Home Health Aides
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.
Also known as: Care Worker, Caregiver, Certified Home Health Aide (CHHA), Certified Medical Aide (CMA), Certified Nurses Aide (CNA), Companion, Day Support Professional, Digital Health Caregiver, ...
Annual Salary
Median annual wage (May 2024)
Job Outlook
Outlook data not available.
What You'd Do
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Direct patients in simple prescribed exercises or in the use of braces or artificial limbs.
- Check patients' pulse, temperature, and respiration.
- Perform a variety of duties as requested by client, such as obtaining household supplies or running errands.
- Massage patients or apply preparations or treatments, such as liniment, alcohol rubs, or heat-lamp stimulation.
- Care for patients by changing bed linens, washing and ironing laundry, cleaning, or assisting with their personal care.
- Bathe patients.
- Change dressings.
- Accompany clients to doctors' offices or on other trips outside the home, providing transportation, assistance, and companionship.
- Care for children with disabilities or who have sick parents or parents with disabilities.
- Administer prescribed oral medications, under the written direction of physician or as directed by home care nurse or aide, and ensure patients take their medicine.
Top Skills
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Knowledge Areas
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Education Level Distribution
Percentage of workers in this occupation by education level
Technology & Tools
Software and tools commonly used in this role
In-Demand Technologies
Other Tools
Work Styles
Personality traits and work styles important for this career
Key Abilities
Cognitive, physical, and sensory abilities important for this role
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Activities
General types of job behaviors occurring on this job
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Environment
Physical and social factors that influence the nature of work
Related Careers
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Salary data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. Outlook data: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license.