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What does a Residential Aide do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a Residential Aide do

A residential aide is responsible for assisting residents and patients in a community facility, supporting them in their daily activities and personal routines. Residential aides monitor the patients' health conditions, coordinate with medical professionals, and ensure that they receive the proper medications. They also assist the residents with their inquiries and concerns, as well as developing community programs and events, sustaining the healthy welfare of the citizens. A residential aide must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially when communicating with management and other organizations for assistance on charity works.

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Residential aide responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real residential aide resumes:

  • Lead support groups with an emphasis on recovery and strength base techniques, DBT, CBT, self-care and coping skills.
  • Provide direct patient care, understanding, and compassion for patients.
  • Train in Epi-Pen, CPR and allergic reaction emergency procedures.
  • Assist with transferring residents in and out of wheelchairs and adaptive equipment.assist with ADLs.
  • Aid patients with ADL'S which includes toilete assist, bathing, washing, dressing, cooking etc.
  • Administer medication, assisting with ADL'S, v/s, glucose monitoring, wind care, laundry and monthly paperwork.
  • Promote community awareness and utilize adaptive equipment.
  • Follow procedures to report changes, physical injuries/conditions and cleanliness.
  • Monitor activities and inspect the facility to ensure safety and cleanliness.
  • Promote continuity of care by accurately and completely communicating to other caregivers the status of patients for which care is provided.
  • Assist MR residents to Dr. appointments, cook, clean and complete daily activities.

Residential aide skills and personality traits

We calculated that 12% of Residential Aides are proficient in Autism, Developmental Disabilities, and Compassion. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Integrity, and Physical stamina.

We break down the percentage of Residential Aides that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Autism, 12%

    Assist residents who have been diagnosed with autism, intellectual/developmental disabilities and acquired brain injury with daily activities.

  • Developmental Disabilities, 11%

    Instruct and assist adults with developmental disabilities on daily living skills, and facilitate involvement in community and socialization activities.

  • Compassion, 11%

    Administered prescribed care with compassion and sensitivity to patient needs.

  • Direct Support, 8%

    Work in group home setting with clients providing direct support.

  • Cleanliness, 5%

    Monitored activities and inspected the facility to ensure safety and cleanliness.

  • CPR, 5%

    Cared for mentally disabled adults; Dispensed and charted all medicine intake; First Aid classes and CPR courses.

Common skills that a residential aide uses to do their job include "autism," "developmental disabilities," and "compassion." You can find details on the most important residential aide responsibilities below.

Detail oriented. The most essential soft skill for a residential aide to carry out their responsibilities is detail oriented. This skill is important for the role because "home health aides and personal care aides must adhere to specific rules and protocols and carefully follow instructions to help take care of clients." Additionally, a residential aide resume shows how their duties depend on detail oriented: "front desk duties, data entry, security detail"

Integrity. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling residential aide duties is integrity. The role rewards competence in this skill because "home health aides and personal care aides should make clients feel comfortable when they tend to personal activities, such as helping a client bathe." According to a residential aide resume, here's how residential aides can utilize integrity in their job responsibilities: "position patients appropriately to maintain skin integrity; assist with comfort needs. "

Physical stamina. This is an important skill for residential aides to perform their duties. For an example of how residential aide responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "home health aides and personal care aides should be comfortable performing physical tasks." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a residential aide: "provide care for individuals with developmental and physical disabilities grooming, bathing, medication administration, feeding, cleaning. ".

Interpersonal skills. residential aide responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "home health aides and personal care aides must work closely with clients." This resume example shows what residential aides do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "model non-violent conflict resolution and use excellent interpersonal communication skills. "

Most common residential aide skills

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Compare different residential aides

Residential aide vs. Support worker

A support worker is responsible for supporting the community programs and development efforts to sustain and ensure the citizens' stability, providing them resources for their daily needs, and helping them with financial assistance requests. Support workers conduct family counseling to identify their challenges and needs and coordinate with the necessary organizations to process their requests. They must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in filing documents and guiding the citizens in achieving their healthy lifestyle and make a positive difference.

