Home health aide duties and responsibilities
On the most basic level, being a good home health aide means being a compassionate caregiver helping another person. Home health aides provide basic, personal care to clients. An HHA may assist with bathing, dressing, and other self-care and hygiene needs. As needed, an HHA also may:
- shop for groceries
- prepare meals
- help clients eat
- perform light housekeeping duties, such as laundry
- provide occasional transportation where state regulations allow
Although an HHA job description focuses on providing non-medical care only, some states allow home health aides to administer medications and check vital signs if supervised by a nurse or other licensed health care professional.
CNA duties and responsibilities
Like HHAs, certified nursing assistants working in the home setting provide companionship and help clients with household duties, activities of daily living, and personal care such as eating, bathing, and dressing.
In some care settings in certain states, CNAs can perform a few job duties not performed by an HHA, such as:
- transfers in and out of a bed, chair, or wheelchair
- monitoring vital signs
- administering medications
- documenting changes in health condition
- reporting to doctors or nurses.
In nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, CNAs are often the primary caregiver and have more contact with the patient than any other staff member.