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The differences between nurses' 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 nurses' aide and a care associate. Additionally, a care associate has an average salary of $32,558, which is higher than the $30,496 average annual salary of a nurses' aide.
The top three skills for a nurses' aide include patients, vital signs and electrocardiogram. The most important skills for a care associate are patients, vital signs, and PCA.
| Nurses' Aide | Care Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $30,496 | $32,558 |
| Hourly rate | $14.66 | $15.65 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 157,723 | 192,391 |
| Job satisfaction | 4.5 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 30% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 3 |
A nurses' aide is responsible for providing healthcare and welfare assistance to patients in long-term care facilities while under the supervision of a registered nurse or a licensed colleague with extensive expertise. A nurses' aide is mostly involved in basic hygienic tasks, such as helping a patient in bathing and dressing, using the toilet, preparing meals, feeding, and performing basic chores. It is also vital for a nurses' aide to coordinate with supervisors, reporting any changes in a patients' condition or behavior.
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.
Nurses' aides and care associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Nurses' Aide | Care Associate | |
| Average salary | $30,496 | $32,558 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $39,000 | Between $21,000 And $48,000 |
| Highest paying City | Urban Honolulu, HI | Hollister, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | University of California, Berkeley | Analysis Group |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a nurses' aide and a care associate in terms of educational background:
| Nurses' Aide | Care Associate | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 30% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between nurses' aides' and care associates' demographics:
| Nurses' Aide | Care Associate | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 13.2% Female, 86.8% | Male, 22.3% Female, 77.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.3% Asian, 7.6% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% | 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% |