How To Become A Home Health Aide
Home health aides (HHA) are gaining ground in the home care field as demand increases. They are compassionate individuals who devote their professional time to caring for older people, people with disabilities, those suffering from chronic illnesses, and people who have cognitive/memory challenges.
A home health aide provides continuous care to clients by helping them manage their daily living needs. They typically conduct care services in a client’s home, assisted living facility, or skilled nursing facility. A specific level of education, training, and certification is required to become a home health aide. Are you interested in a career as a home health aide? Continue reading to learn more.
Education and Training
Knowing basic safety techniques and other requirements are a must when caring for clients. A post-secondary non-degree program from a vocational school or community college is necessary to become a home health aide. In Central and South Jersey, there are several CHHA training programs from which to choose.
Many people may believe that becoming a home health aide is “easy” since they are already familiar with most duties at home. However, that's not the entire scope of the profession. You'll need appropriate training on how to correctly bathe a person, how to safely transfer and use mechanical lifts, how to care for the mouth and skin, how to provide care for incontinence, and more.
Training is done under a nurse's supervision. A GED or high school diploma as an entry-level home health aide may not be required, but to work for a home care agency or facility in NJ, you must have become certified as a home health aide.
Certification
It is essential to equip yourself with the right skill set to set you apart from other candidates; in New Jersey, all home health aides must become certified. Most community colleges offer their own certifications regarding home health aides.
Courses range between 60–120 hours of classroom/online training combined with clinical skills training. The certification exam comes at the end of your training, where you’ll be tested on what you’ve learned through practical and written exams. It may take a full day to demonstrate various duties performed on clients.
What Do Home Health Aides Do?
As a CHHA, your duties will vary depending on each client's needs. With the wide range of clients' needs, it becomes challenging to have a one-size-fits-all job description for CHHAs. However, the main objective is to help clients live independently—these are key responsibilities and duties.
Personal Care
Many seniors struggle to maintain their independence, and of those needing care, most people prefer to live in their own homes as they age. Older people may need assistance with their daily activities such as bathing, dressing, bathroom assistance, personal grooming, mobility assistance, meal preparation, and other unique personal care services depending on the client's needs.
Another personal care service is medication reminders. Many seniors can easily forget about their medicines or fail to take them when needed. A home health aide ensures that clients take their medication.
Housekeeping
It's critical to maintain a clean environment for clients. As people age, it gets more difficult to do usual housekeeping chores such as vacuuming, dusting, doing laundry, sterilizing the bathroom, doing dishes, changing bed linens, and other house cleaning tasks. The CHHA ensures the client lives in in a clean, safe environment by taking over or assisting a client with these activities. Duties vary based on each client; some may have another service or family member to help with these tasks.
Companionship
It’s a cliché, but people need people! Companionship can help brighten anyone’s day, especially a lonely senior. Certain personality traits are helpful in becoming an excellent companion for an elder person. Aside from the physical duties required, you'll also create social relationships with your clients.
Working as a home health aide requires compassion, patience, kindness, and a calm personality. These traits go a long way in making clients feel heard and cared for. It’s rewarding to have a sense of fulfillment knowing you brightened someone else's day.
Other services under the home health aide's umbrella include:
- Engaging clients in physical and mental exercises to keep them alert
- Accompanying clients to appointments and doctor visits
- Shopping for groceries or other errands
- Monitoring and documenting a client’s condition
Benefits of Working for an Accredited Home Care Agency
An accredited in-home care company provides home health aide services to clients in need. These services can be on an intermittent, part-time or on a long-term basis. The agency guides clients to determine the level of service they need before providing the relevant solutions. Home care companies obtain referrals from hospital discharge planners, social workers, physicians, online reviews, broadcast media, and word of mouth.
- An accredited home care agency provides higher standards of care. They must comply with state regulations by ensuring extensive supervision of their home health aides by certified nurses.
- A home care agency may provide care on an intermittent basis, making it easier to handle clients' impromptu services.
- When dealing with CHHA professionals from an accredited home care agency, clients don’t have to worry about employees’ backgrounds since employees go through government-certified training programs, after which they are thoroughly screened for any legalities.
- An accredited home care agency requires CHHAs to be supervised by an RN in order to consistently deliver high-quality services to clients.
Home Health Aide Outlook: Today and Beyond
The home health aide job outlook will continue to expand as the baby boom generation ages. Having the proper education, training, and certification helps you check all the boxes of becoming the ideal candidate for a job field that’s wide open with opportunity. You'll get a sense of fulfillment helping others live a more independent life.
Pursuing a career as a home health aide can open doors to other opportunities in the health care sector. CHHAs who wish to advance their career may further their education by working to become a CNA, LPN, or RN.
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Visiting Angels of Mercer and Burlington County provides professional senior care services in Central and South Jersey. We take our work seriously by hiring the top candidates to offer the best services for our clients. Our staff is dedicated to helping clients live their lives. Contact us for more details about our home care services.