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The differences between patient care assistants and patient escorts 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 patient escort. Additionally, a patient escort has an average salary of $33,351, which is higher than the $32,799 average annual salary of a patient care assistant.
The top three skills for a patient care assistant include patients, vital signs and PCA. The most important skills for a patient escort are patients, customer service, and patient transport.
| Patient Care Assistant | Patient Escort | |
| Yearly salary | $32,799 | $33,351 |
| Hourly rate | $15.77 | $16.03 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 261,345 | 174,801 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 26% | Bachelor's Degree, 31% |
| 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.
A patient escort assists health care staff in providing patient care by managing a patient's immediate needs. Typical duties that you will perform include organizing and coordinating the transport of patients, assisting patients in personal hygiene such as dressing and bathing, and engaging with patients. As a patient escort, you are expected to create good relationships with patients by treating them with dignity and respect. You may also provide support services such as restocking supplies and changing linens.
Patient care assistants and patient escorts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Patient Care Assistant | Patient Escort | |
| Average salary | $32,799 | $33,351 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $45,000 | Between $25,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Diego, CA | - |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | - |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | - |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | - |
There are a few differences between a patient care assistant and a patient escort in terms of educational background:
| Patient Care Assistant | Patient Escort | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 26% | Bachelor's Degree, 31% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between patient care assistants' and patient escorts' demographics:
| Patient Care Assistant | Patient Escort | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 14.4% Female, 85.6% | Male, 49.8% Female, 50.2% |
| 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, 13.4% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 7.6% White, 56.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |