How to Become a Home Health Aide in Florida (Requirements & Schools)

Generally, the demand for personnel working in the healthcare industry is on the rise.

Home health aides help patients with a series of tasks, according to the needs of the patients who are usually called clients.

If you want to become a home health aide in Florida, read this article that helps you get started!

Ideal Candidate

First of all, you should make sure you’re the ideal candidate for the job.

Most employers of home health aides are looking for someone:

• Who has a driver’s license
• Is compassionate
• Is healthy and strong
• Who has good communication skills

Having additional skills is a plus.

These includes:

• Being able to cook
• Being good with pets
• Knowing a second language

Training and Education

Home health aides are generally employed by agencies and in this case, they need to undergo training and obtain a certification.

This is especially true if the agency accepts Medicare or Medicaid from their clients, however training and certification generally increase your chances of employment.

The training should be:

• 75 total hours of preparation
• 16 hours of clinical training

Training programs are designed to last for a few weeks, though you can opt to enroll in an Associates degree program to have more chances at developing a career.

These are some of the areas you’ll get training in:

• Processes of development and aging
• Personal care services
• Infection control
• Nutrition
• Maintaining the least restrictive environment
• Body mechanics
• Assistive technology

The certification is issued to those who pass the exam at the end of their training.

The National Nurse Aide Assessment Program (NNAAP) is just one of the certifications available across the nation, but the one with the widest recognition.

Below are the schools offering accredited classes for future home health aides.

Generally, to be accepted in these accredited programs you need a high school diploma or GED.

It is however possible to enroll in some of them while still being in high school.

Other enrollment requirements are:

• Passing a drug test
• Passing a tuberculosis test
• Passing a background check
• Passing some exams:
  • Math
  • Reading
  • English

Not all the programs cost as much, and some employers offer to pay for them.

This makes some courses available only to those who already got employed.

Employment and Salary in Florida

You can get employed faster if you apply to these agencies first:

• Home Care Services in Tavares
• Amedysis Home Health in Port Orange and Arcadia
• NHC Homecare in Vero Beach
• Carter Healthcare in Largo
• VNA Space Coast in Melbourne

If you want a higher average salary, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and St. Petersburg are among the cities where this is possible.

Regional Salary in Florida

Home health aides can also work in hospitals, and this is a location where the salary is also higher, but the amount of work can also be higher than in a home setting.

Extra Information

The position of a home health aide is a supervised one and the supervisor is generally a licensed nurse or in some cases, a therapist.

The supervisor will pay visits to the workplace when the aide works for an agency in a home setting.

The most common duties of these aides are:

• Personal care,
• Homemaking,
• Companionship,
• Basic and routine nursing-related duties

Other duties appear on a case-by-case basis since not all the clients have the same needs.

HHA Schools by State