If you are interested in becoming a Home Health Aide (HHA), you will be starting a rewarding and challenging vocation. To provide quality care and make sure that you enjoy a long career, take a look at these five characteristics that define an excellent HHA.
1. Patience
The nature of helping others with mental and/or physical conditions requires plenty of patience. On a daily basis, you will need to stay calm and utilize self-control with your clients. For instance, your client will most likely have limited mobility and needs your help in completing the daily tasks. You will find that this usually takes longer than your schedule allows. Patience will help you take the extra time you need to assist your client without rushing them. Moreover, your patience will keep you from complaining or potentially upsetting your client.
2. Empathy
Caregivers who are empathetic will understand how their clients are feeling. Especially since patients are often frustrated or emotional with their limitations, showing empathy is very helpful. Your clients will feel that they are not alone as they have an empathetic HHA by their side. In addition, empathy leads to compassion. Compassion develops trust between you and your client as you spend more time together. When you discover what particular interests you can share with your patient, you can make your visits more enjoyable for both of you. Empathy and compassion go hand in hand to be a quality caregiver.
3. Perceptive
Perceptive individuals are aware of their situation and understand how every small change is important. As an HHA, you need to be perceptive about your patient’s status as well as changes in their behavior. Especially because you see your client on a routine basis, you will have a sense of what is their normal status. When this begins to change, you will need to make a note of any warning signals. For instance, if you notice that your patient is starting to lose weight or is not as talkative as normal, a perceptive HHA will report these changes rather than ignore them.
4. Dependable
Being dependable is very important because your client relies on you to arrive on time and help them with their daily tasks. You need to be responsible enough to complete your assigned duties at the specified time. Even if you are running late, you can be dependable enough to call your client and let them know when to expect you. Especially since your patients are unable to perform many of these tasks on their own, your help is essential. When you are dependable, your clients will trust you even more.
5. Good Communicator
Communication skills will help you a lot when working with clients. You should be good at expressing your thoughts by listening to others as well as responding in a clear and understandable way. By actively listening to your patients, you are showing that you care about them. Good communication skills allow you to answer their concerns as well as talk to them clearly and compassionately. You will also need to write well for your reports. If you want to become better at communication, there are many excellent classes available where you can hone your skills and practice with others.
The best part of this fulfilling career is that you can make a significant difference in the lives of your clients. If your heart is set on becoming an HHA, you most likely have these characteristics already or you are willing to develop them further. To get more information on earning your HHA certificate, visit http://www.hha-certification.com/.
