Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between hospice aides and care associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both a hospice aide and a care associate. Additionally, a care associate has an average salary of $32,558, which is higher than the $28,632 average annual salary of a hospice aide.
The top three skills for a hospice aide include home health, patients and CPR. The most important skills for a care associate are patients, vital signs, and PCA.
| Hospice Aide | Care Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $28,632 | $32,558 |
| Hourly rate | $13.77 | $15.65 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 163,630 | 192,391 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 25% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 3 |
A hospice aide is responsible for assisting patients in their daily activities, usually in a medical institution or private household. Hospice aides monitor the patients' conditions, administer medication, and report updates to the attending physician or other health care professionals. They also manage the patients' food intake, support them with their lifestyle activities, and perform duties that would make the patients comfortable. A hospice aide must have excellent communication skills, especially in responding to the patients' inquiries and concerns and listening to their stories.
Patient care associates typically work at different healthcare settings where their primary job is to provide basic patient needs and comfort. They are also responsible for several patient care tasks, including bathing patients, changing the pillows and bedsheets of patients, and serving patients' meals. They should comply with safety protocols when performing these tasks. Some of them can give patients medication depending on the level of their training. To become a patient care specialist, one should possess several skills, such as good communication.
Hospice aides and care associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Hospice Aide | Care Associate | |
| Average salary | $28,632 | $32,558 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $36,000 | Between $21,000 And $48,000 |
| Highest paying City | Framingham, MA | Hollister, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Alive Hospice | Analysis Group |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a hospice aide and a care associate in terms of educational background:
| Hospice Aide | Care Associate | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 25% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between hospice aides' and care associates' demographics:
| Hospice Aide | Care Associate | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 9.5% Female, 90.5% | Male, 22.3% Female, 77.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 7.0% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 7.8% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |