Home Health Aide (HHA)

About the role

The VITAS Home Health Aide (HHA) is a non-exempt employee, who is trained to provide personal care and services to hospice patients to augment care given by family members or other caregivers.

Responsibilities

Performs only those personal care activities contained in a written assignment. Home Health Aide (HHA) assignments may include:

• Helps the patient to maintain good personal hygiene
• Plans and prepare meals
• Feeds or assist with feeding the patient when needed
• Assists the patient ambulation
• Assists with certain treatments as ordered by the physician, and taught and supervised by the nurse for a specific patient including: assist with the change of the colostomy bag; assist with the use of a walker or wheelchair; reinforcement of a dressing; assist with prescribed range of motion exercises; assist with prescribed ice cap or collar; measure intake and output of fluids; and assist with medications that are ordinarily self-administered
• Reads and records temperature, pulse and respiration

Additional responsibilities

• Assists in maintaining a safe and healthy environment
• Promotes the patient's mental alertness through involvement in activities of interest
• Provides simple emotional and psychological support to the patient, family, and other caregivers
• Reports any changes in the patient's mental or physical condition or home situation to the VITAS Nurse and members of the interdisciplinary team
• Teaches basic personal care to the primary caregiver
• Practices basic infection control measures
• Observes, reports, and documents patient status and the care and activities provided
• Completes at least 12 hours of in-service training per calendar year
• Handles other tasks as assigned

Restrictions

The Home Health Aide may not be assigned by VITAS to any institutional setting. The Home Health Aide may not:

• Change sterile dressings
• Irrigate body cavities (such as an enema)
• Irrigate a colostomy or wound
• Perform a gastric lavage or gavage
• Catheterize a patient
• Administer medications
• Apply heat by any method
• Care for a tracheotomy tube
• Suction a patient
• Provide any personal care that has not been assigned by the VITAS nurse or included in the plan of care

Qualifications

• High School graduate or equivalent preferred
• Meets personnel qualifications of a Home Health Aide as specified in 42 C.F.R. Section 484.4 and Section 484.36
• Documented evidence of 75 hours of training as specified in 42 C.F.R. Sections 484.36 (a)(1)
• Documented evidence that Home Health Aide has successfully completed a Competency Evaluation program as described in 42 C.F.R. Section 484.36(b)

State Allowable Training/Certification

• AL, CO, DC, DE, FL, GA, IN, MI, PA, TX, VA, WI: CNA, HHA, HA
• CA: CHHA
• CT: Homemaker-Home Health Aide
• IL: HHA, NA
• KS: Home Health Aide certificate
• MO: Home Health Aide
• NJ: Homemaker-Home Health Aide
• OH: Home Health Aide

Requirements

• Has the ability to read, write, and carry out directions
• Has the ability to travel per job requirements
• Has a telephone available in home

Essential Functions/Physical Demands

The physical demands described for the Home Health Aide are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of the Home Health Aide, the employee is regularly required to:

• Assist in lifting and transferring patients, as required
• Lift objects in excess of 20 pounds
• Stand or walk in excess of one hour per day
• Talk and hear
• Sit and stoop, kneel, and crouch

Specific vision abilities required by the Home Health Aide include:

• Close vision
• Distance vision
• Ability to adjust focus

Direction Received

Home Health Aide reports directly to the VITAS Nurse and receives clinical direction from the VITAS Nurse.