Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between health care assistants and nurses can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a nurse has an average salary of $57,564, which is higher than the $34,892 average annual salary of a health care assistant.
The top three skills for a health care assistant include patients, customer service and healthcare. The most important skills for a nurse are patients, home health, and CPR.
| Health Care Assistant | Nurse | |
| Yearly salary | $34,892 | $57,564 |
| Hourly rate | $16.77 | $27.68 |
| Growth rate | 36% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 242,669 | 696,124 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Average age | 50 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | 2 |
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.
Nurses are medical professionals assigned to a specific department in the hospital and provide their trusted department services. Nurses are in charge of taking patients' medical histories, getting vital signs, preparing patients for checkups or procedures, explaining upcoming practices, answering any questions, and communicating any concerns to the assigned doctor. Nurses should ensure that patients follow the medical advice given to them. They also assist patients in completing administrative requirements, such as filling out forms, validating details, and endorsing payments.
Health care assistants and nurses have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Health Care Assistant | Nurse | |
| Average salary | $34,892 | $57,564 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $47,000 | Between $38,000 And $86,000 |
| Highest paying City | Antioch, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | California |
| Best paying company | Medical University of South Carolina | Conviva |
| Best paying industry | Education | Government |
There are a few differences between a health care assistant and a nurse in terms of educational background:
| Health Care Assistant | Nurse | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | Duke University |
Here are the differences between health care assistants' and nurses' demographics:
| Health Care Assistant | Nurse | |
| Average age | 50 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 18.8% Female, 81.2% | Male, 14.0% Female, 86.0% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 9% |