Home health aides monitor the health status of an individual with disabilities or illness and address their health-related needs, such as changing bandages, dressing wounds, or administering medication. Work is performed under the direction of offsite or intermittent onsite licensed nursing staff. Provide assistance with routine healthcare tasks or activities of daily living, such as feeding, bathing, toileting, or ambulation. May also help with tasks such as preparing meals, doing light housekeeping, and doing laundry depending on the patient's abilities.

  • 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.
  • Plan, purchase, prepare, or serve meals to patients or other family members, according to prescribed diets.
  • Check patients' pulse, temperature, and respiration.
  • Provide patients and families with emotional support and instruction in areas such as caring for infants, preparing healthy meals, living independently, or adapting to disability or illness.
  • Perform a variety of duties as requested by client, such as obtaining household supplies or running errands.
  • Direct patients in simple prescribed exercises or in the use of braces or artificial limbs.
  • Massage patients or apply preparations or treatments, such as liniment, alcohol rubs, or heat-lamp stimulation.
  • 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.
  • Care for children who are disabled or who have sick or disabled parents.
  • Accompany clients to doctors' offices or on other trips outside the home, providing transportation, assistance, and companionship.
  • Change dressings.
Work Context
  • Contact With Others — 78% responded "Constant contact with others".
  • Physical Proximity — 80% responded "Very close (near touching)".
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 52% responded "Extremely important".
  • Face-to-Face Discussions — 58% responded "Every day".
  • Work With Work Group or Team — 51% responded "Extremely important".
  • Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets — 66% responded "Every day".
  • Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 41% responded "Very important results".
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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.
  • Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
  • Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
  • Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
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Detailed Work Activities
  • Assist patients with daily activities.
  • Give medications or immunizations.
  • Assist patients with daily activities.
  • Maintain medical records.
  • Assist patients with daily activities.
  • Teach basic living or other adaptive skills to patients or caregivers.
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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.
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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 there is a problem.
Near Vision
  • The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
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Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Persistence
  • Initiative
  • Leadership
  • Cooperation
  • Concern for Others
  • Social Orientation
  • Self Control
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Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Presentation software
  • Microsoft PowerPoint Hot Technology
Object or component oriented development software
  • Python Hot Technology
Data base user interface and query software
  • Oracle software Hot Technology
  • Microsoft Access Hot Technology
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