Home Health Aide (HHA) profession has become very attractive among young people due to the fact that they can easily enter the healthcare field without attending long education programs.
This career path is highly recommendable considering the chance of finding a stable job with a satisfactory salary.
Plus, an HHA is a person who is affecting the well-being of people who need assistance and help in their daily life, thus this profession is quite rewarding.
If you are wondering what the home health aide job duties are, we will offer you a description of it so that you can become familiar with responsibilities so as to determine whether taking this career path is the right choice for you.
As a future HHA, you need to know that you will have a large number of responsibilities, but your job will be to help people which will result in personal fulfillment and satisfaction.
So, those who need your personal care will be grateful to you.
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Home Health Aide Job Description Overview
As we have already mentioned, an HHA is in charge of personal, health-related care who usually worn in patient’s private homes.
The most frequent patients are individuals who are disabled, have a chronicle illness, or elders who need additional assistance with daily activities
The activities that an HHA may be required to do include the following:
- Eating
- Bathing and showering
- Dressing
- Grooming
- Elimination (using the toilet)
- Mobility
Additionally, if HHA works under the supervision of a medical professional, he/she is allowed to perform more advanced activities as instructed:
- Taking vital signs and record temperature, respiration, and pulse
- Bathing, brushing teeth, dressing, grooming, and other basic activities
- Providing transportation to doctor’s appointments and shopping
- Ensuring medications are taken properly, but only under the supervision
- Assisting when getting in and out of bed, chairs, helping to a standing position
- Preparing meals, as well as serving, and assisting with eating
- Changing bed sheets, washing dishes, sweeping floors, dusting shelves, emptying trash, cleaning bathrooms, washing and drying the laundry
- Providing companionship through conversations, playing games, reading books and newspapers to patients
- Reporting possible changes to nurse
Work Environment and Schedule
Even though HHAs are usually found working in the private homes of their patients, there are also those who are employed in small group homes.
In the majority of cases, an aide typically works for one patient, meaning that he/she takes care of the same private home every day.
Also, some of them go to multiple homes during the course of the day, so it is very significant that a Home health aide is flexible and has reliable transportation for getting to each client’s home in one single day.
Personal Qualifications and Skills
Having proper training and education can bring you better chances to find employment, but so as to remain employed and be successful as an HHA, you will need to possess some qualities which will enable you to perform your job well.
The characteristics of the best home health aide include the following:
- Mental and emotional maturity
- Sympathetic nature and desire to help those in need
- Strength and physical stamina as they need to lift heavy things and people, perform different physical activities, stand on feet for a long period of time
- Excellent communication skills, being that they will be speaking a lot
- Active listening skills – they need to have the patience to listen to other people’s problems.
- Be responsible and not take advantage of your client
- Caring for clients and their property
- Positive attitude and the ability to make someone who is feeling down or sad feel better and cheer up.
