For someone who enjoys helping people, a career as a personal or home care aide may be a perfect fit. A home care aide provides ongoing support to individuals who are able to live at home but not well enough to live at home without help. A home care aide may provide personal help, such as bathing, dressing, cooking or housework, or she may provide minor medical help, such as dispensing medication, taking vital signs or giving injections.
Home health agencies have different requirements for home care aides depending on what type of services the aide will provide. Some agencies hire aides specifically to do personal and home care tasks with no medical assistance provided. These aides may do jobs such as cleaning a house or cooking healthy meals for someone who can’t do it himself. A personal care aide may also be required to lift a client, such as from his bed to a wheelchair, or into and out of a bathtub, so a personal care aide needs to be physically strong. A person may be hired for this type of position with no qualifications other than a high school diploma or GED and a willingness to do hard work. He also needs a clean criminal background, as he’ll be entering people’s houses when they’re vulnerable.
A home care aide who provides medical assistance needs to be certified as a licensed practical nurse or higher certification. In this position, an aide may perform the same tasks as a personal aide, but she may also need knowledge to perform minor medical tasks such as giving injections, taking blood, administering medication or reading blood pressure.
Anyone who works as a home care aide needs to be highly compassionate and kind. The work may require many tasks that are generally considered distasteful, such as changing bedpans or catheters, or cleaning a client who has soiled himself. The home care aide needs to be able to complete these tasks while remaining pleasant and smiling.
A home care aide generally makes around $10 an hour. This may increase slightly over time and with experience, but not by a lot. For this reason, combined with the difficult work, there’s a lot of turnover in this field.
The following is written by and according to the U.S. Department of Labor and particular a nurses aide. Nursing and psychiatric aides help care for physically or mentally ill, injured, disabled, or infirm individuals in hospitals, nursing care facilities, and mental health settings. Home health aides have duties that are similar, but they work in patients' homes or residential care facilities. Nursing aides and home health aides are among the occupations commonly referred to as direct care workers, due to their role in working with patients who need long-term care. The specific care they give depends on their specialty. Nursing aides also known as nurse aides, nursing assistants, certified nursing assistants, geriatric aides, unlicensed assistive personnel, orderlies, or hospital attendants provide hands-on care and perform routine tasks under the supervision of nursing and medical staff. Specific tasks vary, with aides handling many aspects of a patient's care. They often help patients to eat, dress, and bathe. They also answer calls for help, deliver messages, serve meals, make beds, and tidy up rooms. Aides sometimes are responsible for taking a patient's temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, or blood pressure. They also may help provide care to patients by helping them get into and out of bed and walk, escorting them to operating and examining rooms, or providing skin care. Some aides help other medical staff by setting up equipment, storing and moving supplies, and assisting with some procedures. Aides also observe patients' physical, mental, and emotional conditions and report any change to the nursing or medical staff. Nurse aides employed in nursing care facilities often are the principal caregivers, having far more contact with residents than do other members of the staff. Because some residents may stay in a nursing care facility for months or even years, aides develop ongoing relationships with them and interact with them in a positive, caring way. Home health aides help elderly, convalescent, or disabled persons live in their own homes instead of health care facilities. Under the direction of nursing or medical staff, they provide health-related services, such as administering oral medications. (Personal and home care aides, who provide mainly housekeeping and routine personal care services, are discussed elsewhere in the Handbook.) Like nursing aides, home health aides may check patients' pulse rate, temperature, and respiration rate; help with simple prescribed exercises; and help patients to get in and out of bed, bathe, dress, and groom. Occasionally, they change nonsterile dressings, give massages and provide skin care, or assist with braces and artificial limbs. Experienced home health aides, with training, also may assist with medical equipment such as ventilators, which help patients breathe. Most home health aides work with elderly or disabled persons who need more extensive care than family or friends can provide. Some help discharged hospital patients who have relatively short-term needs. In home health agencies, a registered nurse, physical therapist, or social worker usually assigns specific duties to and supervises home health aides, who keep records of the services they perform and record each patient's condition and progress. The aides report changes in a patient's condition to the supervisor or case manager. Psychiatric aides, also known as mental health assistants or psychiatric nursing assistants, care for mentally impaired or emotionally disturbed individuals. They work under a team that may include psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, social workers, and therapists. In addition to helping patients to dress, bathe, groom themselves, and eat, psychiatric aides socialize with them and lead them in educational and recreational activities. Psychiatric aides may play card games or other games with patients, watch television with them, or participate in group activities, such as playing sports or going on field trips. They observe patients and report any physical or behavioral signs that might be important for the professional staff to know. They accompany patients to and from therapy and treatment. Because they have such close contact with patients, psychiatric aides can have a great deal of influence on their outlook and treatment. Work environment. Work as an aide can be physically demanding. Aides spend many hours standing and walking, and they often face heavy workloads. Aides must guard against back injury because they may have to move patients into and out of bed or help them to stand or walk. It is important for aides to be trained in and to follow the proper procedures for lifting and moving patients. Aides also may face hazards from minor infections and major diseases, such as hepatitis, but can avoid infections by following proper procedures. Aides also perform tasks that some may consider unpleasant, such as emptying bedpans and changing soiled bed linens. The patients they care for may be disoriented, irritable, or uncooperative. Psychiatric aides must be prepared to care for patients whose illness may cause violent behavior. Although their work can be emotionally demanding, many aides gain satisfaction from assisting those in need. Home health aides may go to the same patient's home for months or even years. However, most aides work with a number of different patients, each job lasting a few hours, days, or weeks. Home health aides often visit multiple patients on the same day. Home health aides generally work alone, with periodic visits from their supervisor. They receive detailed instructions explaining when to visit patients and what services to perform. Aides are individually responsible for getting to patients' homes, and they may spend a good portion of the working day traveling from one patient to another. Because mechanical lifting devices available in institutional settings are not as frequently available in patients' homes, home health aides must take extra care to avoid injuries resulting from overexertion when they assist patients. Most full-time aides work about 40 hours per week, but because patients need care 24 hours a day, some aides work evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays. In 2006, 23 percent of aides worked part time compared with 15 percent of all workers. For the source and more detailed information concerning your request, click on the related links section (U.S. Department of Labor) indicated at the bottom of this answer box.
