Before you start looking for jobs as a home health aide, it’s important to understand what type of work you’ll be doing, a home health aide is a person who cares for the elderly by providing assistance with daily tasks like taking medications, dressing, bathing, and escorting them outside or to an appointment.
A typical day will include a wide variety of duties you might get up in the middle of the night and bathe an elderly patient, then return several hours later to feed them before they fall back asleep or maybe you’ll be asked to provide assistance on weekends so that your elderly clients can spend more time with their families.
What You’ll Learn in Home Health Aide Certification Training
The first thing you’ll likely do as a home health aide is taking a training course to become certified, you’ll generally have to pass a test based on the training you received and complete a minimum number of hours of field training.
A home health aide will likely receive training in three key areas: basic health concepts like nutrition and hygiene, patient assessment, and physical therapy, they should also have some knowledge of community resources like transportation services, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, in order to find the best place for the elderly to live.
Types of Home Health Aide Trainings
Home health aide training can vary widely, depending on the type of agency you go to some programs are geared specifically toward getting you certified as a nurse and offering additional training in-home health care.
Others, like bachelor’s degree-specific programs, may focus on giving you a strong theoretical understanding of health care concepts whatever type of training you go to, you’ll generally need to complete a minimum of 500 hours of training.
Some programs provide this training over a period of several months or even a year, so you can go to school full-time and work part-time others offer a combination of online and in-person classes, so you can attend whenever it’s convenient for you.
How to Get a Home Health Aide Career Path
Getting a job as a home health aide isn’t going to be as easy as just showing up for an interview, before you start applying for jobs, you’ll need to decide what type of program you want to go to and how much you’re willing to spend to get there. There are a number of training programs that can help you earn your Hha certification some are strict and academically rigorous, while others are more practical and focused on real-world skills.
If you want to go to school part-time while working full-time, you’ll want to look at programs with flexible class schedules and alumni networks that can help you find a job after graduation.
Becoming a Licensed Home Health Aide
Most home health aide programs will offer you the opportunity to become a licensed home health aide, this is a separate certification you’ll need to earn before you can apply for most jobs as a home health aide.
To become a licensed home health aide, you’ll generally need to pass a state exam and complete a number of hours of supervised field experience, such as in-home care.
Licensed aides can work anywhere home health is offered, like nursing homes and assisted living facilities they can also work in hospitals and health clinics because these jobs require a different level of skill and training, most home health aide programs will offer additional training to prepare you for the state exam.
