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The differences between operating room assistants 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 an operating room assistant and a care associate. Additionally, an operating room assistant has an average salary of $34,177, which is higher than the $32,558 average annual salary of a care associate.
The top three skills for an operating room assistant include patients, surgery and anesthesia. The most important skills for a care associate are patients, vital signs, and PCA.
| Operating Room Assistant | Care Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $34,177 | $32,558 |
| Hourly rate | $16.43 | $15.65 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 218,839 | 192,391 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 3 |
An operating room assistant works alongside the surgeons in maintaining the orderly and sterile nature of operating rooms. The assistant ensures that all surgical equipment is clean and hygienic, all monitoring equipment is functional, and everything needed by the doctor is present inside the operating room. The assistant position is vital during an operation. The surgeon may become too focused on the operation at hand that helpful assistants must ensure an operation's smooth flow.
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.
Operating room assistants and care associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Operating Room Assistant | Care Associate | |
| Average salary | $34,177 | $32,558 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $43,000 | Between $21,000 And $48,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Monica, CA | Hollister, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | University of California, Berkeley | Analysis Group |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between an operating room assistant and a care associate in terms of educational background:
| Operating Room Assistant | Care Associate | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Business | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between operating room assistants' and care associates' demographics:
| Operating Room Assistant | Care Associate | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 46.8% Female, 53.2% | Male, 22.3% Female, 77.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 7.1% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | 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% |