Home Health Aides

Caregiver
Certified Home Health Aide (CHHA)
Certified Medical Aide (CMA)
Certified Nurses Aide (CNA)
Home Attendant
Home Care Aide
Home Health Aide (HHA)
Home Health Provider
Hospice Aide
In Home Caregiver

What is a Home Health Aide?

Home Health Aides (HHAs) are essential healthcare professionals who assist individuals with activities of daily living in their own homes. They provide personalized care to patients, which often includes helping with bathing, dressing, grooming, meal preparation, and companionship. HHAs work under the supervision of registered nurses or licensed practical nurses, and they may also assist with basic medical tasks such as monitoring vital signs and administering medications as directed. The role of a Home Health Aide is particularly crucial for elderly individuals, patients recovering from surgery, or those with chronic illnesses who wish to maintain independence while receiving care in a comfortable environment. Home Health Aides contribute significantly to a patient's emotional well-being by offering support, companionship, and social interaction in addition to their caregiving tasks. This profession requires compassion, patience, and a strong desire to make a positive impact in people’s lives, as HHAs often become trusted confidants and integral parts of their clients' support systems.

Career Assessment
Career Assessment

Tasks

  • Maintain records of patient care, condition, progress, or problems to report and discuss observations with supervisor or case manager.
  • Provide patients with help moving in and out of beds, baths, wheelchairs, or automobiles and with dressing and grooming.
  • Bathe patients.
  • Care for patients by changing bed linens, washing and ironing laundry, cleaning, or assisting with their personal care.
  • Entertain, converse with, or read aloud to patients to keep them mentally healthy and alert.

Technology Skills

Tools Used

  • Therapeutic ice packs or pillows
  • Wheelchairs
  • Shower or bath chairs or seats for the physically challenged
  • Lower extremity prosthetic devices
  • Glucose monitors or meters

Knowledge

  • Customer and Personal Service

    Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

  • English Language

    Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills

  • Active Listening

    Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

  • Service Orientation

    Actively looking for ways to help people.

  • Social Perceptiveness

    Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

  • Critical Thinking

    Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

  • Monitoring

    Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities

  • Oral Expression

    The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

  • Oral Comprehension

    The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

  • Problem Sensitivity

    The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

  • Near Vision

    The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

  • Inductive Reasoning

    The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Education

How much education does a new hire need to perform a job in this occupation?

  • High school diploma or equivalent
    63 %

    or: GED, High School Equivalency Certificate

  • Post-secondary certificate
    21 %

    Awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in Personnel Services, Engineering-related Technologies, Vocational Home Economics, Construction Trades, Mechanics and Repairers, Precision Production Trades)

  • Associate's degree
    9 %

Work Activities

  • Assisting and Caring for Others

    Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.

  • Getting Information

    Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

    Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.

  • Documenting/Recording Information

    Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events

    Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

Detailed Work Activities

  • Maintain medical records.
  • Assist patients with daily activities.
  • Give medications or immunizations.
  • Engage patients in exercises or activities.
  • Feed patients.

Work Interests

  • Social

    Work involves helping, teaching, advising, assisting, or providing service to others. Social occupations are often associated with social, health care, personal service, teaching/education, or religious activities.

  • Realistic

    Work involves designing, building, or repairing of equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors. Realistic occupations are often associated with engineering, mechanics and electronics, construction, woodworking, transportation, machine operation, agriculture, animal services, physical or manual labor, athletics, or protective services.

  • Conventional

    Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.

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Job Outlook

Projected salary and job growth

$23910.0 - $42450.0

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years and will have large numbers of openings.

Assessment

Related assessments and tests

No assessment available.