Home Health Careers

The home health care field can be a very rewarding one indeed! The home health care field can be a great way to help care for people without having to commit to several years of nursing or medical school. Depending on the state you live in, you may just need a high school diploma and/or a few hours of basic certification to be employed as a home health aide. Usually, home health care employers require you to be CPR and first aid certified. In several states, this involves attending a one day class and paying a small fee. Your CPR certification usually lasts either one or two years before you have to renew it.

What could you do as a home health care aide?
As a home health care aide, you help adults to live on their own, in the comfort of their own homes. Types of patients include the elderly, mentally incapacitated, or physically challenged. Home health aide services helps save the family money as well, since nursing homes cost much more than employing a home health care aide. The usual job responsibilities for this position entail helping to groom and/or bathe the patient, shopping, taking the patient to appointments and running errands, simple housekeeping duties, dispensing medication, and alerting family or your employer if there is a situation with the patient. As a home health care aide, you may also need to provide company to the patient. Many times, the patient is lonely or bored and simply wants a friend or confidante to keep him or her company.

What training is recommended for a home health aid?
As you can see, there is not a lot of training needed and the work you will do as a home health aide can help keep patients with their loved ones and in their own homes. You will get the luxury of working in a home setting, meeting new people, and getting paid for being a friend!

If you think that this type of job sounds interesting, a good first start would be to take a career assessment or an aptitude test to see if this career might be a good path for you. You can find all types of these assessments for free on the Internet. Then, research online what training, if any, is required by your state to become a home health aide.

Other types of Medical and healthcare careers :

• Counseling
• Holistic medicine
• Massage therapy
• Physical therapy