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The differences between hospice aides and patient care assistants 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 patient care assistant. Additionally, a patient care assistant has an average salary of $32,799, 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 patient care assistant are patients, vital signs, and PCA.
| Hospice Aide | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $28,632 | $32,799 |
| Hourly rate | $13.77 | $15.77 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 163,630 | 261,345 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | 5 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 25% | High School Diploma, 26% |
| 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.
A patient care assistant is responsible for attending patients' needs with the supervision of a health care professional. Duties of a patient care assistant also include performing basic medical tasks such as taking patients' temperature, monitoring food intake, preparing medicines, recording health conditions, assisting on lab tests and other medical procedures, and providing information and important updates to the patient's family. A patient care assistant must have excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform duties efficiently and accurately.
Hospice aides and patient care assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Hospice Aide | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Average salary | $28,632 | $32,799 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $36,000 | Between $23,000 And $45,000 |
| Highest paying City | Framingham, MA | San Diego, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Alive Hospice | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a hospice aide and a patient care assistant in terms of educational background:
| Hospice Aide | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 25% | High School Diploma, 26% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between hospice aides' and patient care assistants' demographics:
| Hospice Aide | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 9.5% Female, 90.5% | Male, 14.4% Female, 85.6% |
| 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, 10.4% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 7.3% White, 61.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |