Home Health Aides: Job Description
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.
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What Do Home Health Aides Do?
Typical responsibilities of home health aides span:
- 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.
- Bathe patients.
- Care for patients by changing bed linens, washing and ironing laundry, cleaning, or assisting with their personal care.
- 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.
- 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.
Skills and Knowledge
Top home health aides draw on a mix of skills and domain knowledge.
Top Skills
These are the skills most central to this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:
Top Knowledge Areas
Other Home Health Aides Job Titles
This career also goes by job titles like:
- Care Worker
- Caregiver
- Certified Home Health Aide (CHHA)
- Certified Medical Aide (CMA)
- Certified Nurses Aide (CNA)
- Companion
- Day Support Professional
- Digital Health Caregiver
Job Outlook
There are about 240,778 home health aides working in the United States today. This occupation is expected to grow by +3.9% over the projection horizon.
Salary for Home Health Aides
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual median | $48,603 |
| Hourly median | $23.37 |
| 10th percentile | $33,349 |
| 25th percentile | $40,976 |
| 75th percentile | $56,230 |
| 90th percentile | $63,857 |
Wages vary widely based on experience, location, and industry.
Tech Stack
- Operating system software: Linux (hot technology)
- Data base user interface and query software: Microsoft Access (hot technology)
- Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel (hot technology)
- Office suite software: Microsoft Office software (hot technology)
- Electronic mail software: Microsoft Outlook (hot technology)
- Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint (hot technology)
- Document management software: Microsoft SharePoint (hot technology)
- Operating system software: Microsoft Windows (hot technology)
- Word processing software: Microsoft Word (hot technology)
- Data base user interface and query software: Oracle Database (hot technology)
- Object or component oriented development software: Python (hot technology)
- Customer relationship management CRM software: Salesforce software (hot technology)
Work Environment
Daily working conditions for home health aides is shaped by the following characteristics:
- Contact With Others
- Physical Proximity
- Importance of Being Exact or Accurate
- Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams
How to Become Home Health Aides
Typical home health aides positions require a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. This career aligns with Some Preparation Needed (Job Zone 2), indicating the level of preparation typically expected.
Related Careers
Similar Occupations
- Occupational Therapists (Supplemental)
- Recreational Therapists (Supplemental)
- Registered Nurses (Supplemental)
- Acute Care Nurses (Supplemental)
- Clinical Nurse Specialists (Supplemental)
- Nurse Practitioners (Supplemental)
- Emergency Medicine Physicians (Supplemental)
- Family Medicine Physicians (Supplemental)
Top Programs to Study For This Career
Students preparing for home health aides often complete programs in:
Health Professions and Related Programs
1 programs across 1 majors
About the Data
This profile draws on the following authoritative sources:
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
- BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
- O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.
SOC code: 31-1121.00 (Home Health Aides).
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