Home Health Aide Certification In Delaware
To attain HHA certification in Delaware, there are several pathways you can take. If you’re training to be a nurse, you can enroll in a home health aide course. Alternatively, if you’ve got a year’s worth of experience working in a hospital, care home, or another caregiving facility, you can enroll in a home health aide course. If you’re totally new to healthcare, you’ll need to meet educational requirements.
In this guide, we’ll detail the certification and licensing requirements for becoming a home health aide. We’ll also take a look at job prospects for the role and current estimates of salaries.
Licensing Requirements In The State
Unlike some other states, you do not have to be a licensed nurse to become a home health aide. According to Delaware’s Office of Health Licensing and Certification, a home health aide is a non-licensed profession. This means you don’t have to receive the same training and be licensed in the same way as nurses.
By state definition, a home health aide provides home assistance with daily living, i.e., cooking, cleaning, bathing, and shopping. They do not provide any specialist care or perform routine nursing-related duties. However, they do need to make reports on changes in a patient’s condition and fill out reports at the end of the day.
Given that you’ll be providing home-based care, you’ll definitely require a driver’s license in order to complete the work accordingly.
Certification
To become a home health aide in Delaware, you need to gain the following certifications:
High school diploma
The first kind of certification you need to attain is a high school diploma. While other states may ask for less than this (i.e., 9th-grade completion), Delaware home health aide state standards stipulate that a high school diploma is necessary. Alternatively, you could use a G.E.D. instead of a school diploma.
Professional experience
Ideally, you need at least one year’s worth of professional experience in health care. This could have been carried out at a care home or a hospital. On the other hand, if you’re already working towards becoming a registered nurse, you can enroll in a home health aide course (as long as you have completed the clinical practicum portion of the nursing course).
However, professional experience is not always necessary. Each home health aide training program provider has their own entry requirements. Sometimes, all that is required is sufficient education in the field.
Health certificate
To successfully enroll in a home health aide course, your own health will also need to be tested. Before gaining employment as a home health aide, you need to complete a TB and physical test. This testing needs to be completed three months before the start of your employment.
For some courses, you may also need to complete comprehension examinations. This includes maths, reading, and English comprehension examinations.
The reason for this state-wide rule is the physically demanding aspect of the position. In any personal care role, you have to move heavy objects and assist patients to stand up and walk. To do so, you need to have a good level of fitness.
Certificate from a state-approved home health aide training course
If you meet all of the above criteria, you can enroll in a home aide training program. These programs consist of 75 hours worth of classroom-based learning and 16 hours worth of clinical training. Once you’ve completed the total hours, you’ll have to sit an exam.
After you’ve achieved a home health aide certificate and registered as a health aide in Delaware, you can start applying for jobs.
Best Education Programs
The best institutions for enrolling in a home health aide program in Delaware include the following:
Silver Lining Healthcare
24 Hiawatha Lane, Dover, DE 19904
Del Tech Terry
100 Campus Drive, Dover, DE 19901
Dawn Training Center
3700 Lancaster, Wilmington, DE 1908-1511
Delaware Skill Center
13th and Clifford Brown Walk, Wilmington, DE 19801
Job Outlook
There is a massive demand for home health aides in Delaware in the immediate future. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that jobs will grow in the state by 30% by 2026. When you look at the US as a whole, the job outlook growth is slower, but still very promising.
The projected job outlook for home health aides is 25% (by the year 2031).
Salaries
The median pay for home health aides in 2021 was $29,430 (again, this is based on numbers provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics). This means that home health aides earn $14.15 per hour – on average.
If you land a good job with one of Delaware’s top home health agencies, you may end up with an above-average salary. Given the strong demand for personal care aides in Delaware, there’s a good chance you could earn over $29,430 per year.
Where To Find Work
The best places to find professional work would be through one of Delaware’s registered home health agencies.
Some of the best home health and personal care agencies based in the state of Delaware include the following:
Wilmington Saints Home Healthcare
701 N. Clayton Street, Wilmington, DE, 19805
Home Instead
1701 Shallcross Ave Suite A, Wilmington, DE 19806
Right at Home
1500 N French St, Wilmington, DE 19801
Caring Hearts Home Care
838 Walker Rd, Dover, DE 19904
Vicdania Health Services
1006 College Rd, Dover, DE 19904
Families 1st Choice Home Care
29787 John J Williams Hwy #5, Millsboro, DE 19966
BAYADA Home Health
200 Biddle Ave Suite 111, Newark, DE 19702
Silver Lining Home Healthcare
24 Hiawatha Ln, Dover, DE 19904
FAQs
What is the highest pay for a home health aide?
Those in high-paying home health aide positions will make around $17 per hour. US cities that offer this kind of pay include New York and Indianapolis. There are HHA positions throughout the US that will pay you even higher than $17 per hour, with some positions offering upwards of $25.
Is there a difference between a personal care aide and a home health aide?
PCAs tend to focus more on providing home support for patients to perform daily tasks, such as cooking and bathing. They do not provide any form of nursing duties. Home health aides can also perform these routine tasks, but have some registered nurse skills as well. They are able to administer medication and check vital signs.
Sources
https://medicalfieldcareers.com/hha-classes-delaware/
https://www.healthcarepathway.com/home-health/delaware-home-health-aide/
http://www.homehealthaideonline.com/home/hha-training-in-delaware/