A home health aide visits patients of a Medicare-certified agency at home to help them bathe, dress, move safely and do their therapy exercises, working from instructions a nurse or therapist writes. The aide calls the nurse right away about changes such as a fall, new swelling or new confusion.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, home health care agencies · BLS, May 2025
We're hiring a Home Health Aide to give personal care to our home health patients. You'll help patients bathe, dress, and move safely, follow the care instructions an RN or therapist writes for each patient, and tell the nurse right away when something changes. You work on your own in patients' homes, with a nurse a phone call away.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Help patients bathe, dress, groom, use the toilet, and care for their skin, following the aide care plan.
Help patients walk, transfer, and do the exercises their therapist assigned, using a gait belt or lift when the plan calls for one.
Take and record temperature, pulse, and breathing rate when the care plan calls for it.
Help with medications the patient normally takes on their own, such as reminders, only as the care plan and your state allow.
Do the light housekeeping, meal help, and laundry the care plan lists.
Report changes in condition, falls, and safety concerns to the RN Case Manager right away.
Clock in and out with [EVV app] at each visit where your state or payer requires electronic visit verification.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Check your schedule in [your app] and drive to [4–6] patients' homes.
Read the aide care plan before each visit and do the tasks it lists.
Watch for warning signs such as new confusion, skin breakdown, or swelling, and call them in.
Keep the home safe: clear trip hazards, lock wheelchair brakes, and leave the walker within reach.
Finish your visit note before you leave each home.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Visits completed as scheduled: [your target].
On-time arrival: [your target].
Visits verified without manual EVV edits: [your target].
Visit notes complete and on time: [your target].
Patient satisfaction with aide visits: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Completed home health aide training and competency evaluation that meet federal rules for Medicare-certified agencies and your state's requirements.
[Home health aide certification or CNA certification], listed on your state's registry where your state requires it.
Current CPR certification, or able to earn it during orientation, and completes the yearly in-service training federal and state rules require.
Valid driver's license, a reliable car, and auto insurance for driving between patients' homes.
Passes a criminal background check, registry checks, and health screenings such as TB testing, as your state requires.
Keeps what you see and hear in patients' homes private, following HIPAA.
6. Preferred Experience
[1+] years as a home health aide, CNA, or caregiver.
Experience with patients who have dementia, use a mechanical lift, or are recovering from surgery.
Speaks [a language many of our patients speak].
Open to weekend or short-notice visits.
7. Physical Requirements
Standing, bending, kneeling, and reaching for much of each visit.
Helping patients transfer, reposition, and walk, lifting up to [50] pounds with a gait belt, mechanical lift, or a second person.
Driving between homes and climbing stairs.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Work alone in patients' homes across [your service area], with an RN Case Manager supervising your care.
Every home is different: you may find pets, smoke, clutter, stairs, or no air conditioning.
Contact with body fluids during personal care; wear gloves and follow the infection control steps we teach.
If a home ever feels unsafe, leave and call the office, following our safety policy.
Schedule: [days and hours], with travel time and mileage between homes handled per [your policy].
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new home health aide gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
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How home health aide work differs from a facility aide job
A nursing home aide has a nurse down the hall. A home health aide is on their own in each patient's home, and Medicare's rules decide what each visit is for and how long the case lasts.
Housework rides along with personal care
Medicare covers aide visits made for hands-on personal care or care that supports treatment. That includes bathing, help with transfers, simple dressing changes that don't need a nurse, and routine exercises that back up therapy. Changing the bed, personal laundry or a light meal can be part of the visit, but only as extras to that care. Medicare won't cover a visit that is only for cleaning. Source: 42 CFR 409.45: Dependent services requirements (Cornell LII).
The case ends when the skilled care ends
Medicare covers aide care only alongside part-time skilled nursing or therapy, not as the only care someone needs. Medicare.gov says nursing and aide care combined generally stay within 8 hours a day and 28 hours a week. So an aide makes several short visits a day, and patients come off the list when their nursing or therapy ends. Source: Medicare.gov: Home health services.
Medication help has state limits
Federal rules let an aide help with medicines a patient normally takes on their own, when the plan of care and state law allow it. State law decides how far that goes. New Jersey, for one, lets a certified homemaker-home health aide give a medicine only when a registered nurse delegates that specific drug and records its dose, route and frequency in the plan of care. Source: N.J. Admin. Code 13:37-14.3: Duties of a homemaker-home health aide (Cornell LII).
A long gap means retraining
Ask when the candidate last did paid home health work. Under Medicare's rules, if they went 24 months in a row without being paid for that work at any point since finishing their program, the program no longer counts. They must pass a new training or competency program before their first visit. An old certificate is fine if the paid work never stopped for two years. Source: 42 CFR 484.80: Home health aide services (Cornell LII).
