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The differences between patient care assistants and home care attendants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a patient care assistant has an average salary of $32,799, which is higher than the $26,059 average annual salary of a home care attendant.
The top three skills for a patient care assistant include patients, vital signs and PCA. The most important skills for a home care attendant are patients, home health, and companionship.
| Patient Care Assistant | Home Care Attendant | |
| Yearly salary | $32,799 | $26,059 |
| Hourly rate | $15.77 | $12.53 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 36% |
| Number of jobs | 261,345 | 235,912 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 5 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 26% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Average age | 42 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 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.
A home care attendant is a health care worker whose primary job is to provide care and assistance to the elderly and people with disabilities. Your day-to-day duties will include monitoring and recording the condition of patients, performing housekeeping and laundry, and providing personal care services such as dressing and bathing. In addition, you will assist patients in caring for themselves by teaching them how to use a walker, cane, and personal hygiene equipment. As a home care attendant, you are also expected to adhere to asepsis procedures and standards to maintain a secure, healthy, and safe environment.
Patient care assistants and home care attendants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Patient Care Assistant | Home Care Attendant | |
| Average salary | $32,799 | $26,059 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $45,000 | Between $17,000 And $38,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Diego, CA | Watertown Town, MA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Dignity Health |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Media |
There are a few differences between a patient care assistant and a home care attendant in terms of educational background:
| Patient Care Assistant | Home Care Attendant | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 26% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between patient care assistants' and home care attendants' demographics:
| Patient Care Assistant | Home Care Attendant | |
| Average age | 42 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 14.4% Female, 85.6% | Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9% |
| 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, 10.5% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 8.0% White, 57.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |