How Becoming A Home Health Aide Can Broaden Your Medical Career

If you've been considering getting into the health care field, but are not sure what you want to do, there is a solution. Getting your home health aid (HHA) certification is a great place to start. It teaches you the fundamentals of caregiving, giving you the opportunity to experience what it takes to care for others. Here are some ways it can help launch your career in health care.  

Getting Certified

Learning how to care for those who can't properly care for themselves starts with completing a home health aide training course. In a short period of time, you can learn the fundamentals of caregiving and help patients reach their ADLs or activities of daily living. 

Completing coursework is the first step. This sets you up for taking the certification test. From there, you will work hands-on with patients and other students to learn how to care for and identify specific medical concerns. You will work alongside nurses and other medical team members, as well as teachers and instructors. From there, you will take your final exam to gain certification status. This experience familiarizes you with the patient-caregiver relationship and allows you to explore further possible career options like physical therapy technician or phlebotomy. 

Fundamentals for Nursing

Training to be a certified home health aide lays down the fundamentals and groundwork for nursing. If you decide you want to get your degree in nursing, having an HHA certification can help make the process easier. You will already be familiar with a lot of medical terms and jargon. This should make course classes easier and allow you to take in new information and apply it to further your career. 

Gives You a Rewarding Career

Becoming a certified home health aide is a rewarding career that you can take with you, no matter where you live. You can choose to work in any medical setting such as a hospital, skilled nursing facility, or privately in someone's home. Being able to help patients live comfortably helps them become as independent as possible. 

It can be a lucrative job, with the average annual pay being around $34,787. In addition, it's a great way to stay employed while furthering your medical career. With flexible schedules, most companies will work around your college courses to allow you to make a decent income while completing school. 

Becoming a certified home health aide is a versatile entry-level career in the medical field. With its short training period, you can quickly learn the fundamentals of caregiving while further pursuing your medical career. 

Contact a local HHA certification service to learn more. 


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