Home Health Care CNAs

If you are looking for a rewarding career providing care and companionship to patients in their own home, consider training to become a Home Health Care Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA).

Short Training Period

CNA training can be completed in as little as six weeks. Your training will cover basic medical care such as taking vital signs, performing first aid, changing bandages, and caring for wounds. Once you have completed training you will need to pass a Certification test. After that you will be qualified to work as a Home Health Care CNA.

Duties of a Home Health Care CNA

As a Home Health Care CNA, you will provide basic medical care to patients who are too ill or elderly to take care of themselves. You may also perform simple housekeeping tasks such as cleaning, doing dishes, taking care of pets, and shopping. You may monitor vital signs such as temperature, pulse, and blood pressure; bathe and dress patients; and lift them into and out of beds or wheelchairs. For mobile patients, you will accompany them on walks or drive them to their doctor appointments.

Advantages of Working in a Private Home

The main advantage of working in a private home rather than a nursing home or assisted living facility is that you will care for only one patient rather than looking after several at a time. The Home Health Care CNA is sometimes the only person whom the patient sees on a daily basis. This often means the CNA becomes more of a companion and confidante to the patient rather than just an employee. Patients may grow to depend on you for more than just medical care, and you may grow emotionally attached to them.

Greater Job Availability

Another advantage to working as a Home Heath Care CNA is the greater availability of jobs in private homes. According the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of Home Health Care CNAs is expected to grow by 50% by the year 2018.

Reasons for Growth

There are several reasons for this increase in jobs. One reason is the increase in the average age of the American population. As the Baby Boomers enter their Senior years, more people are starting to require daily medical assistance. Additionally, it costs less for families to hire one person to care for their loved one than it does to place the patient in a nursing home or assisted living facility. Another reason is that many elderly patients recognize the advantages of staying in their own homes. Alzheimer’s patients in particular benefit from living in familiar surroundings.

Working for a Service

If you prefer, you can work through an agency or service. The advantage of working through an agency is that you will not need to find your own clients or negotiate your own contracts with each patient or patient’s family—the agency will handle these details for you, for a fee, of course. Additionally, working through an agency will allow you to handle more clients, which usually means earning more money.

If you think you would enjoy working one-on-one with patients, helping them not only with their medical needs but also with their daily life tasks as well as their mental and emotional needs, becoming a Home Health Care CNA could be one of the most rewarding and fulfilling steps you will ever take.

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