November is National Care at Home Month, and its first week is dedicated to hospice and palliative care. It's a good moment to look at a part of healthcare that many clinicians never consider: care delivered in the patient's home. Demand is climbing fast. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of home health and personal care aides to grow about 18 percent from 2025 to 2035, with roughly 760,500 openings a year, according to its employment projections. That's about five times the 3.5 percent average for all occupations.

Home health and hospice careers run on the same licenses you already have. What changes is where you work, who you answer to, and how the day moves. Here's what the work looks like for each role.

Home health aides and CNAs: the visits that keep people at home

Aides provide the hands-on personal care that lets patients stay out of facilities: bathing, dressing, mobility, and the daily observation that catches problems early. In Florida, a certified nursing assistant can work as a home health aide with a current Florida CNA certification, under the state's home health agency rules. Aides without a CNA need at least 40 hours of training or a passing score on a competency test before an agency can send them out.

One detail matters if you want to work for a Medicare-certified agency. Federal rules require at least 75 hours of classroom and supervised practical training for home health aides, and a state-approved CNA program on the registry satisfies it. Florida's 40-hour route doesn't. If you already hold your CNA, you're covered for both. If you're starting out, the CNA is the more flexible credential, and our guide to CNA career paths shows where it can take you next.

LPNs: skilled nursing, one home at a time

LPNs make skilled nursing visits under the direction of a registered nurse: medication management, wound care, monitoring, and teaching patients and families what to watch for. Home healthcare services employ about 12 percent of LPNs nationally, per the BLS. The work suits LPNs who like autonomy between visits and are comfortable making careful observations without a team down the hall.

RNs: the case manager on the road

In home health, the RN usually owns the case. Under Medicare's rules, a registered nurse conducts the initial assessment and completes the comprehensive assessment no later than five days after care starts, using the OASIS assessment tool. RNs also supervise aides, with a supervisory check at least every 14 days when the patient is receiving skilled care. Expect more documentation and more independent judgment than on a hospital unit, along with more control over how your day runs.

Hospice: the same roles, a different kind of care

Hospice uses the same team, with a different goal: comfort and dignity at the end of life. Hospice aides also need 75 hours of training (a CNA on the state registry qualifies), and an RN visits the home at least every 14 days to review the aide's care. Hospice clinicians often describe the work as the most meaningful of their careers. It also carries a real emotional load, so it helps to know the difference between compassion fatigue and burnout before you start.

Is care at home a good fit for you?

Home health and hospice tend to suit clinicians who:

• Like working independently and making decisions between check-ins
• Want more time with each patient than a busy unit allows
• Are comfortable driving between visits and organizing their own schedule
• Can keep documentation current from a car, a kitchen table, or a tablet

The trade-offs are real: more time on the road, less backup in the moment, and patients' homes that range from spotless to difficult. For many clinicians, the independence and the one-on-one time are worth it.

Questions to ask a home health or hospice agency

Home health jobs vary a lot from one agency to the next, so the interview matters. Ask:

• How many visits make a full day, and how is productivity measured? Visit expectations shape everything else about the job.
• How is mileage handled? Ask whether drive time is paid and how mileage is reimbursed.
• What does documentation look like? Find out which charting system you'll use, on what device, and whether charting time is built into the day.
• Who do I call when something goes wrong mid-visit? Ask how quickly an RN or supervisor answers, and how on-call is shared.
• What does orientation include? Ask whether you'll ride along with an experienced clinician before you see patients on your own.

Our guide to questions that reveal what a job is really like has more, and nearly all of it applies to care at home.

Find home health work on your terms

If care at home interests you, you don't have to announce it to your current employer to explore it. On ProfiHitch, your profile carries your certifications, skills, and experience, and your Match Score weighs them against each role along with your shift preferences and location. You stay anonymous until both sides opt in, and you can block your current employer from ever seeing your profile. Create your free profile and see what's out there, one visit at a time.