any form of professional development.”

High interest in career progression but limited opportunities for certified nursing assistants

The overwhelming majority of CNAs showed enthusiasm for additional training programs. The foremost concern for them was enhancing well-being through self-care and prioritizing their mental health.

Many also expressed a desire to refine their healthcare skills and learn to navigate challenging patient interactions. Others were keen on discovering the health care domains accessible with a CNA certification and understanding how to negotiate their compensation.

“Health care programs can provide these types of job advancement opportunities, whether through continuing education within their own institutions or training individuals for leadership roles,” Reina explained. “Such opportunities could empower some CNAs to feel more heard.”

By establishing additional programs aimed at enhancing CNAs’ skills and well-being, the researchers aspire that this crucial workforce becomes more fulfilled and better equipped to offer the care and connection their patients deserve.

The study appeared in Gerontology & Geriatrics Education and was co-authored by Ashley N. Adawi Suker, Fiona Douglas, Kerstin Emerson, Ke’von T. Hamilton, Austin D. Dobbs, Curtis Harris, Jenay M. Beer, and Lisa M. Renzi-Hammond.

The article Enhancing the well-being of health care professionals was originally published on UGA Today.