Example Career: Personal Care Aides

Career Description

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.

What Job Titles Personal Care Aides Might Have

• Caregiver
• Home Care Aide
• Personal Care Aide
• Personal Care Attendant (PCA)

What Personal Care Aides Do

• 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.
• Participate in case reviews, consulting with the team caring for the client, to evaluate the client's needs and plan for continuing services.
• Instruct or advise clients on issues, such as household cleanliness, utilities, hygiene, nutrition, or infant care.
• Care for individuals or families during periods of incapacitation, family disruption, or convalescence, providing companionship, personal care, or help in adjusting to new lifestyles.
• Perform housekeeping duties, such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes or dishes, or running errands.
• Provide clients with communication assistance, typing their correspondence or obtaining information for them.
• Train family members to provide bedside care.
• Plan, shop for, or prepare nutritious meals or assist families in planning, shopping for, or preparing nutritious meals.
• Transport clients to locations outside the home, such as to physicians' offices or on outings, using a motor vehicle.

What Personal Care Aides Should Be Good At

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

What Personal Care Aides Should Be Interested In

• Social - Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
• Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
• Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

What Personal Care Aides Need to Learn

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.