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The differences between nurses' aides and medical assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-3 months to become a nurses' aide, becoming a medical assistant takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a medical assistant has an average salary of $34,900, 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 medical assistant are patients, vital signs, and patient care.
| Nurses' Aide | Medical Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $30,496 | $34,900 |
| Hourly rate | $14.66 | $16.78 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 157,723 | 189,915 |
| Job satisfaction | 4.5 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 30% | Associate Degree, 24% |
| Average age | 42 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 12 |
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.
Medical assistants provide support to medical practitioners in both administrative and clerical tasks. They keep and update the patient's medical records, administer medicines under the supervision of a physician, assist during medical examinations, prepare medical samples for laboratory testing, manage the schedule of appointments, and assist the patients with their bills and in filling out needed forms, such as insurance-related documents. Medical assistants should have good communication skills and analytical skills, be organized, and be flexible. They should also have knowledge of how to operate some medical equipment such as x-ray machines.
Nurses' aides and medical assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Nurses' Aide | Medical Assistant | |
| Average salary | $30,496 | $34,900 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $39,000 | Between $27,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | Urban Honolulu, HI | Vancouver, WA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Alaska |
| Best paying company | University of California, Berkeley | Columbia University in the City of New York |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a nurses' aide and a medical assistant in terms of educational background:
| Nurses' Aide | Medical Assistant | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 30% | Associate Degree, 24% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Medical Assisting Services |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between nurses' aides' and medical assistants' demographics:
| Nurses' Aide | Medical Assistant | |
| Average age | 42 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 13.2% Female, 86.8% | Male, 10.4% Female, 89.6% |
| 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, 10.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 25.7% Asian, 8.8% White, 49.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 6% |