Are you curious about a career as a home health and personal care aide in the United States of America? Now you can learn what Home Health and Personal Care Aides do, the work environment, how to become one, salary, and job outlook.
In contrast to other careers that provide healthcare services at hospitals and nursing homes, Home Health and Personal Care Aides provide healthcare services at the home setting to people with chronic or acute conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, cancer, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and orthopedic injuries. Home health and personal care aides work under the supervision of a Registered Nurse (RN) and a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN).
Home health and personal care aides can work alone or they can be paired with another HHA to work on an individual case basis. The duties of a home health aide can include bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting, feeding, grooming, and medication administration.
The scope of practice for a Home Health and Personal Care Aide is usually determined by state law and local regulations. A Home Health and Personal Care Aide will need to be trained to perform a number of specialized skills, including lifting patients in different positions, administering injections, monitoring vital signs, and providing skilled nursing care. The number of hours that a Home Health and Personal Care Aide works is dependent upon the individual’s needs. Home Health and Personal Care Aides can work either a full time or part time schedule. In some states, Home Health and Personal Care Aides are paid hourly or on a per diem basis.
Home Health and Personal Care aides need the following skills:
- Physical assessment and diagnosis of conditions
- Provide treatments and therapies
- Assess physical function
- Assist with activities of daily living
- Administer medications
- Monitor and evaluate health status and care needs
- Prepare and administer meals
- Observe and report abnormal conditions
- Plan and coordinate care
- Evaluate, record, and communicate client progress and care plans
Home health and personal care aides may also be required to have certain education or certifications. For example, the National Council on Home Care requires a certificate in Gerontology, as well as training in medication administration, patient handling, and personal hygiene and grooming. The certification is also linked to a state license and is renewed every two years. In addition, a Home Health and Personal Care Aide must complete a 40-hour course in home health and personal care to be eligible to apply for a job.
Additional skills needed by Home Health and Personal Care Aides include:
Basic Nursing Skills, such as taking a patient’s temperature, pulse, and blood pressure; performing assessments to determine the patient’s condition; identifying pain; administering medications; changing dressings; and positioning.
Skilled Nursing Skills, such as applying casts and splints; administering injections; giving vaccinations; monitoring vital signs; and preparing nutritional supplements.
Home Health and Personal Care Aides may also be required to take CPR training.
Work Environment
Home health and personal care aides are required to work in a healthcare setting and have regular contact with patients. Home health and personal care aides work in a variety of settings, including at home, community centers, health fairs, health maintenance organizations, hospital outpatient clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies, private physician offices, rehabilitation facilities, schools, and residential care facilities.
You are strongly encouraged to watch both videos about home health and personal care aides below, take good notes, and then visit the comments section below and share your thoughts and your knowledge on home health and personal care aides in the United States of America.
I’m happy to be among those who are following ur programme it is lovely, and I’ve enjoyed it,and I dream to work in that field precisely in america , I’ve studying for many years medical science . So I hope to hear you very soon
Thank you, Abdoulaye. I encourage you to watch the videos which will help you understand these careers better and help improve your English comprehension.
Hello , Hind from Iraq ,home health and personal care aides monitor the condition of people with disabilities or chronic illness and help them with daily living activity .
There are many work environment with this jobs (client home , group home’s )with full time or common work.
Qualification is high school diploma or equivalent with certified home health or hospice agencies .
Median annual wage is good.
Jobe outlooks is overall ployment.
Hello , Hind from Iraq ,home health and personal care aides monitor the condition of people with disabilities or chronic illness and help them with daily living activity .
There are many work environment with this jobs (client home , group home’s )with full time or common work.
Qualification is high school diploma or equivalent with certified home health or hospice agencies .
Median annual wage is good.
Jobe outlooks is overall employment.
I hope every personal care must services with humanity.
Greetings Maestro Sersea
Home health and personal care aides monitor the condition of people with disabilities or chronic illnesses and help them with daily living activities. They often help older adults who need assistance. Under the direction of a nurse or other healtcare practitioner home health aides may be allowed to give a client medication or to check the client´s vital signs. Personal care aides sometimes called caregiver or personal attendant are general limited to provide nonmedical services, including companionship, cleaning, cooking and driving. Some of this aides work specifically with people who have developmental or intellectual disabilities to help create a behaviour plan and teach selfcare skills, such as laundry or cooking meals. Home health and personal care aides held about 3.6 million jobs in 2021. Work as a home health or personal care aides can be physically and emotionally demanding. Because they often move clients into and out of bed or help with standing or walking, aids must use proper lifting techniques to guard against back injury.
The median annual wage for home health and personal care aides was $29,430 in May 2021. Employment of home health and personal care aides is projected to grow 25 percent from 2021 to 2031 much faster than the average for all occupations.
About 711,700 openings for home health and personal care aides are projected each year, on average over the decade many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to diffent occupations or exit the labor force such as to retire.
The sercives that home health and personal care aides provides will be in high demand to care for the rising number of older people.
The location in which care is offered are afected by both policy changes and lifestyle preferences of older adults and people with disabilities. Long term care services are increasingly shifting from institutional settings, such as nursing homes to home and community base settings. This shift is expected to create new jobs for home health and personal care aides.
Thank you so much