Care partner vs personal care assistant

The differences between care partners and personal care assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a care partner has an average salary of $31,723, which is higher than the $26,643 average annual salary of a personal care assistant.

The top three skills for a care partner include patients, vital signs and care plan. The most important skills for a personal care assistant are patients, CPR, and home health.

Care partner vs personal care assistant overview

	Care Partner	Personal Care Assistant
Yearly salary	$31,723	$26,643
Hourly rate	$15.25	$12.81
Growth rate	36%	36%
Number of jobs	85,778	256,869
Job satisfaction	3	4.67
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 34%	High School Diploma, 31%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	-	-

What does a care partner do?

A care partner is in charge of taking care of patients in a medical facility. Their responsibilities typically revolve around coordinating with health care experts to learn about the patients' specific care plans and assisting them in their daily hygienic tasks such as bathing, dressing, and going to toilets. They may also help patients when walking or moving around. Furthermore, as a care partner, it is essential to provide emotional support to patients and monitor their progress, reporting to nurses or doctors regularly.

What does a personal care assistant do?

Personal care assistants are employed to help individuals who may need special attention or assistance. They are usually trained to care for individuals with specific conditions, whether physically or mentally. Personal care assistants manage their meal plans, medicine intake, daily schedule, and therapy, among others. They help their clients move, eat, bathe, and dress. They also run errands and provide any other assistance that their clients may need. Personal care assistants also provide emotional and moral support to their clients. They are also in touch with medical professionals and provide updates on the health of their clients.

Care partner vs personal care assistant salary

Care partners and personal care assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Care Partner	Personal Care Assistant
Average salary	$31,723	$26,643
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $44,000	Between $18,000 And $37,000
Highest paying City	Great Falls, MT	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Mount Sinai Health System	Massachusetts General Hospital
Best paying industry	Health Care	Professional

Differences between care partner and personal care assistant education

There are a few differences between a care partner and a personal care assistant in terms of educational background:

	Care Partner	Personal Care Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 34%	High School Diploma, 31%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	-	-

Care partner vs personal care assistant demographics

Here are the differences between care partners' and personal care assistants' demographics:

	Care Partner	Personal Care Assistant
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 15.0% Female, 85.0%	Male, 15.0% Female, 85.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 8.7% White, 56.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 8.7% White, 59.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between care partner and personal care assistant duties and responsibilities

Care partner example responsibilities.

Manage CMS, state, and complaint surveys.
Manage shelterpractices and evaluate various volunteering, outreach, foster, rescue, and pet placement programs.
Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
Direct motion capture shoots for adding more animation to existing characters for crowd simulation.
Comfort care and ADL's, including range of motion exercises and encouraging early mobility in post-op patients.
Work on the Neurosurgery/Neuroscience unit caring for step down patients from the ICU, seizure patients and stroke patient.

Personal care assistant example responsibilities.

Conduct and facilitate PCA lead group activities as scheduled
Act the utmost compassion and professionalism in providing every client with the highest quality care.
Review patients' dietary restrictions, food allergies, and preferences to ensure patient receives appropriate diet.
Provide nourishment and medication to pet resort guests and hospitalize patients alike.
Assist consumers with outside activates that are planned by PCW
Used love and compassion & structure to show young individuals their self worth.

Care partner vs personal care assistant skills

Common care partner skills

Patients, 17%
Vital Signs, 9%
Care Plan, 6%
Medication Administration, 5%
CPR, 5%
Customer Service, 4%

Common personal care assistant skills

Patients, 17%
CPR, 12%
Home Health, 12%
RUN Errands, 7%
Companionship, 6%
Patient Care, 6%

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Personal Care and Attendants Industry
Care Partner
Care Partner vs Personal Care Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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