Anyone who is disabled, cognitively impaired, and chronically ill, or older adults who need assistance living in their own homes instead of a healthcare institution understand the importance of home health aide jobs. Personal and home health care aides assist people in hospices, and they help people with disabilities go to work. Most health care aide jobs focus on physical or mentally disabled individuals and the elderly who need more help than family and friends can provide. Home health aides perform light housekeeping and homemaking duties like laundry, food shopping, bed linen changing, and preparing meals. Aides also help clients get out of bed as well as dress and groom. Aides run errands and accompany clients to doctor’s appointments and other out-of-home functions. Psychological and nutritional support are part of the daily duties of a home health care aide; some aides may work for the same client for years while other aides work in shifts so different clients can have help day and night. Health care aides usually work for certified hospices or home health agencies that receive government funds so they must comply with certain regulations like working under the supervision of a medical professional. That professional is usually a nurse. Aides keep records and report changes in client conditions to the nurse supervisor or the medical therapist assigned to the case. Other personal home health care aides work for private agencies or directly for the patient or the family of the patient. Working as a home health care aide can be physically demanding and there are other medical hazards like minor infections and communicable diseases that can be a serious, but these issues can be avoided by following proper procedures. Aides must pass a competency test after formal training in order to work for a hospice or certified home health care agency. There are other requirements that aides must meet and they vary from state to state. Home health aide jobs are expected to grow by fifty percent over the next eight years. The average wage is about $10 an hour, but that figure varies by agency and state. Most experienced home health aides earn around $14 an hour.
The following is written by and according to the U.S. Department of Labor and particular to the nature of work for a nurses aid.Nursing aides also known as nurse aides, nursing assistants, certified nursing assistants, geriatric aides, unlicensed assistive personnel, orderlies, or hospital attendants provide hands-on care and perform routine tasks under the supervision of nursing and medical staff. Specific tasks vary, with aides handling many aspects of a patient's care. They often help patients to eat, dress, and bathe. They also answer calls for help, deliver messages, serve meals, make beds, and tidy up rooms. Aides sometimes are responsible for taking a patient's temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, or blood pressure. They also may help provide care to patients by helping them get into and out of bed and walk, escorting them to operating and examining rooms, or providing skin care. Some aides help other medical staff by setting up equipment, storing and moving supplies, and assisting with some procedures. Aides also observe patients' physical, mental, and emotional conditions and report any change to the nursing or medical staff. Nurse aides employed in nursing care facilities often are the principal caregivers, having far more contact with residents than do other members of the staff. Because some residents may stay in a nursing care facility for months or even years, aides develop ongoing relationships with them and interact with them in a positive, caring way. Home health aides help elderly, convalescent, or disabled persons live in their own homes instead of health care facilities. Under the direction of nursing or medical staff, they provide health-related services, such as administering oral medications. (Personal and home care aides, who provide mainly housekeeping and routine personal care services, are discussed elsewhere in the Handbook.) Like nursing aides, home health aides may check patients' pulse rate, temperature, and respiration rate; help with simple prescribed exercises; and help patients to get in and out of bed, bathe, dress, and groom. Occasionally, they change nonsterile dressings, give massages and provide skin care, or assist with braces and artificial limbs. Experienced home health aides, with training, also may assist with medical equipment such as ventilators, which help patients breathe. Most home health aides work with elderly or disabled persons who need more extensive care than family or friends can provide. Some help discharged hospital patients who have relatively short-term needs. In home health agencies, a registered nurse, physical therapist, or social worker usually assigns specific duties to and supervises home health aides, who keep records of the services they perform and record each patient's condition and progress. The aides report changes in a patient's condition to the supervisor or case manager. For the source and more detailed information concerning your request, click on the related links section (U.S. Department of Labor) indicated at the bottom of this answer box.
