In September 1985, the State Board for Vocational Education in Hawaii, in conformance with federal mandates, established technical committees to assess the entry-level employment requirements for a number of occupations. Drawing from an examination of relevant curriculum materials, the Statewide Technical Committee on Health Services developed an inventory of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that they believed were necessary for successful employment, retention, and advancement as a nurse's aide in Hawaii. The inventory was administered to 34 health professionals from Honolulu acute care hospitals, most of whom were, or had been, supervisors of nurses' aides. The respondents were asked to rate the importance of the various knowledge, skill, and attitude items as either"essential,""important,""desirable," or "not necessary." The resulting weighted inventory, which consisted of a total of 91 criteria grouped in 19 categories, allowed for identification of each item as either "top priority,""high priority,""priority," or "low priority." Highlights of the inventory included the following: (1) the individual criterion receiving the highest rating was "honesty," considered "essential" by 97% of respondents; (2) the category of "safety" had the highest aggregate rating; (3) over 90% of the respondents rated "skill at handling hazardous substances and 'sharps'" and "oxygen therapy" as "essential" skills; (4) over half of the "personal patient care" items, as well as many skills in the "knowledge" category (e.g., "measure pulse"; and "CPR") received "high priority" ratings; and (5) lowest ratings were given to the "life cycle knowledge" category. The weighted inventory is included. (PAA)