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Home Health Aide |
Career OverviewHome health aides work in private residences, usually under the instructions of doctors or nurses. They assist convalescent, disabled and elderly patients who live in their own homes. They provide such health related services as checking pulse rates, taking temperatures, checking respiration rates and administering oral medications. They might also be required to change non-sterile dressings, help with braces or artificial limbs, or give massages or alcohol rubs. Qualified home health aides might also assist with medical equipment such as ventilators.
In addition to these medical services, home health aides help patients with basic needs. They help people get in and out of bed, get dressed and undressed, and do such things as bathe, attend to personal grooming, and use the toilet. They might also help with exercises and other forms of therapy. They may be required to do certain domestic chores such as keeping the patient’s room clean. Home health aides keep records of their own services and of each patient’s condition, making note of any changes for medical staff.
Home health aides can work full time or part time. Hours vary because some patients require twenty-four hour care. The work can be both physically and emotionally demanding, and so requires physically fit and mentally stable people. Home health aides must often perform such unpleasant tasks as emptying and cleaning bedpans, and changing soiled bedding. However, many home health aides get tremendous satisfaction out of helping people in need.
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Career RequirementsPeople who have neither a high school diploma nor previous experience have been hired as home health aides. However, many employers require some training or experience.
Often, newly hired and inexperienced home health aides must complete at least seventy-five hours of training and then successfully complete a competency evaluation program. This is done within four months of their employment. High schools, community colleges and other vocational institutions offer training courses in personal care skills and such subjects as anatomy and nutrition.
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Job OutlookThere is always a need for tactful, patient, understanding and dependable home health aides. Many people are unwilling to do the tasks involved in this line of work, so the opportunities are there for those who are willing. As the population ages and financial pressures force hospitals to discharge patients as early as possible, the demand for home health aides will continue to increase.
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Career TrackThe home health aide has limited opportunities for advancement. If the worker wishes to enter other health related occupations, he or she will generally require formal training. However, experience as a home health aide can help an individual decide whether or not a career in health services is desirable.
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CompensationHome health aides earn between $8.00 and $9.00 an hour. Experience and additional responsibilities may result in a slight increase in pay. Home health aides are paid only for the time spent in the patients’ homes. They are not paid for travel time between patients’ homes. They are usually on-call hourly workers, and do not receive any benefits.
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