Home Health Aide Services

Lorian Home-Health Aides are among those commonly referred to as direct care workers, due to their role in working with patients who need long-term care. Home Health Aides provide hands-on care and perform routine tasks under the supervision of nursing and medical staff. Specific tasks vary, with Aides handling many aspects of a patient’s care. They often help patients to eat, dress, and bathe. They also answer calls for help, deliver messages, serve meals, make beds and tidy up rooms. They also may help provide care to patients by helping them get into and out of bed to walk, or providing skin care. Some Aides help other medical staff by setting up equipment, storing and moving supplies, and assisting with some procedures. Aides also observe patients’ physical, mental, and emotional conditions and report any change to the nursing or medical staff.

Most Home-Health Aides work with elderly or disabled persons who need more extensive care than family or friends can provide. Some help discharged hospital patients who have relatively short-term needs. In Home- Health Agencies, a Registered Nurse, Physical Therapist, or Social Worker usually assigns specific duties to and supervises home-health aides, who keep records of the services they perform and record each patient’s condition and progress. The aides report changes in a patient’s condition to the supervisor or case manager.

Lorian Home-Health Aides also perform tasks that some may consider unpleasant, such as emptying bedpans and changing soiled bed linens. The patients they care for may be disoriented, irritable, or uncooperative. Although their work can be emotionally demanding, many Aides gain satisfaction from assisting those in need.