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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.

The Daily Work of Home Health Aides Take On?

The day-to-day 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

Effective home health aides combine a mix of skills and domain knowledge.

Key Skills

These are the skills that matter most in this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Knowledge Areas

Related 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

How Many Home Health Aides Are There?

There are roughly 240,778 home health aides working in the United States today. Demand is forecast to grow by +3.9% over the projection horizon.

Home Health Aides Pay

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

Pay can vary substantially 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)

The Day-to-Day Environment

The work environment for home health aides reflects 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)

Degree Programs

Students preparing for home health aides often complete programs in:

Health Professions and Related Programs

1 programs across 1 majors

• Health Aids & Attendants

References

Data on this page comes from 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).