For a rewarding experience if you're a nurse, in home health care would be a good choice. You get the opportunity to change someone's life by caring for their needs and allowing them to stay in the area they are used to. Too often, the elderly and disabled are forced into institutionalized facilities just because they have no one left to watch out for them.

Dropping people who are sick into unfamiliar surroundings can be especially traumatic. The combination of unfamiliar surroundings and people can have a devastating effect on the state of mind of these people. As has been proved through research, the state of mind and the will to live is an important factor for fast recovery. Thus it is necessary to ensure that the patient is stress-free to ensure their fast recovery.

In the case of an older person, who may have already lost a spouse, comforting surroundings are especially important. Taking into consideration how long they may have lived in one place, suddenly moving them to a place that they are unfamiliar with can be devastating.

You may need to take a test administered by your home state, depending on where you live. Many states do not require home health care employees to have any kind of license or certification. Most home health care workers are employed by agencies that assign them to clients who need labor. You will probably have to provide documentation to your agency if you move to another state, including evidence of licensing, certification, and training that is relevant to your position. If you seek employment through a nursing registry, similar information will need to be provided by you.

Medicare and Medicaid are common insurances for many people. In order to work for an agency certified under Medicare and Medicaid, a home health aide has to complete at least 75 hours of training. Sometimes, the aide has to pass a competency test given by the company for which they are working. If you work for a licensed non-certified agency, 40 hours of training is required by most states and a competency test is required. Many agencies require more than the minimum 40 hours of training. This requirement will be set by the particular home health agency's policies.

Nurses' registries require proof of work experience and if you plan to seek work through them, be prepared to provide proof that you have completed at least 40 hours of training for health aides at an educational institute licensed by either the state or a home health agency. This process of certification assures clients of the educational and professional qualifications of the health worker.

You may be able to get trained by signing on as a home healthcare aide with a temporary staffing firm. Since these companies want to add more employees to their staff databases and since they make more money by placing their workers in higher paying positions, they may provide some level of training if you come up to their standards. They are not permitted to provide such training, however, unless they have the proper accreditation from the state in which they conduct business.

If you are employed by a home health agency or a nurse's registry, you must have two hours of HIV/AIDS training. Every two years you need to pass a one-hour in-service training on HIV/AIDS. You also need to get and keep a current certificate in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Aides employed by Medicare and Medicaid organizations are required to have completed 12 hours of in-service training within a one year period. Any CPR training may be included as part of this requirement.

Obviously, this sort of position does not require a great deal of learning on your part. Nevertheless, you should expect to work those shifts which most employees consider undesirable. As is generally the case, those who have seniority get to choose the most desirable time slots, but the advantages of this position are greater than any of its disadvantages.

Finding satisfaction in your job is sometimes quite rare in the workplace. However, knowing that you have given someone the opportunity to stay in a familiar environment and avoid ending up with strangers can give you the satisfaction that you desire.

Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities; prevention of illness and injury; alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human responses; and advocacy in health care for individuals, families, communities, and populations.