The Top Qualities of a Successful HHA
As a Home Health Aide (HHA), you will need to perform a variety of duties for each of your clients in their home.
These duties and tasks you will learn by getting proper training and earning your HHA certificate from a reputable school or agency.
However in order to be a successful HHA, you must also have or develop certain personal qualities or traits to provide quality care for your patients.
Do you think you have what is takes to be a successful Home Health Aide? Read on to make sure you understand the top qualities of a successful HHA.
Working in the home health care field means that you will be directly impacting the lives of those who you provide services for.
Possessing certain traits will lead you to greater success and a long lasting tenure as an HHA.
Listed below are personal qualities of a successful HHA.
Top Qualities of a Successful HHA
Good Communicator
There are many ways to communicate with others. But mostly we communicate by talking, writing and listening.
Being able to communicate well is a great advantage in almost any career, especially in the medical arena.
People who are good at communicating are foremost good listeners. Listening shows your clients that you truly are concerned for their well-being.
When speaking, focus on being clear with your statements and use your best vocabulary so that your clients can understand what you are saying to them.
Just remember that good communication skills take a lot of time and practice to acquire. If you find that you need help to be a good communicator, it is well worth it to find a course(s) to teach you the skills.
Patient
Having patience means that you have the capacity to remain calm and have self-control in trying situations without complaining.
As you will be helping others who have a physical and/or mental condition(s), maintaining patience with them is quite important.
Most likely you will be working according to a set schedule. Since the patient may have limited mobility to move about, it will take a longer amount of time to help them complete any tasks you are assisting them with.
You may find that this extra time is causing you to run past your allotted time and therefore cause you to be late with your next client.
It is best for you not to rush the client to complete the task, or complain that you are running over schedule. Try to keep your patience at all times in order to not upset them.
Honest
Put yourself in the shoes of someone who is the daughter or son of someone who requires the assistance of a home health aide.
Wouldn’t you want to have comfort in knowing that the HHA is an honest person with high integrity and is truthful?
Given that you will be in the private homes of your clients, you must be a trustworthy person who will always treat them and their property with respect in order for them to feel comfort and secure when you are present.
Dependable
Being dependable means that you are trusted to complete your job as agreed.
This means that you will arrive on time to visit your clients, and complete the tasks as assigned. Your clients depend on your services so that they can carry on their day.
They rely on you being there at a specific time to complete specific tasks. It is important that you show them that you are a responsible person. If you are ever running late, make sure to let them know ahead of time.
Perceptive
If you are someone who is perceptive, you are good at being able to understand things or situations relatively easily. 
As someone who is probably assisting clients on a routine basis, you should soon develop a sense of how the client is doing overall when you see them.
If you are perceptive, you should notice any particular changes in them – especially should they need help more than what you can provide them as an HHA.
You may notice that they are not talking as much as they used to. Perhaps they have unexpectedly lost weight. These are signals that you should take note of and report them to your supervisor.
Empathetic
A person who is empathetic can share in the feelings of another person, in particular for an emotional or painful situation.
As a HHA, having empathy will help your patients feel that they are understood and not alone during times when they may not be feeling their best.
Displays of empathy toward your patients are very important.
You will be spending close, personal time interacting with your patients – and some of those patients may only be spending close time with you. Thus validating their feelings is essential to them.
By displaying empathy, you may actually help reduce recovery time, if it is possible.
In Summary
These top qualities of a successful HHA are ones that are very important to those who you will care for. Above all else, the best thing to remember is to treat each of your clients with absolute respect.
Think if this was a loved one of yours – you would want someone caring for them to hold them in high regard at all times by providing the best care service possible.
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