The Duties and Qualities of a Home Health Aide
Staying in the hospital for continued care may not be advisable, is not recommended in certain cases, and, in others, is not even possible. As a person recuperates, they still need care, just not as intensive or medical as they would get in hospital. Home health care is, therefore, the most viable option, and is where home health aides come in.
Home health aides extend to their patient’s regular healthcare with services like grooming, bathing, dressing, and meeting other needs of the elderly and disabled persons. They do so in their homes or in nursing care centers. They go further and attend to duties such as keeping a record of the patient’s condition, monitoring their progress and addressing problems that may crop up in that course.
In the case of giving them medication, a registered nurse shall instruct the home health aide on how to do so, as per the doctor’s prescriptions. The home health aide is in charge of planning, preparing meals, ensuring the patient keeps their doctors’ appointments, being there to support the patient and their family, offering guidance on how they will live from them on, such as how to handle a person with a disability, and other duties.
You need to search for a qualified home health aide when you think of your loved one. The health aide needs to have undergone proper training in their line of work so that they are effective and efficient in their duties. They need to listen well and keenly to their patient and the family, to understand quickly what could be wrong. They need to also follow all instructions from the doctor and the nurse in charge of the letter.
They also need to have excellent service skills. It applies in their specific line of work, where they need to understand the needs of their patient and anticipate when they are needed. They need to know how to react in emergencies, for the best possible outcome. Their language should be courteous and direct, speaking clearly to avoid any confusion or ambiguity. It extends to when they are updating family members on the condition of their loved ones.
Apart from that, they also need to possess excellent recording and report preparation skills. They need to know how to collect important data and to analyze it to draw the right conclusions. The health of their charge in on the line and this skill may save their lives more than once. They need to be familiar with the speech and mannerisms of the elderly, to understand when they are fine, and when something is wrong.
Their ability to decipher detailed information is also important. They need to for example know how to group data, arriving at estimations, identifying similarities and differences in the data collected, and noting instances when there are changes. Such skills are critical to their work as home health aides. They should also know how to handle all medical equipment at their disposal.
Apart from all those skills and the motivation to do such work, you need to also find a home health aide who is passionate and committed to helping others, especially those who need it the most. It is a noble profession that needs a special kind of person to perform.