Nursing, Psychiatric, and Home Health Aides Job Description
Nursing and Psychiatric aides help care for physically or mentally ill, injured, disabled, or infirm individuals in hospitals, nursing care facilities, and mental health settings. The Home Health Aides have duties that are similar, but they work in patients’ homes or residential care facilities.
Primary Objectives:
- Nursing Aides and Home Health Aides are commonly referred to as direct care givers.
- The Nursing Aides and Home Health Aides work directly with the patient taking care of their personal needs.
- The Nursing Aides and Home Health Aides do things like make up the beds, clean the rooms, and help the patient in bathing.
- The Psychiatric aides care for the mentally disturbed or emotionally disturbed individuals.
- Psychiatric aides not only take care of the patient’s personnel care but work to help socialize the patient as well.
- The Nursing and Psychiatric aide training is offered in high school schools, vocational –technical centers, some nursing care facilities, and some community colleges.
The Nursing Aides and Home Health Aides basically have the same functions except that the Nursing Aides work in a nursing facility or a hospital. The Home Health Aides work at the patient’s home doing personal care services. Nursing Aides also known as nurse aides, nursing assistants, certified nursing assistants, geriatric aides, unlicensed assistive personnel, orderlies or hospital attendants provide hands-on-care and perform routine tasks under the supervision of nursing and medical staff. Their specific tasks vary, with aides handling many aspects of a patient’s care. They often help patients to eat, dress and bathe. The aides answer calls for help, deliver messages, serve meals, make beds, and tidy up rooms. Aides sometimes are responsible for taking a patient’s temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, or blood pressure. They also may help provide care to patients by helping them get into and out of bed and walk, escorting them to operating and examining rooms, or providing skin care. The Nursing Aides and Home Health Aides often help other medical staff by setting up equipment, storing and moving supplies, and assisting with some procedures. The Nursing Aides and Home Health Aides are permitted to take the patients vital signs such as the temperatures, pulse rate, respiration rate, or blood pressure. The Nursing Aides and Home Health Aides help patients in and out of bed assisting them to the bathrooms, surgery and testing areas. The Nursing Aides who work for a facility may help the patient during the tests when necessary. The Home Health Aides may drive the patient to the clinic or hospital for testing or surgery. Then the Home Health Aide may drive the patient back to their home and help them get back into bed, serve them food, or do other personal care services.
The Psychiatric aides, also known as mental health assistants or Psychiatric nursing assistants, care for mentally impaired or emotionally disturbed individuals. These types of Aides work under a team that usually includes a Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Psychiatric nurses, Social workers and Therapists. The Psychiatric aide is responsible to help a patient dress, bathe, groom themselves, and eat. The Psychiatric aides socialize with the patient often taking them to special events or perhaps accompany them to visit with family members. The Psychiatric aide may lead them in educational and recreational activities. Psychiatric aides may play card games or other games with patients, watch television with them, or participate in group activities, such as playing sports or going on field trips. Sometimes a psychiatric patient may be interested in going to art displays or a museum for instance or perhaps they might like to go to a flea market whatever the interest the Psychiatric aide may go with them to the event. The Psychiatric aide normally will observe the patient and report any physical or behavioral signs that might be important to important for the professional staff to know. The Psychiatric aide goes with the patient to therapy and treatment because they do have such close contact with the patients; Psychiatric aides can have a great deal of influence on their outlook and treatment. Those aides who work in the hospitals taking care of the patients must make daily reports that help the professionals recognize patient problems and needs. All these observations and reports are very important to the patient in order to help them get the proper treatment and care.