A personal care attendant performs a wide range of personal care tasks and chores for, with, and for the person for whom they are hired. These healthcare workers, also known as home health aides or sitters, provide nursing, light housekeeping, shopping errands, and other tasks that are tailored to each patient’s needs, requests, and personal care plan. Personal care attendants do not need a high school diploma, nor do they need any certifications or licenses to work in the private sector. Instead, the requirements to become a personal care attendant are determined by the type of work duties expected of the attendant and whether or not the attendant intends to work for an agency. To work as a personal care attendant, you must have a strong desire to help others.
Although a high school diploma is not required to work as a personal care attendant in the private sector, all home aides must be functionally literate and capable of performing basic arithmetic. The majority of agency attendants have a high school diploma or have passed the general educational development (GED®) examination. In addition, most US home health and hospice organizations require employees to be certified as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) before they can work as a personal care attendant for two reasons. First, the majority of home care attendant cases require CNA skills, such as vital sign monitoring and medication administration assistance. Second, in order for Medicare and most insurance companies to pay home health care agencies for covered services, such as home hospice or after a hospital admission, this credentialing is required.
While certification as a nursing assistant is not required, it can significantly improve a potential home health care worker’s chances and options for becoming a personal care attendant (CNA). This procedure varies by state in the United States, but it usually entails taking a community college-level class and passing both a skills and a written test. The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) also offers Home Care Aide (HCA) certification, which is based on a curriculum and testing procedure that is similar to most states’ CNA requirements. Agencies refer to non-CNA personal care workers as “sitters,” and they have fewer assignments and opportunities for work.
Many caregivers prefer to work as a private-duty or freelance personal care attendant. Working freelance allows the attendant to negotiate her own hours and rate of pay with the patient or the patient’s family rather than relying on an agency for assignments and pay. The reputation of the care attendant is the most important aspect of private-duty freelance work. Prior patients are not only a great reference for future jobs, but they are also a great source of referrals for the care attendant.