What is a Home Health Aide?
Job Description: Provide routine individualized healthcare such as changing bandages and dressing wounds, and applying topical medications to the elderly, convalescents, or persons with disabilities at the patient’s home or in a care facility. Monitor or report changes in health status. May also provide personal care such as bathing, dressing, and grooming of patient.
A Day in the Life of a Home Health Aide
- Accompany clients to doctors’ offices or on other trips outside the home, providing transportation, assistance, and companionship.
- Provide patients with help moving in and out of beds, baths, wheelchairs, or automobiles and with dressing and grooming.
- Plan, purchase, prepare, or serve meals to patients or other family members, according to prescribed diets.
- Check patients’ pulse, temperature, and respiration.
- Perform a variety of duties as requested by client, such as obtaining household supplies or running errands.
- Administer prescribed oral medications, under the written direction of physician or as directed by home care nurse or aide, and ensure patients take their medicine.
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What a Home Health Aide Should Know
When polled, Home Health Aides say the following skills are most frequently used in their jobs:
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.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Other Home Health Aide Job Titles
- Health Support Specialist (HSS)
- Residential Counselor
- Health Service Worker
- Home Health Aid
- Caregiver
Job Outlook for Home Health Aides
In the United States, there were 911,500 jobs for Home Health Aide in 2016. New jobs are being produced at a rate of 47.3% which is above the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 431,200 new jobs for Home Health Aide by 2026. Due to new job openings and attrition, there will be an average of 168,600 job openings in this field each year.
The states with the most job growth for Home Health Aide are Arizona, District of Columbia, and New York. Watch out if you plan on working in Maine, South Dakota, or North Carolina. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.
Do Home Health Aides Make A Lot Of Money?
The salary for Home Health Aides ranges between about $19,060 and $32,180 a year.
Home Health Aides who work in North Dakota, Rhode Island, or Massachusetts, make the highest salaries.
How much do Home Health Aides make in different U.S. states?
| State | Annual Mean Salary |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $20,780 |
| Alaska | $29,890 |
| Arizona | $25,470 |
| Arkansas | $23,070 |
| California | $33,680 |
| Colorado | $26,980 |
| Connecticut | $28,240 |
| Delaware | $29,560 |
| District of Columbia | $29,290 |
| Florida | $24,280 |
| Georgia | $23,140 |
| Hawaii | $27,620 |
| Idaho | $25,150 |
| Illinois | $25,370 |
| Indiana | $23,960 |
| Iowa | $30,320 |
| Kansas | $24,560 |
| Kentucky | $24,460 |
| Louisiana | $21,080 |
| Maine | $27,380 |
| Maryland | $27,540 |
| Massachusetts | $30,830 |
| Michigan | $24,770 |
| Minnesota | $28,940 |
| Mississippi | $22,580 |
| Missouri | $25,080 |
| Montana | $25,940 |
| Nebraska | $24,380 |
| Nevada | $35,450 |
| New Hampshire | $29,140 |
| New Jersey | $24,450 |
| New Mexico | $23,080 |
| New York | $26,240 |
| North Carolina | $21,120 |
| North Dakota | $34,100 |
| Ohio | $22,570 |
| Oklahoma | $23,380 |
| Oregon | $26,450 |
| Pennsylvania | $25,310 |
| Rhode Island | $32,440 |
| South Carolina | $21,810 |
| South Dakota | $29,820 |
| Tennessee | $22,620 |
| Texas | $21,910 |
| Utah | $26,580 |
| Vermont | $28,110 |
| Virginia | $23,440 |
| Washington | $30,100 |
| West Virginia | $23,120 |
| Wisconsin | $25,330 |
| Wyoming | $28,060 |
What Tools do Home Health Aides Use?
Below is a list of the types of tools and technologies that Home Health Aides may use on a daily basis:
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Outlook
- Web browser software
- Python
- Microsoft Access
- Word processing software
- Microsoft Windows
- Microsoft SharePoint
- Linux
- UNIX
- Oracle software
- Enterprise resource planning ERP software
- Salesforce software
- SAP software
How do I Become a Home Health Aide?
What education or degrees do I need to become a Home Health Aide?
How many years of work experience do I need?
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References:
Image Credit: Sgt. Courtney Richardson, 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs via Public domain
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