Someone else's house is the workplace
OSHA lists the hazards home care workers face. The most common injuries are strains and sprains from lifting and moving patients. Aides also meet body fluids, hostile pets, unsafe or dirty homes and time on the road. OSHA's bloodborne pathogens standard applies when the job's duties mean contact with blood or other infectious fluids can reasonably be expected. Give aides gloves, lift training and a clear rule for leaving a home that feels unsafe. Source: OSHA: Home healthcare.
How much home health aides make
The closest BLS group for home health aides is home health and personal care aides. Home health and personal care aides who work for home health care agencies earned a median of $17.42 an hour ($36,230 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $35,800 median for home health and personal care aides in all industries. About 1,079,060 of the 4,305,810 home health and personal care aides in that survey work for home health care agencies.
Aides earn an hourly wage or a set rate per visit, and mileage for driving between patients. Drive time from one patient to the next during the day counts as hours worked, so say how it is paid, along with weekend and short-notice visits.
Home health care agencies
$36,230$36,230 median Middle half $28,400–$39,330 10th–90th $23,290–$43,900
All industries
$35,800$35,800 median Middle half $31,920–$39,470 10th–90th $27,040–$45,040
$10k$20k$30k$40k$50k$60k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Home health care agencies
$23,290
$28,400
$36,230
$39,330
$43,900
All industries
$27,040
$31,920
$35,800
$39,470
$45,040
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Follows the aide care plan exactly, without adding or skipping tasks
Notices small changes, like a red heel or a patient who seems foggy, and calls the nurse
Treats each patient's home, belongings and privacy with respect
Arrives on time and calls the office early when a visit will run late
Writes a short, accurate visit note on a phone before leaving the home
Holds an aide credential that meets Medicare's rules and your state's
Teach these on the job
Your EMR app and the EVV clock-in steps
The lifts, shower chairs and transfer devices in your patients' homes
Your infection control steps between homes
The warning signs your nurses want called in, and who to call
Your policy for a home that feels unsafe
Aides see their schedule, read the aide care plan, clock in and chart in a phone app tied to the agency's EMR, such as Axxess, WellSky, HCHB or MatrixCare. In the home they use gait belts, shower chairs, mechanical lifts where the plan calls for one, a thermometer and gloves.
Home health aide interview questions
They have their own page: 7 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
The blueprint leaves each target blank. Track a month of your own aide visits first, then set targets that fit your routes and caseloads.
Visits completed as scheduled
Completed aide visits divided by aide visits on the schedule each week, from the EMR. Sort misses by reason, such as patient not home, hospital stay or aide call-off, since only some are the aide's to fix.
On-time arrival
Compare each EVV clock-in with the visit time the patient was given. Agree on a grace window first, and check the drive times before blaming an aide for a route that can't be done.
Visits verified without manual EVV edits
Visits whose clock-in and clock-out matched with no office fix, divided by all of the aide's visits. A rising count of edits often points to a phone, signal or habit problem worth a quick talk.
Visit notes complete and on time
Notes finished before the aide leaves the home, divided by all visits. Each month a nurse spot-checks some notes to confirm the tasks match the care plan and that changes were called in.
Patient satisfaction with aide visits
Gather what the nurse hears on supervisory visits, compliments and complaints logged by the office, and any request for a different aide. Review them with the aide every quarter.
Career path
Personal care aideLearns personal care and clients' homes on the non-medical side.
Home Health AideGives personal care to Medicare patients from a nurse's or therapist's written instructions.
Licensed practical nurseMakes skilled nursing visits after a practical nursing program and a state license.
RN case managerRuns a patient caseload after nursing school and an RN license.
A home health aide gives hands-on care to patients of a home health agency: bathing, dressing, toileting, skin care, and help walking or getting from bed to chair. The aide may take temperature, pulse and breathing rate when the plan asks for it, and helps with exercises a therapist assigned. Every task comes from the aide's written care instructions, and changes go to the nurse.
How much does a home health aide make?
Home health and personal care aides who work for home health care agencies earned a median of $17.42 an hour ($36,230 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $28,400 and $39,330 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Can a CNA work as a home health aide?
Often, yes. Medicare accepts a state-approved nurse aide training and competency program, as long as the person is listed in good standing on the state's nurse aide registry. The 24-month rule on gaps in paid work still applies, and your state may have its own aide rules on top. Check the registry yourself before the first visit and keep a copy in the personnel file.
How is a home health aide different from a personal care aide?
A home health aide in a Medicare-certified agency must meet federal training and competency rules. The aide works under a nurse or therapist, on a plan a doctor or allowed practitioner orders. A personal care aide gives non-medical help, such as bathing, meals and company, under training rules each state sets. A personal care aide who hasn't met the federal aide rules can't take a Medicare aide visit.
Does a nurse ever watch the aide work?
Yes. Apart from the regular supervisory checks, Medicare requires a nurse or therapist to watch each aide give care in a patient's home at least once a year. For aides who serve patients with no skilled care, an RN does it every six months. Use those visits for coaching as well as the paperwork: a good supervisor shows the aide a better transfer on the spot.
