Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants and nurses' aides can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant and a nurses' aide. Additionally, a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant has an average salary of $36,382, which is higher than the $30,496 average annual salary of a nurses' aide.
The top three skills for a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant include patients, vital signs and CPR. The most important skills for a nurses' aide are patients, vital signs, and electrocardiogram.
| Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | Nurses' Aide | |
| Yearly salary | $36,382 | $30,496 |
| Hourly rate | $17.49 | $14.66 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 350,499 | 157,723 |
| Job satisfaction | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 26% | High School Diploma, 30% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 3 |
A certified medical assistant (CMA) or certified nurse assistant (CNA) is a healthcare professional who performs clinical and administrative duties in clinics or medical facilities. Certified medical assistants provide excellent customer service to patients arriving and departing from the medical facility and administer injections or medications to their patients. In administrative duties, certified medical assistants are tasked to help clients submit insurance claims and encode medical records to the computer system. They also can work with specialized physicians such as ophthalmologists and podiatrists.
A nurses' aide is responsible for providing healthcare and welfare assistance to patients in long-term care facilities while under the supervision of a registered nurse or a licensed colleague with extensive expertise. A nurses' aide is mostly involved in basic hygienic tasks, such as helping a patient in bathing and dressing, using the toilet, preparing meals, feeding, and performing basic chores. It is also vital for a nurses' aide to coordinate with supervisors, reporting any changes in a patients' condition or behavior.
Certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants and nurses' aides have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | Nurses' Aide | |
| Average salary | $36,382 | $30,496 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $47,000 | Between $23,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Los Angeles, CA | Urban Honolulu, HI |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Aya Healthcare | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant and a nurses' aide in terms of educational background:
| Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | Nurses' Aide | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 26% | High School Diploma, 30% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants' and nurses' aides' demographics:
| Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | Nurses' Aide | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 10.5% Female, 89.5% | Male, 13.2% Female, 86.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 6.8% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.3% Asian, 7.6% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |