Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between home health nurses and home care nurses can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a home health nurse and a home care nurse. Additionally, a home health nurse has an average salary of $69,393, which is higher than the $53,762 average annual salary of a home care nurse.
The top three skills for a home health nurse include home health, patients and quality care. The most important skills for a home care nurse are patients, home health, and CPR.
| Home Health Nurse | Home Care Nurse | |
| Yearly salary | $69,393 | $53,762 |
| Hourly rate | $33.36 | $25.85 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 687,941 | 692,730 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 39% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A home health nurse is responsible for assisting patients usually in their households, strictly monitoring their health conditions and treatment plans for fast recovery. Home health nurses work with the patients' attending physicians and other health professionals to develop healthcare plans and administer timely medications. They update the patient's chart regularly, record temperature and vital signs, manage food intake, and respond to the patients' inquiries and requests. A home health nurse must have strong organizational and time-management skills to perform various nursing duties under certain conditions.
A home care nurse is responsible for providing quality health care for patients, usually in a private home setting. Home care nurses monitor patients' conditions and their medication and other treatments as prescribed by the attending physician or other health care professionals. They assist with the patients' daily activities such as bathing, feeding, and performing procedures such as taking the patients' temperature and vital signs, collecting specimens, and updating their medical chart.
Home health nurses and home care nurses have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Home Health Nurse | Home Care Nurse | |
| Average salary | $69,393 | $53,762 |
| Salary range | Between $48,000 And $99,000 | Between $34,000 And $84,000 |
| Highest paying City | Petaluma, CA | Eugene, OR |
| Highest paying state | California | Oregon |
| Best paying company | Senior Living Properties | Overlake Medical Center & Clinics |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a home health nurse and a home care nurse in terms of educational background:
| Home Health Nurse | Home Care Nurse | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 39% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | Duke University | Duke University |
Here are the differences between home health nurses' and home care nurses' demographics:
| Home Health Nurse | Home Care Nurse | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 10.6% Female, 89.4% | Male, 13.5% Female, 86.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |