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Direct care professional vs direct care aide

The differences between direct care professionals and direct care aides can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a direct care aide has an average salary of $30,429, which is higher than the $30,233 average annual salary of a direct care professional.

The top three skills for a direct care professional include ADL, developmental disabilities and mental health. The most important skills for a direct care aide are home health, foster care, and CPR.

Direct care professional vs direct care aide overview

Direct Care ProfessionalDirect Care Aide
Yearly salary$30,233$30,429
Hourly rate$14.54$14.63
Growth rate36%36%
Number of jobs122,720178,038
Job satisfaction3-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 35%High School Diploma, 35%
Average age4848
Years of experience--

Direct care professional vs direct care aide salary

Direct care professionals and direct care aides have different pay scales, as shown below.

Direct Care ProfessionalDirect Care Aide
Average salary$30,233$30,429
Salary rangeBetween $21,000 And $41,000Between $22,000 And $41,000
Highest paying CityVacaville, CASpringfield, MA
Highest paying stateWashingtonVermont
Best paying companyHalliburtonUniv Of Colorado-Colorado Spgs
Best paying industryGovernmentEnergy

Differences between direct care professional and direct care aide education

There are a few differences between a direct care professional and a direct care aide in terms of educational background:

Direct Care ProfessionalDirect Care Aide
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 35%High School Diploma, 35%
Most common majorPsychologyNursing
Most common college--

Direct care professional vs direct care aide demographics

Here are the differences between direct care professionals' and direct care aides' demographics:

Direct Care ProfessionalDirect Care Aide
Average age4848
Gender ratioMale, 26.0% Female, 74.0%Male, 20.8% Female, 79.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 7.9% White, 59.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 13.3% Asian, 8.0% White, 61.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage7%7%

Differences between direct care professional and direct care aide duties and responsibilities

Direct care professional example responsibilities.

  • Help each individual patient accomplish their specific ISP goals on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
  • Provide round the clock care alone with daily help of ADL's, transport consumers to and from appointments.
  • Provide ongoing consultation and support to parents of students with autism and facilitate ongoing collaboration with parents and staff members.
  • Provide services and supports to individuals with mental retardation and relate disabilities, head or spinal cord injuries, or autism.
  • Provide caring and companionship to elderly and developmentally disable consumers and provide primary resident care and assistance with daily living activities.
  • Preform necessary SCIP safety moves to prevent consumers from hurting themselves or others.
  • Show more

Direct care aide example responsibilities.

  • Provide individuals appropriate assistance in completing ADL's, such as showering, toileting, transferring, dressing, and feeding.
  • Assist mentally disable adults with ADL's such as showering, grooming, oral care, eating, dressing and toileting.
  • Provide emotional and mental support to unstable patients and are experience in dealing with aggressive residents
  • Provide caring and companionship to elderly and developmentally disable consumers and provide primary resident care and assistance with daily living activities.
  • Advocate for disable children, help them thrive through completion of goals and one-on-one supervision SCIP, AMAP and CPR certify.
  • Dispense and administer medication to patients according to AMAP policies and procedures.

Direct care professional vs direct care aide skills

Common direct care professional skills
  • ADL, 15%
  • Developmental Disabilities, 13%
  • Mental Health, 7%
  • Autism, 7%
  • Direct Support, 6%
  • Social Work, 5%
Common direct care aide skills
  • Home Health, 17%
  • Foster Care, 10%
  • CPR, 9%
  • Patients, 7%
  • Meal Prep, 7%
  • Rehabilitation, 6%

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