Home health, psychiatric, and nursing aides care for mentally or physically injured, ill, infirm, and disabled individuals in nursing care, hospitals, and mental health settings. Some of the health aides work in patients' residential or homes care facilities. Home health aides and nursing aides are known as direct care workers because of their act as working with patients who need their help.
Job Description
Nursing aides are commonly known nursing assistants, nurse aides, geriatric aides, certified nursing assistants, hospital attendants, orderlies, or unlicensed assistive personnel. Their work is to provide hands on care and execute everyday tasks under the close direction of medical and nursing personnel. Specific tasks may differ with aides dealing with various aspects of a patient's care.
The job of nursing aids is to help patients dress, eat, and bathe. They may deliver messages, answer calls for help, serve meals, tidy up rooms, and make beds. Sometimes, these aides are responsible for taking a patient's pulse rate, temperature, respiration rate, and blood pressure. They help patients by accompanying them to operating and examining rooms, taking them into and out of the bed, and providing skin care.
Some of the aides help other medical personnel by storing and moving supplies, setting up equipment, and facilitating with some procedures. Aides may observe patients' mental, physical, and emotional conditions and report if there is any change to the medical or nursing staff. A nurse aide who works in nursing care facilities is a principle caregiver. A nurse aide has to interact with various residents. Some of the residents may stay in nursing care facilities for month and at times years. The work of aides is to develop ongoing relationship with patients and communicate with them in a positive and caring way.
The job of home health aides is to help convalescent, elderly, and disabled persons to live in their own homes than living in health care centers. Under the supervision of nursing or medical staff, home health aides provide health services such as administering oral medications. Home health aides check patients temperature, pulse rate, and respiration rate, help patients with prescribed exercises, and them to get out of bad, bath, groom, and dress. Sporadically, they change non-sterile dressings, provide skin care, give massages, and assist with artificial limbs and braces.
An experienced home health aide who received special training may help with medical equipment such as ventilators to help patients breathe effortlessly. Many home health aides work with disabled or elderly persons who need an extensive care. Some of the health care aides help discharged hospital patients who need someone to assist them to perform routine tasks.
In many health care agencies, a physical therapist, registered nurse, and social worker typically assign special duties to home health aides. Here, the work of home health aides is to keep records of services and also record patients' progress and condition. If there is any change in patient's condition, a health care aide reports it to the case manager or supervisor.
Psychiatric aides are known as psychiatric nursing assistants or mental health assistants care for emotionally disturbed or mentally impaired individuals. They have to work with a team to perform their tasks. This team may include psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, and therapists. Psychiatric aides help patients to bathe, dress, eat, groom, and lead them to recreational and educational activities.
Psychiatric aides may play various games with patients with the intention of providing them amusement. They may watch television with patients; participate in ground activities like going on field trips and playing different games. They may examine patients and report any behavioral or physical signs that may be essential for the staff members to know.
Responsibilities
Work Environment
The work of an aide may be physically demanding. They need to spend many hours walking and standing. Sometimes, aides may have to perform tasks that can be unpleasant such as removing soiled bed linens and emptying bad pans.
Educational Qualification
Candidates who wish to get into this field may require completing a high school diploma or equivalent. Nevertheless, a high school diploma is not necessary for jobs like home health aides. A certification in this field may vary by state laws, occupation, and work settings.