Job Description of a Personal Care Assistant
A personal care assistant also can be called an attendant, home health aide or personal attendant, according to the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance and Global Organization for Feminist With Disabilities. Employment of these professionals is projected to grow by 50 percent through 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Their median hourly wages in May 2008 were $9.22. This position typically requires some medical experience, according to Education-Portal.
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General Duties
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A personal care assistant provides assistance to a patient that the patient's family members or friends might not be able to consistently do on their own. For example, a personal care assistant helps a client with physical needs such as bathing and personal hygiene care. These professionals also assist individuals with using the bathroom, getting into and out of bed, getting dressed and undressed, emptying bedpans, changing soiled beddings or completing other daily responsibilities the patients might physically be unable to do because they are disabled, elderly, chronically ill or cognitively challenged. Personal care assistants' other tasks might include doing minor housework such as cooking special diets, grocery shopping or doing laundry. Their duties additionally might include running errands, instructing the client's family and friends on medicine and nutrition and simply providing these family members with psychological support.
Medical Responsibilities
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A personal care assistant must possess several medical skills such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, emergency medical responses and administration of medication, according to Education-Portal. She also must have a knowledge of infections, communicable disease control, temperature monitoring, pulse rate monitoring, blood pressure and basic first aid. In addition, personal care assistants might have to check a patient's respiration rate, assist with simple exercises, change simple dressings, give massages, assist with medical equipment or even help clients with artificial limbs.
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Environment
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Personal care assistants might face challenging situations such as exposure to infections or back injuries. The job can be both physically and emotionally demanding, as some clients are pleasant, while others can be abusive. Professional care assistants must be professional and courteous in any situation. These professionals usually work alone and might work with one client each day or even six clients in a day for a week or two. Their individual client jobs could last anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks.
Locations
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Assistants can work for certified home health or hospice agencies that receive government funding, or they can work for various public and private agencies that provide home care services. Assistants in the latter setting might be supervised by a licensed nurse or social worker who tells them when to visit clients and what services to perform. Some assistants take this instruction from the family who hires them.
Education/Certification
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A personal care assistant is a professional who has completed at least 16 hours of supervised training as required by the federal government before directly working with a client. This on-the-job training can be performed under the supervision of registered nurses, experienced personal care assistants or their supervisors. Some personal care assistants also are trained in programs through the National Association for Home Care and Hospice, which voluntarily certifies that the assistant has met industry standards.
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References
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