Home Health Aide

Full overview

This lesson provides background information on the structure of the healthcare system, including the purpose of home care and ways healthcare is paid.

In this lesson, you will learn about the various members of the healthcare team. This includes a look at the tasks typical of a home health aide and the federal regulations that govern this role.

The focus of this lesson is the legal and ethical issues that are common for home health aides. This includes recognizing abuse and neglect as well as understanding advanced directives and other client rights.

Working with others is a main function of the role of home health aides. This includes working with people from a variety of backgrounds and religions. This lesson demonstrates the methods for effective communication and what to do to overcome barriers to effective communication. Medical terminology is also covered.

This lesson covers one of the most basic principles of healthcare, that of infection prevention and standard precaution. This important lesson will cover hand hygiene, sterilization, and when to use personal protective equipment.

Body mechanics is a topic that you will use when working with clients, but also in your daily life. The use of proper body mechanics will help ensure clients don't get injured at home and that you won't get injured on the job. This lesson focuses on applying principles of body mechanics to daily activities. Safety, both in the client's home and in your job activities, is also covered.

Home health aides are sometimes called upon to help with disaster preparation and care during emergencies. This lesson will help identify how to respond to medical emergencies, give first aid, and understand disaster procedures.

Holistic care is the focus of this lesson. It is well known that physical, psychological, and social health all entwine to create the overall health of a person. This lesson will help identify ways to meet a client's unique spiritual, physical, and emotional needs.

This lesson introduces all the anatomical systems of the body as well as common conditions associated with each system.

This lesson will prepare you to work with clients that have dementia and Alzheimer's Disease. This includes daily interventions for helping with activities of daily living, creative therapies, and strategies for communication.

Home health aides work with clients of all age groups. This lesson describes typical stages of development as well as normal changes for aging.

This lesson will teach you the safest ways to position and transfer clients, as well as help with ambulation.

Assisting clients with personal care is one of the main roles of a home health aide. This lesson describes procedures for assisting with grooming, bathing, oral care, and elimination.

Core healthcare skills involve those that most patients will need at some point. This lesson includes topics such as monitoring vital signs, catheter care, applying dressings, and the application of elastic stockings.

Assisting clients with their medication needs is a critical component of a home health aide's job. This lesson provides guidelines for safe and proper care of medication, what to do in the event of a medication emergency, and how to store medicine. The use of IV therapy and oxygen equipment is also covered.

The topic of this lesson is helping clients who are recovering from surgery or need restorative care. Topics include range of motion exercises, how to adapt the environment for people with mobility limitations, and preventing pressure injuries.

Home health aides need to understand the limitations and challenges that people with disabilities often face. This lesson covers how best to assist clients with a variety of disabilities, including social and emotional needs and personal care procedures.

Lesson 18 includes characteristics of mental health and the connection between mental health and physical wellness. The role of the home health aide in caring for clients with mental health disorders is also covered.

This lesson will help you prepare to care for new mothers and their newborns. Topics include postpartum care, handling a newborn, and identifying signs of child abuse.

As difficult as it can be, home health aides do have to work with clients who die. This lesson describes the stages of grief, how to care for a client who is dying, and describe postmortem care.

Home health aides must help their clients maintain a clean, safe, and healthy environment. This lesson will explain how to properly clean various areas of the home, laundry procedures, and bedmaking.

This lesson describes proper nutrition and special diets. It also covers hydration and guidelines for assisting with eating.

As a follow up to lesson 22, this lesson will explain how to prepare, shop, and store food in a client's home.

As a home health aide, you will often have to handle your client's money. This lesson describes how to manage your time, to work more efficiently, and to handle the money of your client.

This final lesson discusses the different types of careers in healthcare, how to apply for and find a job, and the documents you need when searching for a job.

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