Nursery technician vs patient care assistant

The differences between nursery technicians 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 nursery technician and a patient care assistant. Additionally, a nursery technician has an average salary of $39,539, which is higher than the $32,799 average annual salary of a patient care assistant.

The top three skills for a nursery technician include weed control, pigs and customer service. The most important skills for a patient care assistant are patients, vital signs, and PCA.

Nursery technician vs patient care assistant overview

	Nursery Technician	Patient Care Assistant
Yearly salary	$39,539	$32,799
Hourly rate	$19.01	$15.77
Growth rate	9%	9%
Number of jobs	26,224	261,345
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	High School Diploma, 26%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	3	3

Nursery technician vs patient care assistant salary

Nursery technicians and patient care assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Nursery Technician	Patient Care Assistant
Average salary	$39,539	$32,799
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $55,000	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 nursery technician and patient care assistant education

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

	Nursery Technician	Patient Care Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	High School Diploma, 26%
Most common major	Plant Sciences	Nursing
Most common college	-	-

Nursery technician vs patient care assistant demographics

Here are the differences between nursery technicians' and patient care assistants' demographics:

	Nursery Technician	Patient Care Assistant
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 45.6% Female, 54.4%	Male, 14.4% Female, 85.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 6.7% White, 61.3% 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%

Differences between nursery technician and patient care assistant duties and responsibilities

Nursery technician example responsibilities.

Manage controlled environments and greenhouses for research on corn, soy, and wheat plants.
Compose written reports of data collect from patient evaluation and present to department chief for thorough analysis of patient diagnosis.
Work on a busy med-surg unit.

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.

Nursery technician vs patient care assistant skills

Common nursery technician skills

Weed Control, 33%
Pigs, 24%
Customer Service, 14%
Vital Signs, 7%
Mowing, 6%
Irrigation Systems, 5%

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
Nursery Technician
Nursery Technician vs Patient Care Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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