Skip to content
Boston Career Explorer

Healthcare Support

Nursing Assistants

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.

Also called: Certified Medication Aide (CMA), Certified Nurse Aide (CNA), Certified Nurses Aide (CNA), Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA), Nurses' Aide

Compare with my current job (Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers)
Median pay in Greater Boston
$47,590
$22.88/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
26,130
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+3.7%
5,690 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Postsecondary nondegree award

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$40,190$44,940$47,590$50,060$59,450

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Turn or reposition bedridden patients.
  • Answer patient call signals, signal lights, bells, or intercom systems to determine patients' needs.
  • Feed patients or assist patients to eat or drink.
  • Measure and record food and liquid intake or urinary and fecal output, reporting changes to medical or nursing staff.
  • Provide physical support to assist patients to perform daily living activities, such as getting out of bed, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, standing, walking, or exercising.
  • Document or otherwise report observations of patient behavior, complaints, or physical symptoms to nurses.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Lower exposure27 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 20
  • Language-model AIOE 33
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 29

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for this job is lower, and observed AI use is little or none. Tools might help a little with recording food and liquid intake and reporting changes. Turning patients, feeding, bathing, and answering call lights depend on a person being there.

Likely to change

  • Recording intake and output measurements
  • Reporting patient changes to nursing staff

Still relies on people

  • Turning and repositioning bedridden patients
  • Feeding, bathing, and helping patients walk

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

Related jobs that build on what you already do.

  • Massage Therapists

    Your hands-on patient care carries over. The move offers higher Boston median pay ($75,160) and 12.1% projected growth, with a postsecondary certificate.

    Pay difference
    +$27,570 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +12.1%
    To get started
    Postsecondary nondegree award

  • Surgical Technologists

    Your experience in clinical settings and attention to detail carry over. It offers much higher pay ($81,500), though projected growth is slower at 1.9%.

    Pay difference
    +$33,910 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +1.9%
    To get started
    Postsecondary nondegree award

  • Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors

    Helping people exercise and move with support carries over. It offers higher pay ($65,190), 14.0% projected growth, and short-term on-the-job training.

    Pay difference
    +$17,600 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +14.0%
    To get started
    High school diploma or equivalent

Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

2 programs near Boston

Related occupations

Talk to a career coach

A coach at the Office of Workforce Development can help you plan your next step, and connect you with training, apprenticeships and City partner programs that are not listed here.

Talk to a career coach