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Job Description: Personal and home care aides help the elderly and disabled live in their private residences or in non-residential facilities instead of in health care facilities. Most aides assist families with elderly or disabled clients who need more extensive care than family and friends can provide. Others assist families with young children by doing routine housekeeping tasks such as preparing meals, doing laundry, and washing dishes. They may also be called caregivers, homemaker aides, companions, personal attendants, or personal care assistants. For related occupational information, see home health aides who provide health-related services such as administering medication and changing bandages in a patient's home under the direct supervision of a physician or registered nurse.
Duties: Home care aides who assist elderly, disabled, or convalescent persons may perform some or all of the following duties:
- Administer bedside care to incapacitated patient
- Assist patient in bathing and grooming
- Change bed linens
- Take patient to toilet or assist with bedpan
- Change bandages
- Check pulse and breathing rates
- Clean patient's room and bathroom
- Converse with patients to keep them mentally alert and occupied
- Entertain patients, read aloud, and play cards or other games
- Drive patient to medical appointments
- Assist in teaching and training children
- Supervise play activities
- Shop for food
- Plan and prepare meals
- Wash dishes
- Do laundry
For detailed information on tasks, knowledge, skills, abilities, work activities, work contexts, job zones, interests, work styles, work values, and related occupations visit the O*Net Online, a division of the National Center for Occupational Information.
Working Conditions: Personal and home care aides encounter a variety of situations when working in private residences. In addition to their regular tasks, they must be able to handle the emotional or physical problems associated with the elderly and disabled. Families with young children present a demanding situation as well. Aides frequently work long, irregular hours. Some full-time certified home care aides may visit five or six patients each day and spend one to two hours with each. Others stay with one patient for a regular eight-hour shift and may do so for many months or years. They must be able to lift and turn bedridden patients on a regular basis to prevent bedsores. Some aides must plan and cook meals following special dietary guidelines. They may be required to shop for food and medicine. The needs are great for in this field and the personal rewards may be boundless.
Educational Requirements: This occupation is open to individuals with no formal training in some instances; however, most home care agencies require aides to have a high school diploma. Some nursing homes and technical centers offer certification courses in this field. The average course may be completed in 120 hours. Specialized training consists of courses in basic nutrition, meal planning and preparation, patient care, and alleviating fear and anxiety in the elderly. Other requirements of the job may include having a valid Tennessee driver's license and access to an automobile, passing a physical examination, and interest in caring for ill patients in their home. For related information and recommended courses to prepare for this occupation, Tennessee high school students may visit the Health Science Education Curriculum Standards online.
Outlook: The estimated number of home care and personal aides in Tennessee is 9,230. It is projected there will be a 31 percent increase in this occupation through the year 2012 with 430 job openings annually. The above-average rate of growth is expected to continue due to the aging population and the rising cost of health care. For additional information on this occupation, visit the nationally recognized Occupational Outlook Handbook online.
| 10% | 25% | Median- 50% | 75% | 90% | |
| TN Annual | $12,720 | $14,940 | $17,040 | $19,310 | $22,210 |
| US Annual | $12,590 | $14,750 | $17,770 | $21,200 | $24,120 |
*Some salaries are listed at an hourly rate. Those that include a single dollar amount are considered hourly wage.
Wage and salary data provided by:
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Tennessee Department of Labor website
- TN Department of Labor & Workforce Development website
- Bureau of Economic Analysis website
For an explanation of salary data please visit acinet.org
Last updated on: January 29, 2008