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Home Health Aides

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

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.

Related: Licensed Practical & Licensed Vocational Nurses Nursing Assistants Paramedics Personal Care Aides Psychiatric Aides

Industries: Health & Counseling

Summary
Details

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.
Accompany clients to doctors' offices or on other trips outside the home, providing transportation, assistance, and companionship.
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 dressings.
Care for patients by changing bed linens, washing and ironing laundry, cleaning, or assisting with their personal care.
Provide patients with help moving in and out of beds, baths, wheelchairs, or automobiles and with dressing and grooming.
Perform a variety of duties as requested by client, such as obtaining household supplies or running errands.
Care for children with disabilities or who have sick parents or parents with disabilities.
Massage patients or apply preparations or treatments, such as liniment, alcohol rubs, or heat-lamp stimulation.
Direct patients in simple prescribed exercises or in the use of braces or artificial limbs.
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.
Maintain records of patient care, condition, progress, or problems to report and discuss observations with supervisor or case manager.
Bathe patients.

Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
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.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

46140/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

22.18/hr

Currently Employed

5,087,500

Yearly Projected Openings

765800

Social: People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking. They do well at jobs that need:

Integrity
Dependability
Self Control
Concern for Others
Attention to Detail
Cooperation

Abdominal binders
Blanket frames or lifters
Canes
Crutches
Desktop computers
Electronic blood pressure units
Enema kits
Extremities cradles
Glucose monitors or meters
Home care ventilators
Knee therapeutic brace or support
Lower extremity prosthetic devices
Medical heat lamps
Mercury blood pressure units
Notebook computers
Ostomy appliances
Oxygen therapy delivery system products
Patient lifts
Patient stabilization or fall prevention devices
Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers
Shower or bath chairs or seats for the physically challenged
Therapeutic ice packs or pillows
Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation units
Upper extremity prosthetic devices
Urinalysis test strips
Vascular or compression apparel or support
Walkers or rollators
Walking braces
Wheelchairs

Customer relationship management CRM software
Data base reporting software
Data base user interface and query software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Internet browser software
Medical software
Object or component oriented development software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Video conferencing software
Word processing software

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Home Health Aides

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