Certified home health aides perform basic medical procedures such as checking patient pulse rates, respiration rates and temperature. These professionals may help clients perform exercises that allow their injuries to heal, change dressings or give massages. Certified home health aides might have to help clients with prosthetic limbs or braces, as well. They must know how to meet clients' basic housekeeping needs such as doing laundry, changing bed linens, cooking meals for clients or giving clients baths and dressing them. In addition, health aides might have to help move patients from one location to another. Training in this field teaches certified home health aides how to effectively perform these various tasks.
Individuals who are interested in becoming certified home health aides must have a high school diploma before pursuing training in this field. Some states require certified home health aides to receive on-the job-training. Employers also might require job candidates to complete aptitude tests in English and mathematics. Meanwhile, other states require certified home health aides to complete certificate programs available at vocational/technical schools, elder-care agencies or community colleges. In some states, these professionals must complete a two-year associate degree program in home health care. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has established standards for all formal educational programs for home health aides, according to BrainTrack.com.
Certification qualifications in this field vary by state and employers. However, certified home health aides must complete a minimum of 75 hours of training and prove that they can complete 17 skills under the supervision of a registered nurse if they work for employers who receive Medicare compensation. These on-the-job training experiences prepare students to administer medications, take blood pressure, record medical procedures and notes and perform infection control.
Courses in a certified home health aide training program cover topics such as basic nutrition, range of motion/positioning, health maintenance and emotional response. Students also study techniques for safe transfer, ethics, anatomy/physiology, communication skills, physical therapy principles and emergency protocols. With certified home health aide training, students can find work at hospice or home health agencies. In these positions, they typically are assigned to clients with whom they must visit and work regularly. In home situations, clients usually need more medical or physical assistance than their families can offer on a regular basis.
The demand for certified home health aides remains strong as the aging population continues to grow and more elderly individuals require health care in their homes. Employment of nursing aides, including certified home health aides, is projected to increase 18 percent from 2008 to 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average salary for certified home health aides in 2010 was $28,000, according to Indeed.com.