Health care provider vs resident care associate

The differences between health care providers and resident care associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a health care provider has an average salary of $39,309, which is higher than the $30,497 average annual salary of a resident care associate.

The top three skills for a health care provider include patients, meal prep and mental health. The most important skills for a resident care associate are resident care, administer medications, and RCA.

Health care provider vs resident care associate overview

	Health Care Provider	Resident Care Associate
Yearly salary	$39,309	$30,497
Hourly rate	$18.90	$14.66
Growth rate	36%	36%
Number of jobs	236,098	130,625
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 31%	High School Diploma, 26%
Average age	50	48
Years of experience	-	-

What does a health care provider do?

A health care provider offers health care services such as the diagnosis of diseases in medical laboratories, imaging centers, or treatment services. Your job responsibility as a health care provider may be to look after the well-being of patients and provide specific medical care to them. Your job is to meet clients at the point of their needs when they have medical challenges and provide a solution to them.

What does a resident care associate do?

Resident Care Associates are responsible for providing support and care to individuals living in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Their duties include assisting residents with daily tasks such as eating, bathing, and dressing, audit care records, as well as making sure patients take their prescribed medications. They implement daily group activities, attend to medical or safety issues, and communicates any concerns to a resident's family members as required.

Health care provider vs resident care associate salary

Health care providers and resident care associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Health Care Provider	Resident Care Associate
Average salary	$39,309	$30,497
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $61,000	Between $24,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	-	Salem, OR
Highest paying state	-	Oregon
Best paying company	-	The Philadelphia Coalition
Best paying industry	-	Media

Differences between health care provider and resident care associate education

There are a few differences between a health care provider and a resident care associate in terms of educational background:

	Health Care Provider	Resident Care Associate
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 31%	High School Diploma, 26%
Most common major	Business	Nursing
Most common college	-	-

Health care provider vs resident care associate demographics

Here are the differences between health care providers' and resident care associates' demographics:

	Health Care Provider	Resident Care Associate
Average age	50	48
Gender ratio	Male, 20.1% Female, 79.9%	Male, 14.6% Female, 85.4%
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, 9.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.2% Asian, 8.7% White, 58.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	5%	7%

Differences between health care provider and resident care associate duties and responsibilities

Health care provider example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
Provide assistance including administering prescribe oral medications to ADL patients.
Maintain all client confidentiality, licensing and CPR compliance records.
Full personal care attendant, CPR license, documentation, friendly and courteous.
Help with daily activities, transfers, bathing, medical documentation, ordering supplies, and catheter care.
Provide support and aid in problematic situations involving incontinence, cognitive impairment, mobility, and Alzheimer care.

Resident care associate example responsibilities.

Assist Alzheimer patients with daily activities including personal care, administering medications and communicating with their families.
Assist in rehabilitation to transfer home.
Have been train to administer medication, CPR train, and mechanical lift train.
Maintain cleanliness throughout med pass, and practice aseptic technique when pouring and assisting with medication.
Assist with ADL's, medication assistance, dinning room service, answering the telephones and front desk monitoring.
Care for residents with diagnosis such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and arthritis.

Health care provider vs resident care associate skills

Common health care provider skills

Patients, 27%
Meal Prep, 11%
Mental Health, 9%
Social Work, 8%
Laundry Services, 7%
Home Health, 7%

Common resident care associate skills

Resident Care, 24%
Administer Medications, 13%
RCA, 12%
Assist Residents, 7%
Emergency Situations, 6%
Pathogens, 5%

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Zippia Careers
Healthcare Support Industry
Health Care Provider
Health Care Provider vs Resident Care Associate

Updated January 8, 2025

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