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By Nsim Team
If you want to become a health care aide, you first need to determine if this career path is a good fit for you. If the following description sounds like you, then you’re probably well suited for a career as a health care aide:
Those who become health care aides are compassionate individuals who are interested in helping people. They enjoy work that involves physical activity and allows them to work with people on a personal level. Health care aides must have a natural aptitude for personal care, and be able to deal with sensitive situations with good judgment and tact.
Who is a Health Care Aide ?
Health care aides are responsible for providing short and long term personal care to individuals who are disabled, chronically ill, cognitively impaired, as well as older adults that require assistance. They provide assistance with such activities as bathing, dressing, meal preparation and light housekeeping.
Education Needed to Become a Health Care Aide
Although educational requirements for becoming a health care aide vary by employer, you typically only need a high school diploma to enter this profession, as health care aides are often trained on-the-job.
On-the-job training typically includes instruction in housekeeping tasks, such as cooking for clients who have special dietary needs. They also learn basic safety techniques, such as CPR and how to respond in an emergency.
Some employers however, require health care aide candidates to have a university degree in a field such as nursing, or a college diploma in a health care aide training program.
Personal Characteristics Needed to Become a Health Care Aide
If you have the following personality traits, you may be well suited for a career as a health care aide:
• Compassionate and interested in helping people
• Enjoy working on a personal level with patients
• Understanding, patient and non-judgmental
• Able to work in a fast-paced environment
• Enjoy a job that involves physical activity
• Mature and dependable
• Able to communicate effectively and get along with people
• Able to keep personal information about clients confidential
• Able to use tact and judgment in dealing with difficult situations
• Sensitive to the physical, social, cultural, spiritual and psychological effects of illness and aging
Who Hires Health Care Aides?
Health care aides are hired by organizations that provide personal assistance and support services for elderly, disabled, acute or chronically ill individuals; these organizations include:
• Self-employed (on contractual basis)
• Private health care agencies
• Continuing care facilities
• Senior housing facilities
• Government social service departments and agencies
• Non-profit charitable agencies
• Home care and family service associations
• Hospitals
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