Care associate vs resident care associate

The differences between care associates and resident care associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a care associate has an average salary of $32,558, which is higher than the $30,497 average annual salary of a resident care associate.

The top three skills for a care associate include patients, vital signs and PCA. The most important skills for a resident care associate are resident care, administer medications, and RCA.

Care associate vs resident care associate overview

	Care Associate	Resident Care Associate
Yearly salary	$32,558	$30,497
Hourly rate	$15.65	$14.66
Growth rate	9%	36%
Number of jobs	192,391	130,625
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	High School Diploma, 26%
Average age	42	48
Years of experience	3	-

What does a care associate do?

Patient care associates typically work at different healthcare settings where their primary job is to provide basic patient needs and comfort. They are also responsible for several patient care tasks, including bathing patients, changing the pillows and bedsheets of patients, and serving patients' meals. They should comply with safety protocols when performing these tasks. Some of them can give patients medication depending on the level of their training. To become a patient care specialist, one should possess several skills, such as good communication.

What does a resident care associate do?

Resident Care Associates are responsible for providing support and care to individuals living in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Their duties include assisting residents with daily tasks such as eating, bathing, and dressing, audit care records, as well as making sure patients take their prescribed medications. They implement daily group activities, attend to medical or safety issues, and communicates any concerns to a resident's family members as required.

Care associate vs resident care associate salary

Care associates and resident care associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Care Associate	Resident Care Associate
Average salary	$32,558	$30,497
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $48,000	Between $24,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	Hollister, CA	Salem, OR
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Oregon
Best paying company	Analysis Group	The Philadelphia Coalition
Best paying industry	Health Care	Media

Differences between care associate and resident care associate education

There are a few differences between a care associate and a resident care associate in terms of educational background:

	Care Associate	Resident Care Associate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	High School Diploma, 26%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	-	-

Care associate vs resident care associate demographics

Here are the differences between care associates' and resident care associates' demographics:

	Care Associate	Resident Care Associate
Average age	42	48
Gender ratio	Male, 22.3% Female, 77.7%	Male, 14.6% Female, 85.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 7.8% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.2% Asian, 8.7% White, 58.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between care associate and resident care associate duties and responsibilities

Care associate example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
Provide direct care to patients in intensive care unit with empathy, compassion and enthusiasm.
Utilize strong interpersonal skills to educate patients on procedures, rehabilitation and contraception methods.
Care for patients requiring telemetry monitoring and work collaboratively with telemetry technician/nurses to detect and report abnormalities to physicians.
Coordinate with clinicians to meet the specific needs of patients and perform clinical care in an ICU.
Assign to new ER and ICU departments by leadership to maintain quality of patient care and increase patient satisfaction.

Resident care associate example responsibilities.

Assist Alzheimer patients with daily activities including personal care, administering medications and communicating with their families.
Assist in rehabilitation to transfer home.
Have been train to administer medication, CPR train, and mechanical lift train.
Maintain cleanliness throughout med pass, and practice aseptic technique when pouring and assisting with medication.
Assist with ADL's, medication assistance, dinning room service, answering the telephones and front desk monitoring.
Care for residents with diagnosis such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and arthritis.

Care associate vs resident care associate skills

Common care associate skills

Patients, 24%
Vital Signs, 11%
PCA, 7%
Phlebotomy, 7%
CPR, 7%
Customer Service, 5%

Common resident care associate skills

Resident Care, 24%
Administer Medications, 13%
RCA, 12%
Assist Residents, 7%
Emergency Situations, 6%
Pathogens, 5%

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Zippia Careers
Healthcare Support Industry
Care Associate
Care Associate vs Resident Care Associate

Updated January 8, 2025

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