Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between certified nursing assistants and medical assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-3 months to become a certified nursing assistant, becoming a medical assistant takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a medical assistant has an average salary of $34,900, which is higher than the $32,597 average annual salary of a certified nursing assistant.
The top three skills for a certified nursing assistant include patients, vital signs and home health. The most important skills for a medical assistant are patients, vital signs, and patient care.
| Certified Nursing Assistant | Medical Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $32,597 | $34,900 |
| Hourly rate | $15.67 | $16.78 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 225,834 | 189,915 |
| Job satisfaction | 3.12 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 29% | Associate Degree, 24% |
| Average age | 42 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 12 |
A certified nursing assistant generally assists patients in their healthcare needs and medical procedures. They support patients in their daily activities by monitoring patients' temperature and food intake, ensuring the cleanliness of the patient's room, and keeping documentation of patients' conditions for reference of nurses and doctors. A certified nursing assistant should also communicate with patients' families and provide updates as often as needed. It is also important that a nursing assistant is patient and compassionate enough to attend to direct patient needs, which could get demanding or challenging at times.
Medical assistants provide support to medical practitioners in both administrative and clerical tasks. They keep and update the patient's medical records, administer medicines under the supervision of a physician, assist during medical examinations, prepare medical samples for laboratory testing, manage the schedule of appointments, and assist the patients with their bills and in filling out needed forms, such as insurance-related documents. Medical assistants should have good communication skills and analytical skills, be organized, and be flexible. They should also have knowledge of how to operate some medical equipment such as x-ray machines.
Certified nursing assistants and medical assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Certified Nursing Assistant | Medical Assistant | |
| Average salary | $32,597 | $34,900 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $42,000 | Between $27,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | Portland, ME | Vancouver, WA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Valley Presbyterian Hospital | Columbia University in the City of New York |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a certified nursing assistant and a medical assistant in terms of educational background:
| Certified Nursing Assistant | Medical Assistant | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 29% | Associate Degree, 24% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Medical Assisting Services |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between certified nursing assistants' and medical assistants' demographics:
| Certified Nursing Assistant | Medical Assistant | |
| Average age | 42 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 12.3% Female, 87.7% | Male, 10.4% Female, 89.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 7.8% White, 62.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 25.7% Asian, 8.8% White, 49.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 6% |