With demand growing for nursing aides, the Riverside College of Health Careers in Gloucester can be one way to break into a career in the medical field.

Sheila Rice, the college’s Practical Nursing and Nurse Aide Program Director, described “such a great need for nurse aides,” with Riverside Nurse Executive Jennifer H. Martin adding that they are “paramount to clinical care we provide.”

In the case of Riverside’s Sanders facility, where the Gloucester college courses are also taught, nurse aides help with a range of aspects of daily living.

This includes everything from bedside care and vital sign assessment to monitoring food and liquid intake and assisting with medical procedures.

In the context of a long-term care facility, nurse aides are “an integral part of the health care team” who help “maintain as much independence as possible” for patients, according to the college’s website.

According to Martin becoming a...