Summary for:
Home Health Aides
Description:
Provide routine, personal healthcare, such as bathing, dressing, or grooming, to elderly, convalescent, or disabled persons in the home of patients or in a residential care facility.
Sample of reported job titles:
Sample of reported job titles: Home Health Aide (HHA), Residential Counselor, Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Home Health Provider, Habilitation Training Specialist, Caregiver, Direct Support Person, Personal Care Attendant, Residential Assistant (RA)
Tasks:
- 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.
- 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.
- Change bed linens, wash and iron patients' laundry, and clean patients' quarters.
- 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.
- Direct patients in simple prescribed exercises or in the use of braces or artificial limbs.
- Check patients' pulse, temperature and respiration.
- Change dressings.
- Perform a variety of duties as requested by client, such as obtaining household supplies or running errands.
Knowledge:
| Customer and Personal Service ó 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 ó 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 ó 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. |
| Reading Comprehension ó Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents. |
| Writing ó Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. |
| Coordination ó Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions. |
| Service Orientation ó Actively looking for ways to help people. |
| Social Perceptiveness ó Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do. |
| Monitoring ó Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. |
| Instructing ó Teaching others how to do something. |
| Speaking ó Talking to others to convey information effectively. |
Abilities:
| Oral Comprehension ó The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. |
| Oral Expression ó The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. |
| Problem Sensitivity ó 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. |
| Speech Recognition ó The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person. |
| Speech Clarity ó The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you. |
| Near Vision ó The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer). |
| Inductive Reasoning ó The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events). |
| Information Ordering ó The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations). |
| Static Strength ó The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects. |
| Written Comprehension ó The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. |
Work Activities:
| Assisting and Caring for Others ó Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients. |
| Getting Information ó Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. |
| Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates ó Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. |
| identifying Objects, Actions, and Events ó identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events. |
| Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships ó Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time. |
| Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings ó Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems. |
| Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others ó Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others. |
| Making Decisions and Solving Problems ó Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. |
| Documenting/Recording Information ó Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form. |
| Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work ó Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. |
Work Experience:
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience may be helpful in these occupations, but usually is not needed. For example, a teller might benefit from experience working directly with the public, but an inexperienced person could still learn to be a teller with little difficulty.
Work Examples:
These occupations often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include sheet metal workers, forest fire fighters, customer service representatives, pharmacy technicians, salespersons (retail), and tellers.
Education Requirements:
These occupations usually require a high school diploma and may require some vocational training or job-related course work. In some cases, an associate's or bachelor's degree could be needed.
Work Style:
| Dependability ó Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations. |
| Adaptability/Flexibility ó Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace. |
| Integrity ó Job requires being honest and ethical. |
| Attention to Detail ó Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks. |
| Self Control ó Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations. |
| Stress Tolerance ó Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations. |
| Concern for Others ó Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job. |
| Cooperation ó Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude. |
| Independence ó Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done. |
| Achievement/Effort ó Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks. |
Work Values:
| Relationships ó Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service. |
| Support ó Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical. |
| Independence ó Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employs to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy. |
Median Wage 2008:
$9.84 hourly, $20,460 annual
Estimated Employment Total 2008:
787,000 employees
Projected Growth 2008:
Much faster than average (21% or higher)
Projected Need 2008:
454,000 additional employees
