Healthcare Assistant Jobs in the US: Qualifications and How to Apply

You spend most of a shift at the bedside or in a patient's home. Typical tasks include helping people bathe, dress, eat and use the bathroom; repositioning and transferring patients with gait belts or mechanical lifts; taking and recording vital signs, weights, and intake and output; making beds; stocking supplies; answering call lights; and reporting changes in condition to the nurse in charge.

The tools are simple but constant: blood pressure cuffs and digital vitals monitors, glucometers in some settings, lifts and slide sheets, PPE, and a tablet or wall terminal for charting in the employer's electronic health record. You document throughout the shift, not at the end of it.

Hospitals and skilled nursing facilities usually run 8- or 12-hour shifts across days, evenings and nights, including weekends and holidays, often rotating. Home health and hospice agencies schedule by the hour or by the visit, so your day is a route between clients. None of it is remote: expect lifting, long periods standing and infection exposure, which is why employers screen immunisation and fitness-for-duty.

Titles matter here. CNA, home health aide, patient care technician and medical assistant are separate roles with different training and scope, and states label them differently — check yours before enrolling in anything. Live openings and next steps are further down this page.

These are the employer categories that hire healthcare assistants domestically:

• Hospitals and health systems — patient care technician, nursing assistant and ED tech roles, usually posted on their own careers portal.
• Skilled nursing and long-term care facilities — the largest source of CNA openings, often hiring year-round across all three shifts.
• Assisted living and memory care communities — resident assistant and care aide roles, sometimes with lighter certification rules depending on the state.
• Home health, private duty and hospice agencies — hourly or visit-based work in clients' homes; Medicare-certified agencies apply stricter aide training rules than private-pay ones.
• Per-diem and travel staffing agencies — short-term placements into facilities, usually wanting prior hands-on experience.
• App-based shift marketplaces — booking open shifts at nearby facilities, sometimes as a W-2 employee of the platform, sometimes as a contractor.
• Public sector employers — veterans' facilities, state hospitals, correctional health, school districts and county health departments, posting through government hiring systems.

Pace differs: facilities and agencies often move in days, public-sector employers in weeks or months. Start with the openings section at the end of this page.

Pay is nearly always hourly, and rates vary by state, metro area, setting and shift. Treat any figure you see online as out of date until you check it against a current source and note the release date.

Several states, including Colorado, California, New York and Washington, require pay ranges in job adverts, so the range is often in the posting itself. Benefits, guaranteed hours and tuition support can matter as much as base rate. Current openings are listed below.

1. Confirm your state's requirements. Check your state nurse aide registry or department of health for training hours, exam format and renewal rules for the title you want.
2. Complete a state-approved training programme. Choose one your state regulator lists as approved. Some long-term care employers sponsor training in exchange for a work commitment — read that agreement before signing.
3. Pass the competency exam and get on the registry. You are generally not employable as a certified aide until your entry shows as active and in good standing. Keep your certificate and registry number handy.
4. Assemble the compliance pack. Background check, TB test or chest X-ray, immunisation records, a current CPR/BLS card from a recognised provider, a fitness-for-duty form and government ID.
5. Sort your payment and tax paperwork. US employers will ask for Form W-4, Form I-9 and direct deposit details. If an agency offers 1099 contractor status instead of W-2, you handle your own withholding — check IRS resources or a tax professional first.
6. Build a one-page resume and profiles. Lead with certification, state and registry status, then skills (vitals, transfers, ADLs, charting), then caregiving experience paid or unpaid. Create profiles on major job boards and on the careers portals of nearby hospitals and senior-living operators, since many never post elsewhere.
7. Apply short and tailored. Include your certification number and expiry, the shifts you can genuinely work, how far you will travel, and three lines on why that setting interests you. Apply to several employers in the same week rather than waiting on one.

Once the pack is ready, go to the live listings at the end of this page.

• The employer is real and registered. Search your state's business registry or Secretary of State lookup for the legal name, and confirm facilities are licensed with the state health department.
• Everything is in writing. Base rate, differentials, guaranteed hours, overtime policy, start date, and whether the role is W-2 or 1099.
• How and when you are paid. Pay frequency, direct deposit setup, and any deductions for uniforms, badges, training repayment or agency fees. Question any deduction not mentioned at offer stage.
• No upfront fees. You should never pay a recruiter or employer to be placed. State exam and background check charges are different and usually paid to the testing body directly.
• Shift reality. Shift length, rotation, weekend and holiday expectations, mandatory overtime, on-call rules, and the time zone if your recruiter is elsewhere in the country.
• Assignment and orientation. How many patients or residents you will cover, how long paid orientation lasts, and who supervises you.
• Reviews and inspection history. Read current employee reviews on the main employer-review sites, and for nursing homes check the federal Medicare care-compare inspection records.
• Training repayment clauses. If the employer funded your certification, confirm what you owe and for how long if you leave.

Work through this list, then open the current vacancies below.

The listings below show healthcare assistant, nursing assistant and care aide vacancies currently advertised across US employers, filterable by state, setting and shift pattern to match what you are certified for. Use the guides alongside them for help with your resume, your state's certification route and interview preparation before you send the first application.