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How to hire a health aide

Health aide hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring health aides in the United States:

  • In the United States, the median cost per hire a health aide is $1,633.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
  • On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new health aide to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a health aide, step by step

To hire a health aide, consider the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Follow these steps to hire a health aide:

Here's a step-by-step health aide hiring guide:

  • Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
  • Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
  • Step 3: Make a budget
  • Step 4: Write a health aide job description
  • Step 5: Post your job
  • Step 6: Interview candidates
  • Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new health aide
  • Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a health aide do?

A health aide is responsible for providing care and assistance to patients in medical facilities, care centers, and even at home. They typically help patients by administering medicines, monitoring their blood pressure and vital signs, facilitating exercises, preparing meals, providing emotional support, and assisting them in performing hygienic tasks such as bathing, dressing, brushing teeth, and going to the toilet. Furthermore, as a health aide, it is essential to monitor the behavior and progress of patients, reporting to nurses and physicians regularly.

Learn more about the specifics of what a health aide does
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  1. Identify your hiring needs

    The health aide hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    Hiring the perfect health aide also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

    This list presents health aide salaries for various positions.

    Type of Health AideDescriptionHourly rate
    Health AideHome health aides help people with disabilities, chronic illness, or cognitive impairment with activities of daily living. They often help older adults who need assistance... Show more$11-18
    SitterA sitter is responsible for assisting medical needs under the supervision of an attending physician, registered nurses, and other health professionals. Sitters monitor the patients' daily activities and perform medical duties such as taking the patient's temperature, administering medications, monitoring food intake, helping with bathing needs, and responding to the patients' inquiries, concerns, and requests... Show more$9-18
    Attending, Ambulatory CareAn attending, ambulatory care is responsible for providing patient care, supporting ongoing treatment of health issues, and managing recovery through coordinating with attending physicians or other medical professionals. They evaluate medical records, including history and consultation purposes, develop a necessary care plan, keep an accurate medical chart, and schedule laboratory tests and follow-up as needed... Show more$9-20
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Patients
    • Home Health
    • Community Health
    • Vital Signs
    • Patient Care
    • CPR
    • Health Services
    • Math
    • Emergency Care
    • Independent Living
    • School Health
    • Developmental Disabilities
    • Blood Pressure
    • Emergency Situations
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
    • Perform care plan documentation to effectively implement personal care, dietary needs, and ADL requirements.
    • Share health information with school staff and arrange training sessions for CPR certification and health care implementation.
    • Care consists of medication administration, helping with ADL'S if necessary with the students with significant needs.
    • Last school year, perform CPR on an adult volunteer and help resuscitate him and is doing just fine.
    • Document all physical condition, behavioral and mental illness changes in patients as well as procedures perform and medication administer.
    More health aide duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in your health aide job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A health aide salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

    For example, the average salary for a health aide in West Virginia may be lower than in Washington, and an entry-level health aide usually earns less than a senior-level health aide. Additionally, a health aide with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

    Average health aide salary

    $14.63hourly

    $30,434 yearly

    Entry-level health aide salary
    $23,000 yearly salary
    Updated December 16, 2025

    Average health aide salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1Washington$38,367$18
    2Massachusetts$37,222$18
    3California$36,441$18
    4Minnesota$35,630$17
    5New Jersey$32,865$16
    6Colorado$31,925$15
    7Pennsylvania$30,613$15
    8Ohio$29,784$14
    9Texas$29,390$14
    10Indiana$28,707$14
    11Oklahoma$27,556$13
    12Arizona$26,864$13
    13Missouri$26,202$13
    14Kansas$25,946$12
    15Georgia$24,511$12
    16Florida$23,955$12

    Average health aide salary by company

  4. Writing a health aide job description

    A health aide job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a health aide job description:

    Health aide job description example

    Responsibilities

    The primary purpose of the Behavioral Health Aide position is to be under the direction and supervision
    of a Registered Nurse. Under this supervision she/he will provide direct patient care to the patient ages (18) to maturity, performs simple nursing
    procedures, transports patients to tests and procedures, and contributes to the overall orderliness and cleanliness of the unit.

    Qualifications

    High school diploma or equivalent certification program is required. Graduate of an accredited nursing assistant course or one (1) year of nursing
    assistant experience or experience in the role of a Behavioral Health Aide required. Current CPR certification is required and must maintain valid
    certification by the American Heart Association. Behavioral health experience or crisis intervention and de-escalation experience preferred.
    Applicants must be able to take temperatures, pulse, respirations, blood pressure and other simple procedures where indicated.


    Must successfully complete Handle with Care training within one year of employment. Completion of “Handle with Care Training and Behavior
    Management” techniques course annually is mandatory. Ability to read, write, speak, understand and communicate in English sufficiently to
    perform the duties of the job. Staff will be expected to utilize de-escalation techniques and proper physical interventional techniques. Requires
    exceptional demonstration of patience and accommodation to the patients due to the nature of the patient population.


    Must be able to demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to provide care to adult and older adult patients. Must demonstrate knowledge
    of key principles of growth and development of the life span; possesses the ability to assess data reflective of the patient's status, culture and
    ethnicity. Must be able to interpret the appropriate information needed to identify each patient's needs relative to his/her age, culture, ethnicity
    and disability (if applicable) in accordance with University Hospital's policies and procedures

    University Hospital offers a competitive salary & comprehensive benefits package. Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer, M/F/D/V. For more information, visit www.uhnj.org/hrweb.

  5. Post your job

    There are various strategies that you can use to find the right health aide for your business:

    • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
    • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
    • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
    • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.
    Post your job online:
    • Post your health aide job on Zippia to find and attract quality health aide candidates.
    • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
    • Post a job on free websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    Your first interview with health aide candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

    It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

    The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

  7. Send a job offer and onboard your new health aide

    Once you've decided on a perfect health aide candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

    It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

    To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

  8. Go through the hiring process checklist

    • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
    • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
    • Define job responsibilities and requirements
    • Establish budget and timeline
    • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
    • Write job description
    • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
    • Promote the job internally
    • Process applications through applicant tracking system
    • Review resumes and cover letters
    • Shortlist candidates for screening
    • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
    • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
    • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
    • Conduct background checks on top candidates
    • Check references of top candidates
    • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
    • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
    • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
    • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
    • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
    • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire a health aide?

Hiring a health aide comes with both the one-time cost per hire and ongoing costs. The cost of recruiting health aides involves promoting the job and spending time conducting interviews. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider the cost of health aide recruiting as well the ongoing costs of maintaining the new employee.

Health aides earn a median yearly salary is $30,434 a year in the US. However, if you're looking to find health aides for hire on a contract or per-project basis, hourly rates typically range between $11 and $18.

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