9315. HOME HEALTH AIDE AND PERSONAL CARE AIDE TASKS

9315 HOME HEALTH AIDE AND PERSONAL CARE AIDE TASKS 9315.1 Under the supervision of a licensed nurse or other authorized licensed health care professional, when employed as a personal care aide (PCA), a person may perform the following tasks: Cueing or hands-on assistance with performance of routine activities of daily living (such as, bathing, transferring, toileting, dressing, feeding, and maintaining bowel and bladder control); Shop for items that are related to a patient’s nutritional status in accordance with dietary guidelines and other health needs; (c) Assisting with telephone use; (d) Preparing meals in accordance with dietary guidelines, and assisting with eating; (e) Assisting with tasks related to keeping the patient’s living area in a condition that promotes the patient’s health and comfort; (f) Assisting the patient with ambulation and range of motion exercise as prescribed; (g) Assisting the patient with self-administration of medication; (h) Reading and recording temperature, pulse, and respiration; (i) Measuring and recording blood pressure, height and weight; (j) Observing, recording, and reporting the patient’s physical condition, behavior, or appearance; (k) Implementing universal precautions to ensure infection control; (l) Accompanying the patient to medical and medically-related appointments, to the patient’s place of employment, and recreational activities if approved in the patient’s plan of care; and (m) Assisting with incontinence, including bed pan use, changing urinary drainage bags, protective underwear, and monitoring urine input and output. 9315.2 In addition to the tasks specified in § 9315.1, under the supervision of a licensed nurse or health care professional, when employed as an HHA, a person may perform the following tasks: (a) Changing simple dressings that do not require the skills of a licensed nurse; (b) Assisting the patient with activities that are directly supportive of skilled therapy services; (c) Assisting with routine care of prosthetic and orthotic devices; (d) Emptying and changing colostomy bags and performing care of the stoma; (e) Cleaning around a g-tube site; (f) Administering an enema; (g) Administering oxygen therapy; and (h) Administering medications, provided that the HHA is certified as a medication aide. SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 59 DCR 8359 (July 13, 2012); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 64 DCR 9594 (September 29, 2017). District of Columbia Municipal Regulations Business, Occupations, and Professionals 17 DCMR § 9315