We looked at the average residential aide salary and compared it with the wages of a support worker. Generally speaking, support workers are paid $10,863 higher than residential aides per year.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both residential aide and support worker positions are skilled in developmental disabilities, cpr, and crisis intervention.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a residential aide are more likely to require skills like "autism," "compassion," "direct support," and "cleanliness." On the other hand, a job as a support worker requires skills like "social work," "treatment plan," "social services," and "foster care." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Support workers earn the highest salaries when working in the manufacturing industry, with an average yearly salary of $42,658. On the other hand, residential aides are paid more in the education industry with an average salary of $28,714.On average, support workers reach similar levels of education than residential aides. Support workers are 4.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Residential aide vs. Support staff

School support staff provide specialized instructional and student support while utilizing school facilities. They often include diverse staff members whose main role is to ensure that students learn in a supportive and safe learning environment. It is also their duty to enhance school climate by promoting the involvement of parent and family in education as well as to encourage trusting, positive student relationships. They should inhibit positive behavior and send uplifting messages to students as they often connect with them throughout the day.

A career as a support staff brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a residential aide. In fact, desk clerks supervisors salary is $5,596 higher than the salary of residential aides per year.A few skills overlap for residential aides and desk clerks supervisors. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "developmental disabilities," "direct support," and "cpr. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real residential aide resumes. While residential aide responsibilities can utilize skills like "autism," "compassion," "cleanliness," and "home health," desk clerks supervisors use skills like "customer service," "meal preparation," "home maintenance," and "behavioral issues."

On average, desk clerks supervisors earn a higher salary than residential aides. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, desk clerks supervisors earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $32,113. Whereas residential aides have higher pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $28,714.In general, desk clerks supervisors achieve similar levels of education than residential aides. They're 2.5% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Residential aide vs. Direct care counselor

A direct care counselor provides direct counseling and assistance to the elderly or individuals with disabilities and mental issues. They usually work at rehabilitation centers or care facilities and work together with nurses or caregivers to administer different treatment plans, monitor and support the patients' progress, and help the patients carry out daily activities such as performing hygienic or routine living tasks. Moreover, a direct care counselor may also develop and implement various healthcare programs and recreational activities while adhering to the facility's policies and regulations.

On average, direct care counselors earn higher salaries than residential aides, with a $7,246 difference per year.By looking over several residential aides and direct care counselors resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "autism," "developmental disabilities," and "cpr." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from residential aide resumes include skills like "compassion," "direct support," "cleanliness," and "home health," whereas a direct care counselor is more likely to list skills in "data collection," "scip," "amap," and "adaptive. "

Direct care counselors typically earn higher educational levels compared to residential aides. Specifically, they're 5.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Residential aide vs. Direct care provider

A Direct Care Worker specializes in providing care and assistance to patients, typically to the elderly. Their responsibilities include preparing and feeding meals, administering medication and other treatments, and monitoring their conditions, updating the physician or the patients' families regularly. They must also assist patients in various hygienic tasks such as bathing, dressing, brushing teeth, or going to the toilet. There are instances when Direct Care Workers must perform various household tasks such as laundry, washing the dishes, shopping for groceries, and running errands as needed.

Direct care providers tend to earn a higher pay than residential aides by an average of $3,294 per year.While their salaries may vary, residential aides and direct care providers both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "developmental disabilities," "cpr," and "crisis intervention. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "autism," "compassion," "direct support," and "cleanliness" are skills that commonly show up on residential aide resumes. On the other hand, direct care providers use skills like meal preparation, administer medications, client behavior, and group homes on their resumes.In general, direct care providers earn the most working in the health care industry, with an average salary of $29,461. The highest-paying industry for a residential aide is the education industry.In general, direct care providers hold similar degree levels compared to residential aides. Direct care providers are 2.3% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of residential aide

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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