How long is home health aide training? Well, the answer isn’t as easy as it seems.
There are both Federal and state specific laws pertaining to training home health aides. In addition, there are both certified and noncertified home health aide agencies. Depending on the state you plan to work in and the type of facility you plan to work in, the hours required for training will vary.
Federal Requirements For Home Health Aide Training
As mentioned, there is a Federal requirement for home health aide training. Federal law states that certified home health aides receive at least 75 hours of training, including 16 hours of clinical or on the job training. Furthermore, all certified home health aide must pass a competency exam.
However, Federal law only pertains to home health aide agencies and facilities that accept Medicare. If an agency or facility doesn’t accept Medicare, it isn’t required for them to employ certified home health aides based on the Federal law.
How Long Is Home Health Aide Training?
Next, in order to find out how long home health aide training will take you, you must be familiar with your state’s laws.
Specifically, you must know:
- Whether or not your state requires home health aides to get the proper training before working. And.
- The amount of training required
If your state doesn’t require home health aides to be certified, you can technically start work today as a home health aide at a non-certified medicare agency or facility.
If you state does certify home health aides, you must look at the specific training requirements below. Certain states require training over and above the Federal minimum, while others have adapted the Federal minimum home health aide training standards.
State Minimum Training Hours Minimum Clinical Hours State Minimum Training Hours Minimum Clinical Hours Alabama 75 16 Alaska 140 80 Arizona 75 16 Arkansas 75 16 California 120 20 Colorado
75 16 Connecticut 75 16 Delaware 75 16 District of Columbia
75 16 Florida 75 16 Georgia 75 16 Hawaii 100 70 Idaho
120 40 Illinois 120 40 Indiana 75 16 Iowa
75 16 Kansas 110 45 Kentucky 75 16 Louisiana 75 16 Maine 180 70 Maryland 100 40 Massachusetts
75 16 Michigan
75 16 Minnesota 75 16 Mississippi 75 16 Missouri 75 16 Montana 91 25 Nebraska 75 16 Nevada 75 16 New Hampshire
100 60 New Jersey
76 16 New Mexico 75 16 New York 75 16 North Carolina 75 16 North Dakota 75 16 Ohio 75 16 Oklahoma 75 16 Oregon 75 16 Pennsylvania 75 16 Rhode Island 100 20 South Carolina 75 16 South Dakota 75 16 Tennessee 75 16 Texas 75 16 Utah 75 16 Vermont 80 30 Virginia
75 16 Washington 85 50 West Virginia 75 16 Wisconsin 120 32 Wyoming 91 16
Where To Get Home Health Aide Training?
The majority of home health aides are trained on the job through their employer. Training takes place during the first few weeks of employment, as Federal law requires all home health aides to get the required training in the first 120 days of employment. Therefore, in most states you can get a home health aide job with no experience and become certified within the first few weeks.
