Top 12 Home Health Aide Skills to Put on Your Resume

As the demand for compassionate and skilled home health aides keeps climbing, standing out in a crowded job market matters more than ever. A clear, credible resume that spotlights your strongest home health aide skills can open doors and make hiring managers pause long enough to notice what you bring.

Home Health Aide Skills

1. CPR Certified
2. First Aid
3. Patient Care
4. Vital Signs
5. HIPAA Compliance
6. Medication Administration
7. Wound Care
8. Mobility Assistance
9. Alzheimer's Care
10. Electronic Health Records (EHR)
11. Nutritional Support
12. Bathing Assistance

1. CPR Certified

CPR certification shows you’ve completed training and assessment in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and are prepared to act when someone stops breathing or their heart stops. It’s the difference between panic and purposeful action while emergency responders are en route.

Why It's Important

Cardiac and respiratory emergencies don’t wait. Certification equips you to respond quickly and correctly, improving the odds of survival and preventing further harm.

How to Improve CPR Certified Skills

1. Keep it current: Renew every two years (or sooner if your employer requires). Guidelines change.
2. Drill the basics: Practice compressions, rescue breaths, and AED use on manikins whenever available.
3. Level up: Consider BLS for Healthcare Providers for deeper scenarios and team-based response.
4. Work the muscle memory: Periodic mock codes sharpen timing, depth, and hand placement.
5. Debrief: After real events or simulations, review what went well and what to tighten.

How to Display CPR Certified Skills on Your Resume

2. First Aid

First aid means immediate, practical care for minor and serious injuries or sudden illness to preserve life, prevent worsening, and promote recovery until advanced care steps in.

Why It's Important

Those first minutes matter. Quick, confident care can stop bleeding, stabilize injuries, and ease pain while you wait for medical help.

How to Improve First Aid Skills

1. Refresh routinely: Revisit current first aid protocols and rehearse core skills.
2. Hands-on practice: Simulations beat reading. Bandaging, splinting, and choking response need repetition.
3. Certify and recertify: Keep credentials up to date through recognized programs.
4. Scenario planning: Build checklists for common home situations—falls, cuts, burns, low blood sugar.
5. Stock smart: Maintain a tidy, complete first aid kit and know where everything lives.

How to Display First Aid Skills on Your Resume

3. Patient Care

Patient care, at home, blends hands-on help with daily tasks, gentle monitoring, and steady emotional support. It’s personal, flexible, and grounded in the client’s routines and goals.

Why It's Important

Good care preserves dignity. It eases discomfort, supports independence, and anchors a person in familiar surroundings—home.

How to Improve Patient Care Skills

1. Know the person: History, habits, preferences. Tailor care plans—don’t copy-paste.
2. Safety first: Prevent falls, medication mix-ups, and infection with mindful routines.
3. Communicate clearly: Simple language, active listening, timely updates to family and the care team.
4. Keep learning: Short courses, in-services, and evidence-based tips sharpen technique.
5. Support the whole person: Watch mood, sleep, pain, and social needs—not just vitals and tasks.

How to Display Patient Care Skills on Your Resume

4. Vital Signs

Vital signs—temperature, pulse, respirations, and blood pressure—offer a quick snapshot of health status. For home care, accurate measurement and early reporting are everything.

Why It's Important

Subtle changes can flag trouble early. Timely escalation helps providers adjust treatment before problems snowball.

How to Improve Vital Signs Skills

• Master technique: Correct cuff size and placement, full minute respirations, consistent timing.
• Calibrate and care: Keep devices charged, clean, and checked for accuracy.
• Document like a pro: Record numbers, trends, and symptoms in the care record—don’t rely on memory.
• Know thresholds: Understand when values require immediate notification versus routine reporting.
• Support stability: Encourage hydration, gentle movement as tolerated, balanced meals, and good sleep hygiene.

How to Display Vital Signs Skills on Your Resume

5. HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA compliance means guarding a patient’s health information—paper, digital, spoken—with care and precision.

Why It's Important

Privacy builds trust. Following the rules also protects you and your agency from costly breaches and penalties.

How to Improve HIPAA Compliance Skills

1. Train regularly: Annual refreshers and quick updates keep rules top of mind.
2. Use secure channels: Approved apps, encrypted systems, strong passwords, and device locks—always.
3. Limit access: Only those who need information to do their job should see it. No shortcuts.
4. Think before sharing: Verify identity, avoid public spaces, and keep voices low.
5. Report quickly: If a device is lost or a disclosure happens, follow your agency’s breach steps immediately.
6. Mind EVV and mobile use: Log out when done, avoid saving PHI locally, and update devices promptly.

How to Display HIPAA Compliance Skills on Your Resume

6. Medication Administration

Medication administration in home care means preparing, giving, and documenting prescribed medicines accurately and safely—always within your state’s scope of practice and agency policy. In some states, aides assist with self-administration rather than administer; know the difference.

Why It's Important

Correct meds, correct time, correct dose—this is how symptoms stay controlled and risks stay low.

How to Improve Medication Administration Skills

1. Follow the rights: Right patient, medication, dose, time, route, and documentation. Every time.
2. Clarify scope: Confirm which tasks you may perform and which require a nurse.
3. Organize: Use pill organizers approved by your agency, clear labels, and a tidy med area.
4. Document immediately: Record administration, refusals, side effects, and PRN responses without delay.
5. Communicate changes: New meds, missed doses, adverse effects—notify the nurse promptly.

How to Display Medication Administration Skills on Your Resume

7. Wound Care

Wound care covers cleaning, protecting, and monitoring injuries so they heal well and avoid infection. In home care, aides typically support nurse-directed plans and report changes fast.

Why It's Important

Infection prevention, comfort, faster healing—that’s the trio. Good technique prevents setbacks that can send patients back to the hospital.

How to Improve Wound Care Skills

1. Follow the care plan: Use only the approved solutions and dressings. When in doubt, ask the supervising nurse.
2. Hygiene first: Handwashing, gloves, clean surfaces, and proper disposal of used supplies.
3. Gentle cleansing: Normal saline is commonly used. Avoid harsh agents unless specifically ordered.
4. Moist wound healing: Maintain a protected, slightly moist environment with the right dressing.
5. Watch for red flags: Increased pain, warmth, redness, odor, drainage, or fever—report promptly.
6. Document precisely: Size, appearance, drainage type, dressing changes, and patient tolerance.

How to Display Wound Care Skills on Your Resume

8. Mobility Assistance

Mobility assistance means safe help with transfers, walking, positioning, and navigating the home so clients move more and fall less.

Why It's Important

Movement preserves strength and dignity. Smart assistance reduces injury risk for both client and caregiver.

How to Improve Mobility Assistance Skills

1. Use proper body mechanics: Protect your back with stance, core engagement, and pivoting—no twisting lifts.
2. Match the device: Cane, walker, wheelchair, slide board, gait belt—pick and fit what’s appropriate.
3. Prep the space: Clear clutter, secure rugs, add lighting, and stage needed items within reach.
4. Coach, don’t rush: Give step-by-step cues, allow time, and encourage independence where safe.
5. Reposition routinely: Offload pressure points and support alignment in bed and chair.

How to Display Mobility Assistance Skills on Your Resume

9. Alzheimer's Care

Alzheimer’s care calls for patience, structure, and gentle redirection. It spans daily activities, safety, cognitive engagement, and plenty of reassurance.

Why It's Important

Thoughtful routines and communication can reduce agitation, preserve abilities longer, and lighten the load on families.

How to Improve Alzheimer's Care Skills

1. Understand the disease: Expect changing needs across stages; plan ahead for new behaviors.
2. Keep it consistent: Regular schedules, familiar objects, and simple choices calm the day.
3. Communicate simply: Short sentences, eye contact, one step at a time, and a calm tone.
4. Safety-proof the home: Locks, labels, lighting, and decluttering reduce risk.
5. Engage meaningfully: Music, reminiscence, easy crafts, and short walks can lift mood.
6. Respond, don’t argue: Validation and redirection beat confrontation, especially during sundowning.

How to Display Alzheimer's Care Skills on Your Resume

10. Electronic Health Records (EHR)

EHR systems are digital charts with meds, diagnoses, allergies, plans, and notes. For home health aides, they’re the map: visit tasks, documentation, and secure messaging with the care team—often via mobile apps with electronic visit verification.

Why It's Important

Accurate, timely documentation keeps the whole team aligned, prevents errors, and ensures patients get the right care at the right time.

How to Improve Electronic Health Records (EHR) Skills

1. Learn your system: Shortcuts, templates, offline mode, photo capture for approved uses—know them cold.
2. Document in real time: Complete notes during or right after visits to avoid gaps.
3. Standardize: Use consistent wording for tasks, vitals, and observations so trends stand out.
4. Protect access: Strong passwords, device locks, secure Wi‑Fi, and prompt logouts.
5. Sync and verify: Ensure visits and notes upload correctly; confirm task completion shows in the record.

How to Display Electronic Health Records (EHR) Skills on Your Resume

11. Nutritional Support

Nutritional support means planning, preparing, and assisting with meals that match medical needs and personal preferences—while keeping hydration on track.

Why It's Important

Good food fuels healing, prevents malnutrition, and can make medications work better. It also brings comfort.

How to Improve Nutritional Support Skills

1. Assess and adapt: Know restrictions (low sodium, diabetic, renal), allergies, and cultural preferences.
2. Simple, balanced meals: Lean proteins, colorful produce, whole grains, and healthy fats in portions that fit appetite.
3. Hydration plan: Water first. Use schedules, favorite cups, and small frequent sips if needed.
4. Dysphagia awareness: Follow texture-modified diets and thickened liquids exactly as ordered.
5. Track and tweak: Monitor weight changes, appetite, and tolerance; report concerns early.

How to Display Nutritional Support Skills on Your Resume

12. Bathing Assistance

Bathing assistance covers safe, respectful help with washing, grooming, and hygiene when mobility, pain, or cognition get in the way.

Why It's Important

Clean skin prevents infection and irritation. A calm, dignified routine can also boost confidence and comfort.

How to Improve Bathing Assistance Skills

1. Plan the setup: Non-slip mats, grab bars, shower chair, warm room, and supplies within reach.
2. Protect dignity: Use towels or bath blankets for coverage and explain each step before you begin.
3. Gentle products: Mild soaps, fragrance-free moisturizers, and careful drying of skin folds.
4. Promote independence: Offer handheld showerheads and long-handled sponges so clients do what they can.
5. Watch the details: Check skin for redness, rashes, pressure spots, or sores and report early.

How to Display Bathing Assistance Skills on Your Resume