Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between health assistants and health care assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a health care assistant has an average salary of $34,892, which is higher than the $31,960 average annual salary of a health assistant.
The top three skills for a health assistant include patients, CPR and customer service. The most important skills for a health care assistant are patients, customer service, and healthcare.
| Health Assistant | Health Care Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $31,960 | $34,892 |
| Hourly rate | $15.37 | $16.77 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 36% |
| Number of jobs | 100,084 | 242,669 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 37% |
| Average age | 37 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 12 | - |
A health assistant is responsible for providing quality care for the patients under the supervision of registered nurses and attending physicians. Health assistants perform basic medical procedures, such as collecting specimens for examinations, checking the patients' conditions, and administering required medications. They also assist health care professionals in conducting complex medical processes by preparing the equipment and ensuring the cleanliness of the operating room. A health assistant keeps an organized record of medical charts for the doctor's reference and may also coordinate with the patient's family for medical updates.
A health care assistant primarily performs support tasks to help nurses in providing care and assistance to patients. Their duties usually include assisting patients with their daily hygienic tasks such as bathing, going to the toilet, dressing, and brushing their teeth. They may also prepare meals according to protocols and guidelines, feed patients, assist them when walking, and run other errands as necessary. Most importantly, a health care assistant monitors the patients' condition and their treatment progress, coordinating with the nurses and physicians regularly.
Health assistants and health care assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Health Assistant | Health Care Assistant | |
| Average salary | $31,960 | $34,892 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $43,000 | Between $25,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Cambridge, MA | Antioch, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Boston Public Schools | Medical University of South Carolina |
| Best paying industry | Government | Education |
There are a few differences between a health assistant and a health care assistant in terms of educational background:
| Health Assistant | Health Care Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 37% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between health assistants' and health care assistants' demographics:
| Health Assistant | Health Care Assistant | |
| Average age | 37 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 17.9% Female, 82.1% | Male, 18.8% Female, 81.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 22.4% Asian, 9.5% White, 52.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 24.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 23.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 35.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 5% |