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The differences between certified nurses' aides and certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants 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 nurses' aide and a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant. Additionally, a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant has an average salary of $36,382, which is higher than the $32,566 average annual salary of a certified nurses' aide.
The top three skills for a certified nurses' aide include patients, vital signs and care plan. The most important skills for a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Certified Nurses' Aide | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $32,566 | $36,382 |
| Hourly rate | $15.66 | $17.49 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 171,087 | 350,499 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3.5 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 26% | Associate Degree, 26% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 3 |
A certified nurses' aide specializes in providing health care and welfare support to patients in nursing homes, hospitals, hospice, or any facilities that offer long-term care. A nurses' aide is responsible for assisting patients in bathing and dressing, toilet and catheter use, essential daily exercise and walks, and preparing and feeding meals. Furthermore, a nurses' aide must monitor a patient's vital signs and overall condition. It is also essential to coordinate with nurses and other health care workers by reporting changes or improvements.
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.
Certified nurses' aides and certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Certified Nurses' Aide | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Average salary | $32,566 | $36,382 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $42,000 | Between $27,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Guilderland, NY | Los Angeles, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Careerstaff Unlimited - A Genesis Healthcare Company | Aya Healthcare |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a certified nurses' aide and a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant in terms of educational background:
| Certified Nurses' Aide | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 26% | Associate Degree, 26% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between certified nurses' aides' and certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants' demographics:
| Certified Nurses' Aide | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 13.6% Female, 86.4% | Male, 10.5% Female, 89.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 6.8% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |