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Description: Provide routine, personal healthcare, such as bathing, dressing, or grooming, to elderly, convalescent, or disabled persons in the home of patients or in a residential care facility.

Sample of reported job titles: CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant), Caregiver, Direct Support Person, HHA (Home Health Aide), Habilitation Training Specialist, Home Health Provider, Personal Care Attendant, RA (Residential Assistant), Residential Counselor

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Tasks

• Maintain records of patient care, condition, progress, or problems to report and discuss observations with supervisor or case manager.
• Provide patients with help moving in and out of beds, baths, wheelchairs or automobiles, and with dressing and grooming.
• Provide patients and families with emotional support and instruction in areas such as caring for infants, preparing healthy meals, living independently, or adapting to disability or illness.
• Change bed linens, wash and iron patients' laundry, and clean patients' quarters.
• Entertain, converse with, or read aloud to patients to keep them mentally healthy and alert.
• Plan, purchase, prepare, or serve meals to patients or other family members, according to prescribed diets.
• Direct patients in simple prescribed exercises or in the use of braces or artificial limbs.

Knowledge

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Interests

• Social - Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
• Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Work Styles

• Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
• Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
• Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical.
• Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
• Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

Tools and Technology

Tools used in this occupation:

• Abdominal binders - Abdominal binders
• Blanket frames or lifters - Foot boards
• Canes or cane accessories - Canes
• Crutches or crutch accessories - Crutches
• Therapeutic ice packs or pillows - Ice caps; Ice collars

Technology used in this occupation:

• Data base reporting software - Mi-Co software
• Internet browser software - Web browser software
• Medical software - AIG OASIS

Note: This occupational description highlights important information for this occupation (ie, Knowledges, Skills, and Abilities). Additional detail is available from: O*NET OnLine.

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