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Home health aid vs nurses' aide

The differences between home health aids and nurses' aides can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a nurses' aide has an average salary of $30,496, which is higher than the $27,249 average annual salary of a home health aid.

The top three skills for a home health aid include home health, patients and companionship. The most important skills for a nurses' aide are patients, vital signs, and electrocardiogram.

Home health aid vs nurses' aide overview

Home Health AidNurses' Aide
Yearly salary$27,249$30,496
Hourly rate$13.10$14.66
Growth rate36%9%
Number of jobs248,490157,723
Job satisfaction4.294.5
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 32%High School Diploma, 30%
Average age5042
Years of experience-3

What does a home health aid do?

Home health aides provide care and assistance to patients who have chronic illnesses, injuries, disabilities, or age-related challenges inside the patient's home. They monitor the patient's condition and help them in any activity they may need assistance in. They provide support to both the patient and the family to manage the patient's condition. Home health aides care for the patient by providing personal services like bathing and basic grooming, designing nutritional plans, cooking and preparing meals, running errands, maintaining the cleanliness of the home, managing medication intake, and ensuring the home is safe and secure for the patient.

What does a nurses' aide do?

A nurses' aide is responsible for providing healthcare and welfare assistance to patients in long-term care facilities while under the supervision of a registered nurse or a licensed colleague with extensive expertise. A nurses' aide is mostly involved in basic hygienic tasks, such as helping a patient in bathing and dressing, using the toilet, preparing meals, feeding, and performing basic chores. It is also vital for a nurses' aide to coordinate with supervisors, reporting any changes in a patients' condition or behavior.

Home health aid vs nurses' aide salary

Home health aids and nurses' aides have different pay scales, as shown below.

Home Health AidNurses' Aide
Average salary$27,249$30,496
Salary rangeBetween $20,000 And $36,000Between $23,000 And $39,000
Highest paying CityReading, MAUrban Honolulu, HI
Highest paying stateMassachusettsHawaii
Best paying companySt. Jude Children's Research HospitalUniversity of California, Berkeley
Best paying industryHealth CareHealth Care

Differences between home health aid and nurses' aide education

There are a few differences between a home health aid and a nurses' aide in terms of educational background:

Home Health AidNurses' Aide
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 32%High School Diploma, 30%
Most common majorNursingNursing
Most common college--

Home health aid vs nurses' aide demographics

Here are the differences between home health aids' and nurses' aides' demographics:

Home Health AidNurses' Aide
Average age5042
Gender ratioMale, 13.6% Female, 86.4%Male, 13.2% Female, 86.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 24.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 23.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 35.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.3% Asian, 7.6% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage5%7%

Differences between home health aid and nurses' aide duties and responsibilities

Home health aid example responsibilities.

  • Clean house, cook, run errands, take to doctor appointments
  • Prepare for HIPAA and JCAHO reviews, ensuring require brochures and pamphlets are available to patients in all clinics.
  • Conduct insurance verifications for Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance patients.
  • Perform ADL's, medication administration, pulmonary therapy, daily physiotherapy.
  • Provide physical and emotional support and companionship to senior adults in degenerative loss of memory and/or motor functions.
  • Obtain household supplies and run daily errands.
  • Show more

Nurses' aide example responsibilities.

  • Manage and schedule restorative nursing programs for patients to encourage further rehabilitation or maintenance of physical function.
  • Maintain current CPR and hospital policies, work with patients ranging from pediatrics to geriatrics on a daily basis.
  • Perform ADL's (activities of daily living) and direct care services to assign patients to ensure schedule appointments are met
  • Assist with patient transfer, ambulation, catheter care, vital signs, answering call lights, feeding, and shower.
  • Lead RCA that overlook on residents and supervise staff.
  • Perform housekeeping to maintain cleanliness of the facility or patient's residence.
  • Show more

Home health aid vs nurses' aide skills

Common home health aid skills
  • Home Health, 22%
  • Patients, 13%
  • Companionship, 7%
  • Patient Care, 5%
  • HHA, 5%
  • CPR, 4%
Common nurses' aide skills
  • Patients, 27%
  • Vital Signs, 12%
  • Electrocardiogram, 8%
  • Compassion, 7%
  • Rehabilitation, 5%
  • Medical Equipment, 4%

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