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The differences between medication 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 medication aide and a patient care assistant. Additionally, a medication aide has an average salary of $40,799, which is higher than the $32,799 average annual salary of a patient care assistant.
The top three skills for a medication aide include compassion, resident care and state regulations. The most important skills for a patient care assistant are patients, vital signs, and PCA.
| Medication Aide | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $40,799 | $32,799 |
| Hourly rate | $19.61 | $15.77 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 275,582 | 261,345 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 23% | High School Diploma, 26% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 3 |
A medication aide is a healthcare professional who is responsible for administering medication to patients daily in a hospital or medical facility. As certified nursing assistants, medication aides should possess knowledge of patient care procedures so that they can coordinate with different nurses to deliver them. They follow written or verbal instructions from physicians on how to manage their patients' medications. Medication aides are also required to observe their patients and document changes in their conditions.
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.
Medication aides and patient care assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medication Aide | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Average salary | $40,799 | $32,799 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $50,000 | Between $23,000 And $45,000 |
| Highest paying City | Madison, WI | San Diego, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Careerstaff Unlimited - A Genesis Healthcare Company | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a medication aide and a patient care assistant in terms of educational background:
| Medication Aide | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 23% | High School Diploma, 26% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between medication aides' and patient care assistants' demographics:
| Medication Aide | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 15.7% Female, 84.3% | Male, 14.4% Female, 85.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 6.5% White, 63.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | 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% |