According to Florida statutory law and administrative regulations, the responsibilities of a home health aide include assisting with personal care activities, maintaining a clean and safe environment for the patient, record keeping, observing and reporting, and assisting with medical tasks (with restrictions):
Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.):
1. Personal Care Activities: Home health aides are responsible for assisting patients with personal hygiene, ambulation, eating, dressing, shaving, physical transfer, and other duties as assigned by a licensed health professional (Rule 59A-8.0095, F.A.C.).
2. Maintaining a Clean and Safe Environment: This includes light cleaning and straightening of the bathroom, sleeping, and living areas, washing the patient’s dishes or laundry, and other tasks to maintain cleanliness and safety for the patient (Rule 59A-8.0095, F.A.C. and Rule 59A-18.0081, F.A.C.).
3. Record Keeping: Home health aides must keep records of personal health care activities and file documentation with the nurse registry on a regular basis (Rule 59A-8.0095, F.A.C.).
4. Observing and Reporting: They are responsible for observing appearance and gross behavioral changes in the patient and reporting these changes to the registered nurse or other designated persons (Rule 59A-8.0095, F.A.C. and Rule 59A-18.0081, F.A.C.).
5. Assisting with Medical Tasks: Home health aides may assist with simple procedures as an extension of therapy or nursing services, such as using devices for aid to daily living, measuring vital signs, and assisting with prescribed exercises (Rule 59A-18.0081, F.A.C.). Additionally, under the administrative rules, the aid may assist with other activities as taught by a licensed health professional employee or contractor of the home health agency for a specific patient or client and are restricted to the following:
a. Assisting with reinforcement of dressing;
b. Applying and removing anti-embolism stockings and hosiery prescribed for therapeutic treatment of the legs.
c. Assisting with tasks associated with elimination:
(I) Toileting.
(II) Assisting with the use of the bedpan and urinal.
(III) Providing catheter care including changing the urinary catheter bag.
(IV) Collecting specimens.
(V) Emptying ostomy bags, or changing bags that do not adhere to the skin.
(VI) Assisting with the placement and removal of colostomy bags, excluding the removal of the flange or manipulation of the stoma’s site.
d. Assisting with the use of devices for aid to daily living, such as a wheelchair or walker;
e. Assisting with prescribed range of motion exercises;
f. Assisting with prescribed ice cap or collar;
g. Performing simple urine tests for sugar, acetone or albumin;
h. Assisting with the use of a glucometer to perform blood glucose testing;
i. Measuring and preparing special diets;
j. Measuring intake and output of fluids, and,
k. Measuring vital signs including temperature, pulse, respiration or blood pressure.
l. Assisting with oxygen nasal cannulas and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices, excluding the titration of the prescribed oxygen levels.
Florida Statutory Law:
Florida Statute 400.506, which relates to nurse registries, also sets forth the services a home health aide may perform for a patient:
(b) A certified nursing assistant or home health aide may be referred for a contract to provide care to a patient in his or her home only if that patient is under a physician’s care. A certified nursing assistant or home health aide referred for contract in a private residence shall be limited to assisting a patient with bathing, dressing, toileting, grooming, eating, physical transfer, and those normal daily routines the patient could perform for himself or herself were he or she physically capable. A certified nursing assistant or home health aide may not provide medical or other health care services that require specialized training and that may be performed only by licensed health care professionals. The nurse registry shall obtain the name and address of the attending physician and send written notification to the physician within 48 hours after a contract is concluded that a certified nursing assistant or home health aide will be providing care for that patient.
Prohibited Activities:
Home health aides are not allowed to perform activities that require licensure as a health care professional, such as administering medications, changing sterile dressings, or performing irrigation of wounds (Rule 59A-18.0081, F.A.C.).
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