Prn vs care associate

The differences between prns 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 prn and a care associate. Additionally, an prn has an average salary of $39,642, which is higher than the $32,558 average annual salary of a care associate.

The top three skills for an prn include patients, healthcare and occupational therapy. The most important skills for a care associate are patients, vital signs, and PCA.

Prn vs care associate overview

	PRN	Care Associate
Yearly salary	$39,642	$32,558
Hourly rate	$19.06	$15.65
Growth rate	9%	9%
Number of jobs	72,309	192,391
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	3	3

What does an prn do?

A PRN or a "pro re nata" employee is responsible for covering a shift or a specific situation, especially during short-staffing or the need to complete a particular task. The PRNs often work for a medical industry without a regular or full-time commitment, having the freedom to manage their time and take multiple assignments from different organizations. A PRN must have excellent communication and organization skills, providing quality healthcare services to the patients and the organization.

What does a care associate do?

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.

Prn vs care associate salary

Prns and care associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	PRN	Care Associate
Average salary	$39,642	$32,558
Salary range	Between $17,000 And $89,000	Between $21,000 And $48,000
Highest paying City	Davis, CA	Hollister, CA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Hawaii
Best paying company	Erlanger Health System	Analysis Group
Best paying industry	Professional	Health Care

Differences between prn and care associate education

There are a few differences between an prn and a care associate in terms of educational background:

	PRN	Care Associate
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	-	-

Prn vs care associate demographics

Here are the differences between prns' and care associates' demographics:

	PRN	Care Associate
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 21.0% Female, 79.0%	Male, 22.3% Female, 77.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.6% Asian, 8.3% White, 61.4% 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%

Differences between prn and care associate duties and responsibilities

Prn example responsibilities.

Develop discharge plans base on individual patients' medical and ADL needs to ensure safety and security issues are addressed.
Experience with ICU patients including ventilator and non-ventilator dependent patients.
Tend to the physical and emotional needs of patients recovering from critical injury or extensive orthopedic surgery.
Provide patient rehabilitation to primarily geriatric short/long term care patients of different diagnosis and document treatment sessions appropriately.
Provide PRN speech services including evaluation and treatments in acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, and outpatient settings with adult populations
Incorporate invasive monitoring and CPR skills as needed.

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Care associate example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
Provide direct care to patients in intensive care unit with empathy, compassion and enthusiasm.
Utilize strong interpersonal skills to educate patients on procedures, rehabilitation and contraception methods.
Care for patients requiring telemetry monitoring and work collaboratively with telemetry technician/nurses to detect and report abnormalities to physicians.
Coordinate with clinicians to meet the specific needs of patients and perform clinical care in an ICU.
Assign to new ER and ICU departments by leadership to maintain quality of patient care and increase patient satisfaction.

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Prn vs care associate skills

Common prn skills

Patients, 29%
Healthcare, 9%
Occupational Therapy, 7%
CPR, 5%
Rehabilitation, 5%
Customer Service, 4%

Common care associate skills

Patients, 24%
Vital Signs, 11%
PCA, 7%
Phlebotomy, 7%
CPR, 7%
Customer Service, 5%

PRN vs. similar jobs

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Updated January 8, 2025

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