A personal assistant can help with the change of a colostomy bag if that is what is needed for the patient's care.
A personal assistant can help with the change of a colostomy bag if that is what is needed for the patient's care.
Because their nurses, doctors, aides, volunteers, music therapists, and spiritual care team are all trained to care for the pediatric population. It's best to find a hospice that specializes in children/babies for the best care available.
1) I have been a nursing assistant, so I can tell you what I had to do at my hospital. Every facility is different, and it also depends on what type of unit you work on. I took patients' vitals, gave them baths, changed beds, cleaned up patients when they messed themselves, walked with patients in hallways, drew blood, performed EKGs, put in and took out urinary catheters, helped them eat if they needed assistance, turned and reposition patients, and helped the nurses with anything else they needed. 2) Nurse assistants (or certified nurse assistants, CNAs) are a step below a licensed practical nurse, and two steps below a registered nurse (RN). They provide basic patient care, as described above, to keep patients comfortable during their stay in the hospital, nursing home, or wherever they are. This allows the medical staff (doctors, specialists and RNs) to focus more on providing medical care. CNAs can further their education to become LPNs and RNs, and many higher nurses started out as CNAs.
The following is written by and according to the U.S. Department of Labor and particular to Home Health Aides and Personal and Home Care Aides.Home health aides who work for agencies that receive reimbursement from Medicare or Medicaid must receive a minimum level of training. They must complete both a training program consisting of a minimum of 75 hours and a competency evaluation or state certification program. Training includes information regarding personal hygiene, safe transfer techniques, reading and recording vital signs, infection control, and basic nutrition. Aides may take a competency exam to become certified without taking any of the training. At a minimum, 16 hours of supervised practical training are required before an aide has direct contact with a resident. These certification requirements represent the minimum, as outlined by the Federal Government. Some States may require additional hours of training to become certified.Personal and home care aides are not required to be certified.Other qualifications. Aides should have a desire to help people. They should be responsible, compassionate, patient, emotionally stable, and cheerful. In addition, aides should be tactful, honest, and discreet, because they work in private homes. Aides also must be in good health. A physical examination, including State-mandated tests for tuberculosis and other diseases, may be required. A criminal background check and a good driving record also may be required for employment.Certification and advancement. The National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) offers national certification for aides. Certification is a voluntary demonstration that the individual has met industry standards. Certification requires the completion of 75 hours of training; observation and documentation of 17 skills for competency, assessed by a registered nurse; and the passing of a written exam developed by NAHC.Advancement for home health aides and personal and home care aides is limited. In some agencies, workers start out performing homemaker duties, such as cleaning. With experience and training, they may take on more personal care duties. Some aides choose to receive additional training to become nursing aides, licensed practical nurses, or registered nurses. Some may start their own home care agency or work as a self-employed aide. Self-employed aides have no agency affiliation or supervision and accept clients, set fees, and arrange work schedules on their own.For the source and more detailed information concerning your request, click on the related links section (U.S. Department of Labor) indicated directly below this answer section.
Home care assistants are also called home health aides or personal care assistants. They are professionals who provide assistance and support to individuals in the comfort of their homes. These professionals help them with daily chores and promote their well-being. Additionally, they assist the individual with personal care and provide companionship, medication management, transportation, and light housekeeping. They have an important role in enabling individuals to remain comfortable and independent in their own place for as long as possible. Key responsibilities: They assist with tasks like bathing, dressing, toileting, grooming, and eating. The home care professionals assist the individuals with medication reminders and ensure that the medication is given as prescribed by professional healthcare. The caring experts observe the patient and report to the doctor and their family members about the client’s mental and physical health. Home care assistants help the client to socially engage in activities that help to combat isolation and loneliness. Light housekeeping may include tasks like tidying up, laundry, and preparing meals. Home health care professionals may take the clients to social activities or doctor appointments.
Financial assistance for personal and residential care homes can be given by housing care organisation for further details http://www.housingcare.org/elderly-uk-residential-care-homes.aspx
Sodium laureth sulfate is a surfactant commonly used in personal care products to create foam and help cleanse the skin or hair by removing dirt and oil.
cna means Certified Nurse Assistant.As a certified nursing assistant, you'll be on the front lines of patient care. While "nursing assistant" may not be the most glorified job title in a hospital or nursing care facility, it's certainly one of the most vital to daily operations. Your compassion and skill in patient care will help minimize the stress of those who are sick or unable to care for themselves.Certified nursing assistants (CNAs), also known as nurses' aides, orderlies, patient care technicians, and home health aides, work under the supervision of a nurse to provide assistance to patients with daily living tasks.