Hospital volunteer vs patient care assistant

The differences between hospital volunteers 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 hospital volunteer and a patient care assistant. Additionally, a patient care assistant has an average salary of $32,799, which is higher than the $32,383 average annual salary of a hospital volunteer.

The top three skills for a hospital volunteer include patients, direct patient care and emergency room. The most important skills for a patient care assistant are patients, vital signs, and PCA.

Hospital volunteer vs patient care assistant overview

	Hospital Volunteer	Patient Care Assistant
Yearly salary	$32,383	$32,799
Hourly rate	$15.57	$15.77
Growth rate	9%	9%
Number of jobs	49,297	261,345
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	High School Diploma, 26%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	3	3

Hospital volunteer vs patient care assistant salary

Hospital volunteers and patient care assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Hospital Volunteer	Patient Care Assistant
Average salary	$32,383	$32,799
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $39,000	Between $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 hospital volunteer and patient care assistant education

There are a few differences between a hospital volunteer and a patient care assistant in terms of educational background:

	Hospital Volunteer	Patient Care Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	High School Diploma, 26%
Most common major	Biology	Nursing
Most common college	-	-

Hospital volunteer vs patient care assistant demographics

Here are the differences between hospital volunteers' and patient care assistants' demographics:

	Hospital Volunteer	Patient Care Assistant
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 30.0% Female, 70.0%	Male, 14.4% Female, 85.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 14.9% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.4% Asian, 7.8% White, 53.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	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%

Differences between hospital volunteer and patient care assistant duties and responsibilities

Hospital volunteer example responsibilities.

Lead and train junior sailors on general military training, including hazardous materials and safety clinical procedures.
Provide support to staff, patients and families in both the emergency department and pediatrics units.
Support patients with daily activities after surgery to enhance their hospital experience and aid their recovery using interpersonal skills
Answer telephones in maternity ward.
Work with topics of economics and government.
Prepare and present a variety of lessons in economics to second grade students as a guest speaker.

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.

Hospital volunteer vs patient care assistant skills

Common hospital volunteer skills

Patients, 63%
Direct Patient Care, 5%
Emergency Room, 4%
Front Desk, 4%
Surgery, 3%
Physical Therapy, 3%

Common patient care assistant skills

Patients, 23%
Vital Signs, 9%
PCA, 8%
CPR, 7%
Home Health, 6%
Customer Service, 5%

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Zippia Careers
Healthcare Support Industry
Hospital Volunteer
Hospital Volunteer vs Patient Care Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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