Job Description

Position Description

The Home Health Aide (HHA) is a non-professional employee trained to provide personal care and related services in the home for the sick or disabled. He/she functions under the direct supervision of a registered nurse or a physical therapist to assist the patient to perform on 2 or more activities of daily living (ADL).

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

During each visit the HHA:

* Shall obtain vital signs, record and notify the primary RN of deviations according to standard practice
* The HCA shall provide assistance with at least 2 of the following ADL's:
* Personal hygiene (Example: bathing, grooming, hair care, shaving, deodorant application, skin care with lotions and/or powder, foot care, and ear care. Q-tips are not to be used);
* Nail care and oral hygiene, which are needed to facilitate treatment or prevent deterioration
* Nail cutting or filing will NOT be done
* Changing bed linens and making bed
* Eating and maintaining adequate nutrition and fluid intake when appropriate
* Dressing (clothes)
* Ambulation and transfers (For Example: assisting patients to the toilet/commode or with bedpans and with elimination needs, assisting patients in and out of bed, assisting with ambulation, and assisting with other transfers and positional needs as appropriate);
* Incidental household services, which are essential to patient health care (for example, light housekeeping, straightening room, and laundry)
* Assisting with prescribed exercises, which the home care aide and the patient have been taught by a health professional agent (employee) of the Agency
* May hand patient prepared medications
* May empty or change a colostomy bag after receiving direction from RN
* Understands and applies basic infection control principles and procedures
* Contacts supervisor with any concerns related to infection control
* Follows the Plan of Care (Instruction Sheet) as instructed by Agency's health care professional
* Documents appropriately according to the Plan of Care and submits all documentation per agency policy
* Keeps a record of HHA Plan of Care for each patient assigned
* Observes physical and gross behavioral changes in the patient's condition or family situation and report to the assigned case manager
* Follows the visit schedule and indicates changes in schedule as appropriate
* Promptly contacts patients and an Agency supervisor whenever unable to visit a patient as scheduled and will give full report to covering HHA concerning patient care, visit times, etc.
* Gives patient name of covering HHA
* Communicates appropriately with patient/family and Agency personnel
* Attends required in-services and meetings as identified by the Agency (Must have 12 hours of in-service per-year)
* Follows agency policies and procedures
* Performs these and all other duties as assigned by the Administrator
* Participate in Performance Improvement activities as indicated
* Is able to meet certain physical demands of standing, bending, lifting, stooping or performing other work requiring light physical exertion (up to 30 pounds) on a continuous basis (over 50% of time); or moderate physical exertion (30 to 50 pounds) on a frequent basis (16 to 50% of time); or heavy physical exertion on an occasional basis (up to 15% of time)
* Able to drive a car 2-4 hours per day

The Home Care Aide WILL NOT do the following:

* WILL NOT change dressing(s) or perform wound care
* WILL NOT irrigate body cavities such as giving an enema
* WILL NOT irrigate a colostomy or wound
* WILL NOT perform a gastric lavage or gavage
* WILL NOT catheterize a patient
* WILL NOT administer medications
* WILL NOT apply heat by any method
* WILL NOT care for a tracheotomy tube
* WILL NOT cut or file nails
* WILL NOT provide any personal health service, which has not been included by the health care professional (employee) in the patient care plan

REQUIRED Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

* Must have and maintain an automobile to be used for work, current drivers license, good driving record and proof of insurance
* A Home Care Aide certificate
* Effective for services furnished after August 14, 1990, a person who has successfully completed a State-established or other training program that meets the federal requirements of 484.36(a) and a competency evaluation program or State licensure program that meets the federal requirements of 484.36(b), or a competency evaluation program or State licensure program that meets the federal requirements of 484.36(b). An individual is not considered to have completed a training and competency evaluation program, or a competency evaluation program if, since the individual's most recent completion of this program(s), there has been a continuous period of twenty-four (24) consecutive months during none of which the individual furnished services described in 409.40 of the federal regulations for compensation.
* Have completed the 9th grade, with ability to read and write at an adequate level
* A Home Health Aide may be used by the agency providing licensed home health services if the aide meets one of the following requirements:
* A minimum of one-year full-time experience in direct client care in an institutional setting (hospital or nursing facility)
* One-year full-time experience within the last five years in direct client care in an agency setting
* Satisfactorily completed a training and competency evaluation program that complies with the requirements of this section
* Satisfactorily completed a competency evaluation program that complies with the requirements of this section
* Submitted to the agency documentation from the director of programs or the dean of a school of nursing that states that the individual is a nursing student who has demonstrated competency in providing basic nursing skills in accordance with the schools curriculum
* A Home Health Aide must have provided home health services within the previous 24 months to qualify under subsection (a)(3) or (4) of this section
* Exhibits ability to make sound judgment within the scope of experience and training
* Have satisfactorily passed Agency competent testing will include a written and performance
* Excellent verbal and written communication
* Have the ability to meet the physical demands of the job
* Additionally, in the State of Texas, the Agency shall employ a Home Health Aide who:
* Is listed on the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADs) nurse aide registry with no finding against the aide relating to client abuse or neglect or misappropriation of client property

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

* High School Graduate or GED