What Does A Home Health Aide Do?

Home health aides are similar to nursing aides: they provide patients with hands-on care under the supervision of a medical staff

. The essential difference is that they help patients--who are usually convalescent, disabled, or elderly--remain in their own homes rather than stay at a health care facility. Often these patients need more extensive care than can be provided by their families.

In cases like these, the aide may visit the same patient for several months or even years. Other times, however, the patient will have short-term needs; consequently, the aide will work with many different patients for varying lengths of time. It is not uncommon for a home health aide to visit multiple patients in a single day.

As part of an agency that has undergone home health accreditation, a home health aide has been trained, usually on the job, by registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, or experienced aides to perform patient-care duties. Many aides have also taken competency tests, as stipulated by federal law for agencies receiving reimbursement from Medicare. The National Association for Home Care and Hospice provides voluntary certification for home health aides, while some states actually require aides to have a license.

With this training, aides care for patients by administering oral medications, checking temperature and pulse and respiration rates, and helping the infirm with their daily routines of dressing, grooming, bathing, and going to bed. Sometimes aides will also be required to change bandages, assist with skin care, and help with braces or artificial limbs. The home health agency assigns specific tasks to the aide; this is usually done by a registered nurse or physical therapist.

As the supervisor only checks on the patient periodically, the aide keeps track of his or her services and of the patient's condition. The aide then reports this information back to the supervisor. As such, an aide's work is largely independent, and he or she is responsible for his or her transportation to a patient's home.

An aide's work is tiring. Aides are always on their feet and often perform heavy lifting. Many of their tasks are generally viewed as unpleasant: emptying bedpans, changing soiled sheets, dressing wounds, etc. The work is also emotionally draining, especially when they have disoriented or uncooperative patients. Full-time aides generally put in 40 hours a week, but the nature of the job requires that they often work nights, weekends, and holidays in order to give patients the care they need. Still, most aides find the opportunity to help others to be a rewarding occupation.

by: Art Gib

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