Wednesday, May 29, 2013

A Certified Home Health Aide Can Allow A Patient To Remain At Home

By Audrey McGuire


A certified home health aide administers medical care to injured or ill individuals in the privacy of their own dwelling. However, such services are basic in nature and are not intended to replace medical care obtained from a licensed practitioner or physician. The demand for jobs of this type has significantly increased over the last 10 years, which experts expect is a trend that will keep going until 2016.

The goal of the aforementioned care is to help patients stay in their homes. The latter is preferable to most individuals when compared with the need to be placed in a long-term care facility. Home health aides can assist patients to perform their activities of daily living while maintaining their independence.

Certified aides are trained to perform a broad range of services. Some examples include taking the client's vital signs, administering oral medications, helping him or her with dressing and bathing, and assisting the person to ambulate or exercise. Depending on the state regulations in the area where the care is being given, some aides are also allowed to perform massages, change dressings, or operate ventilators.

Home health employees are always supervised by a registered or licensed nurse, or a physician. They cannot treat or diagnose a disease, or provide medical advice. However, they are instructed to report any unusual changes regarding the patient to one of the professionals listed above.

Insurance covers such care for many patients, and therefore it is essential for the aide to maintain records of the services offered. These records will then be used by the agency to ensure that the responsible party is billed. Of course, similar records must also be kept on clients who pay for their own care, as the health agency must maintain a file on each individual to whom they offer services. These records are kept private and patients are entitled to copies outlining the care that was performed at each visit.

To become certified, aides must typically complete seventy-five hours of field training and pass a written exam. The skills one must have to complete this training includes the ability to help lift patients, a thorough understanding of how to provide personal care, and the ability to communicate effectively with the agency for which he or she works.

When pursuing such care for an individual who is homebound because of disease or disability, it is important to choose an agency carefully. Most home health companies are trustworthy; however, anyone should be screened carefully who will have future access to one's place of residence. To complete this task, one should obtain licensing information from any company he or she is considering, and research the background of the numerous agencies available. The latter is easy to accomplish online.

When a certified home health aide has been selected, the patient and his or her family should evaluate the person's performance for several weeks after the scheduled visits have begun. If the individual is completing his or her duties to the satisfaction of the family and patient, long-term arrangements can be made. If not, the client may need to request a different person. When the steps listed above are followed, it should not be difficult to find the most appropriate person for the job.




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