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The differences between patient care 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 a patient care assistant and a care associate. Additionally, a patient care assistant has an average salary of $32,799, which is higher than the $32,558 average annual salary of a care associate.
The top three skills for a patient care assistant include patients, vital signs and PCA. The most important skills for a care associate are patients, vital signs, and PCA.
| Patient Care Assistant | Care Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $32,799 | $32,558 |
| Hourly rate | $15.77 | $15.65 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 261,345 | 192,391 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 26% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 3 |
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.
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.
Patient care assistants and care associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Patient Care Assistant | Care Associate | |
| Average salary | $32,799 | $32,558 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $45,000 | Between $21,000 And $48,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Diego, CA | Hollister, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Analysis Group |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a patient care assistant and a care associate in terms of educational background:
| Patient Care Assistant | Care Associate | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 26% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between patient care assistants' and care associates' demographics:
| Patient Care Assistant | Care Associate | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 14.4% Female, 85.6% | Male, 22.3% Female, 77.7% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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% |