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

Home health aides are specially trained personnel that offer help to people who cannot properly take care of themselves for a reason or another.

In Idaho, the process of becoming a home health aide is as strict as becoming a certified nurse aide.

These home health aides also need to appear in the Nurse Aide Registry and as such, they’re under the supervision of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

Ideal Candidate

To be considered an ideal candidate for this position, you’ll need certain qualities.

These are:

• Good communication skills
• Dependable
• Patient
• Respectful
• Physical stamina
• Basic medical knowledge
• Detail-oriented

Sometimes, speaking another language will make a candidate stand out over the others.

Training and Certification

The training courses need to be accredited, and these can be found at the following institutions.

The programs last anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks, and the Department asks for at least 120 hours of training.

Each school has different enrollment requirements.

You’ll generally be asked to:

• Have a driver’s license or ID with photo
• Pass tuberculosis and drug test
• Be at least 16 years old
• Pass a background check

It is also pretty common to be required to have a CPR Card as well, either to be accepted in these classes or to get hired.

Once the course is finished, you’ll have to pass the written exam administered by Prometric, though you’ll also have to prove your skills in a separate test.

You should know that in some cases, usually based on clients’ needs, additional training might be needed.

If you want to advance in this field, you’ll have to consider further training or even enrolling in an Associate’s degree program, which lasts for 2 years.

Employment and Salary Details In Idaho

Once you obtained your certification, it is best to start searching for a job at the best employers in the state, as your chances of getting hired are higher.

In this state, these agencies are:

• Aspen Home Care in Meridian
• Kindred at Home in Coeur D’Alene
• Helping Hands Home Health in Pocatello
• Canyon Home Care and Hospice in Fruitland

Remember that these are agencies, and they’ll generally place their staff in public or private home settings, depending on requests and aide-client match.

However, as a home health aide, you also have the possibility of getting hired in a hospital.

All these work settings will greatly influence your income, as the schedule, duties, and shifts, are different.

Coeur d’Alene, Lewiston, and Post Falls are some of the cities where the average salary is higher.

Regional Salary in Idaho

Duties and Other Information on Home Health Aides

As mentioned, depending on the work environment, your duties as a home health aide will differ.

These are among the most common duties of the home health aides:

• Grocery shopping
• Meal preparation
• Medicine administration
• Checking vital signs
• Reporting changes in patient condition
• Dressing wounds
• Massaging

The duties are given to the aide by a registered nurse or a therapist who will also make visits to the aide’s workplace.

Not all clients need the same amount of visits as not all of them to have the same conditions.

The purpose of the visit is to ensure care and help is given and received, according to the plan.

HHA Schools by State