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Career Exploration

Personal Care Aides

Also called: Caregiver, Home Care Aide, Personal Care Aide, Personal Care Attendant (PCA)

What they do:

Provide personalized assistance to individuals with disabilities or illness who require help with personal care and activities of daily living support (e.g., feeding, bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, and ambulation). May also provide help with tasks such as preparing meals, doing light housekeeping, and doing laundry. Work is performed in various settings depending on the needs of the care recipient and may include locations such as their home, place of work, out in the community, or at a daytime nonresidential facility.

On the job, you would:
  • Prepare and maintain records of client progress and services performed, reporting changes in client condition to manager or supervisor.
  • Administer bedside or personal care, such as ambulation or personal hygiene assistance.
  • Perform healthcare-related tasks, such as monitoring vital signs and medication, under the direction of registered nurses or physiotherapists.
On the job, you'll need:

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Business

  • customer service

Transportation

  • movement of people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road

Education and Training

  • teaching and course design

Basic Skills

  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
  • keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements

Social

  • looking for ways to help people
  • understanding people's reactions

Verbal

  • communicate by speaking
  • listen and understand what people say

Ideas and Logic

  • notice when problems happen
  • use rules to solve problems

Social

People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking.

  • Concern for Others
  • Cooperation
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Attention to Detail
  • Dependability
  • Initiative

Electronic mail software

  • Email software
  • Voltage SecureMail

Computer based training software

  • Appletree

Medical software

  • MEDITECH software

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Bright.

New job opportunities are very likely in the future. This career will grow rapidly in the next few years and will have large numbers of openings.

Median Annual Salary: $30,180

Education

High school diploma/GED or associate's degree is usually needed.