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The differences between patient care technicians and patient care assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a patient care technician has an average salary of $32,806, which is higher than the $32,799 average annual salary of a patient care assistant.
The top three skills for a patient care technician include patients, vital signs and phlebotomy. The most important skills for a patient care assistant are patients, vital signs, and PCA.
Patient Care Technician | Patient Care Assistant | |
Yearly Salary | $32,806 | $32,799 |
Hourly rate | $15.77 | $15.77 |
Growth Rate | 9% | 9% |
Number Of Jobs | 167,520 | 261,345 |
Job Satisfaction | 5 | 5 |
Most Common Degree | Bachelor's Degree, 27% | High School Diploma, 26% |
Average Age | 34 | 42 |
Years Of Experience | - | 3 |
Patient care technicians are medical workers who work in clinics, hospitals, or other medical facilities under the supervision of doctors or other health professionals. They provide assistance to health professionals and patients. They help patients with mobility concerns get into hospital beds, bathrooms, wheelchairs, and more. They also help patients with their physical therapy sessions and other physical needs. They handle patient concerns and communicate these to attending physicians. They may be assigned to administer basic medical procedures such as checking vital signs and collecting samples from patients, among others.
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 technicians and patient care assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
Patient Care Technician | Patient Care Assistant | |
Average Salary | $32,806 | $32,799 |
Salary Range | Between $24,000 And $43,000 | Between $23,000 And $45,000 |
Highest Paying City | Rochester, NH | San Diego, CA |
Highest Paying State | Vermont | Hawaii |
Best Paying Company | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center | Microsoft |
Best Paying Industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a patient care technician and a patient care assistant in terms of educational background:
Patient Care Technician | Patient Care Assistant | |
Most Common Degree | Bachelor's Degree, 27% | High School Diploma, 26% |
Most Common Major | Nursing | Nursing |
Most Common College | Emory University | - |
Here are the differences between patient care technicians' and patient care assistants' demographics:
Patient Care Technician | Patient Care Assistant | |
Average Age | 34 | 42 |
Gender Ratio | Male, 19.0% Female, 81.0% | Male, 14.4% Female, 85.6% |
Race Ratio | Black or African American, 14.3% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 6.4% White, 51.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | 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% |
LGBT Percentage | 15% | 7% |