Certified Home Health/Hospice Aide

Hospice Aide

The Hospice Aide delivers comprehensive, compassionate, direct personal patient care and emotional support to patients receiving end-of-life care in their homes, Hospice House, or other residential environments. Under the direction of a Registered Nurse (RN), the Hospice Aide provides support on each patient's activities of daily living (ADLs), comfort measures, and family education to deliver hospice care to patients and families that reflects the mission and values of Health First.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Provides comprehensive and direct personal care (e.g., bathing, grooming, dressing, toileting) to all hospice patients as directed by each plan of care, promoting a clean and safe environment.
• Adheres to entering documentation that is clear, efficient, and accurate on the care delivered to each patient.
• Takes note of any observations made of patients, reporting the patient's condition to RN per applicable policy in a timely manner.
• Partakes in IDT meetings as needed to ensure effective and aligned execution of individualized care plans for each hospice patient.
• Supports and ensures safe patient transfers, mobility, and positioning, adhering to using approved techniques and equipment (if applicable).
• Utilizes and maintains all hospice equipment and supplies reliably, ensuring careful use each time, while adhering to approved infection control prevention and safety procedures in all patient care environments.
• Delivers emotional support to patients and families, demonstrating empathy, while being sympathetic in all exchanges.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Education: None
• Work Experience: None
• Licensure: Valid driver's license and clean motor vehicle report and maintained.
• Certification: Nursing Assistant certification (CNA) in the State of Florida prior to start date and maintained. American Heart Association Basic Life Support (AHA BLS) Healthcare Provider Completion Card prior to start date and maintained.
• Background Check: Must satisfy the State of Florida, Agency for Healthcare Administration (ACHA) Level 2 background screening.
• Skills/Knowledge/Abilities: Ability to flexibly rotate between inpatient and field hospice assignments as required to support the hospice service line and continuity of care. Demonstrates effective communication in providing coordinated and patient-centered care, with clinicians, interdisciplinary teams, patients, and families. Basic understanding of Hospice philosophy ability to work with terminally ill patients. Must have ability to work in often stressful environment with patients/families at various ages and levels of understanding. Must have ability to concentrate on multiple priority activities, respond appropriately to life threatening situations, and maintain emotional stability to cope with loss and end of life issues frequently. Proficient in speaking and understanding all written or verbal instructions in the English language.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Work Experience: Previous experience in healthcare setting; specifically in a Private Duty, Home Health, or Hospice capacity.
• Skills/Knowledge/Abilities: Basic knowledge of Medical Terminology.

Physical Requirements:

• Physically agile; may require walking, standing, running, bending, stooping, kneeling, climbing, or crouching frequently.
• May occasionally include lifting or moving objects up to 50 pounds, with or without assistance.
• May require moving in different positions to accomplish tasks in various environments including tight and confined spaces, including reaching out and above shoulders, or overhead.
• May lift, turn, pull, push, or ambulate people and/or equipment with or without assistance up to 90% of the assigned shift.
• May be exposed to inside and outside environments with varied temperatures, air quality, lighting, and/or low to loud noise.
• May require working with biohazards such as blood/body fluids and airborne particles following OSHA and CDC guidelines.
• Communicating with others to exchange information.
• Visual acuity and hand-eye coordination to perform tasks.
• Workspace may vary from open to confined.
• May require travel to various facilities within and beyond county perimeter; may require use of personal vehicle.

About Health First:

At Health First, diversity and inclusion are essential for our continued growth and evolution. Working together, we strive to build and nurture a culture that recognizes, encourages, and respects the diverse voices of our associates. We know through experience that different ideas, perspectives, and backgrounds create a stronger and more collaborative work environment that delivers better results. As an organization, it fuels our innovation and connects us closer to our associates, customers, and the communities we serve.