Post job

Home health attendant vs patient care assistant

The differences between home health attendants and patient care assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a home health attendant has an average salary of $41,875, which is higher than the $32,799 average annual salary of a patient care assistant.

The top three skills for a home health attendant include home health, patients and companionship. The most important skills for a patient care assistant are patients, vital signs, and PCA.

Home health attendant vs patient care assistant overview

Home Health AttendantPatient Care Assistant
Yearly salary$41,875$32,799
Hourly rate$20.13$15.77
Growth rate36%9%
Number of jobs163,246261,345
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 30%High School Diploma, 26%
Average age5042
Years of experience-3

Home health attendant vs patient care assistant salary

Home health attendants and patient care assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Home Health AttendantPatient Care Assistant
Average salary$41,875$32,799
Salary rangeBetween $25,000 And $69,000Between $23,000 And $45,000
Highest paying City-San Diego, CA
Highest paying state-Hawaii
Best paying company-Microsoft
Best paying industry-Health Care

Differences between home health attendant and patient care assistant education

There are a few differences between a home health attendant and a patient care assistant in terms of educational background:

Home Health AttendantPatient Care Assistant
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 30%High School Diploma, 26%
Most common majorNursingNursing
Most common college--

Home health attendant vs patient care assistant demographics

Here are the differences between home health attendants' and patient care assistants' demographics:

Home Health AttendantPatient Care Assistant
Average age5042
Gender ratioMale, 15.8% Female, 84.2%Male, 14.4% Female, 85.6%
Race ratioBlack 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, 10.4% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 7.3% White, 61.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage5%7%

Differences between home health attendant and patient care assistant duties and responsibilities

Home health attendant example responsibilities.

  • Participate in treatment team and planning meetings to ensure clients receive medically necessary services within Medicaid guidelines.
  • Present peer to peer health education and provide administrative support to student health center including filing medical records using HIPPA compliant procedures

Patient care assistant example responsibilities.

  • Conduct and facilitate PCA lead group activities as scheduled
  • Assist patients in achieving independence and increase functional ability.
  • Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
  • Answer call lights, vital signs, EKG'S, transporting patients to other areas, keep rooms clean and orderly.
  • Provide high quality patient care as an in-demand per-diem RCA within, home-healthcare, nursing home settings and memory support care.
  • Work extensively with Alzheimer and dementia patients.
  • Show more

Home health attendant vs patient care assistant skills

Common home health attendant skills
  • Home Health, 40%
  • Patients, 12%
  • Companionship, 7%
  • Patient Care, 7%
  • Mental Health, 6%
  • Laundry Services, 5%
Common patient care assistant skills
  • Patients, 23%
  • Vital Signs, 9%
  • PCA, 8%
  • CPR, 7%
  • Home Health, 6%
  • Customer Service, 5%

Browse healthcare support jobs