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What Do Home Health Aides Do?

A home health aide looks after people with chronic illnesses, age-related problems, or other disabilities. And, who still have the desire or need to reside in their homes. The home health aide offers basic services such as:

  • Changing bandages
  • Administering medications
  • Checking the pulse rate
  • Checking the temperature
  • Assessing the respiration rates

Home health aides in Phoenixville are thoroughly tested and supervised to provide the best care to clients. A medical professional, who is usually a registered nurse, supervises the home health aide. The home health aide is different from a personal care aide in that the latter doesn’t offer any medical services.

Duties and Responsibilities of a Home Health Aide

The tasks and duties of a home health aide are several. They include:

  1. Performing duties such as obtaining house supplies at the clients’ request.
  2. Accompanying clients to the doctor’s office or on trips away from home. Also, providing companionship as required.
  3. Administering oral medication as prescribed by the physician or home care nurse.
  4. Caring for disabled children or those whose parents are disabled or sick.
  5. Massaging patients and applying treatments such as alcohol rubs, heat-lamp stimulation, and liniment.
  6. Maintaining the patients’ records for progress in order to report any observations to the supervisor.
  7. Providing patients with emotional support and instruction on areas such as disability, infant care and preparing healthy meals.
  8. Helping patients with moving in and out of beds or wheelchairs. Also, with their dressing and grooming.
  9. Changing and washing the patient’s bed linen and cleaning the patients’ quarters.
  10. Preparing and serving meals to the patients in accordance with prescribed diets.
  11. Directing the patients in prescribed exercises or in using artificial limbs.
  12. Checking the patients’ temperature and respiration.

Skills and Competencies of a Home Health Aide  

Home health aides in Phoenixville not only have hands-on training but also possess other necessary skills. The soft skills that enable them to excel in their assigned jobs include:

  • Interpersonal skills: The home health aides connect with patients on a personal level. Which is essential in gaining the patient’s trust in feeling comfortable and safe.
  • Time management skills: Having so many tasks to complete, a home health aide needs to manage time to get all things done.
  • Detail-oriented: Paying attention to details is imperative to the job of a home health aide. This entails keeping track of critical issues such as medications, appointments and vital signs.
  • Physical stamina: Physical fitness enables the home health aide to accomplish certain tasks such as lifting the patient out of bed.

Home Health Aide’s Work Environment

Most home health aide workers in Phoenixville are deployed to patients’ homes. About 20% of them work in developmental disabilities and care facilities.

The work schedule of a home health aide is usually full time, working on weekends and even holidays. Overnight shifts are also a characteristic of the job.

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