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The differences between professional nursing assistants and patient care assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both a professional nursing assistant and a patient care assistant. Additionally, a professional nursing assistant has an average salary of $44,336, which is higher than the $32,799 average annual salary of a patient care assistant.
The top three skills for a professional nursing assistant include vital signs, PNA and patient care. The most important skills for a patient care assistant are patients, vital signs, and PCA.
Professional nursing assistants and patient care assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Professional Nursing Assistant | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Average salary | $44,336 | $32,799 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $69,000 | Between $23,000 And $45,000 |
| 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 professional nursing assistant and a patient care assistant in terms of educational background:
| Professional Nursing Assistant | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | High School Diploma, 26% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between professional nursing assistants' and patient care assistants' demographics:
| Professional Nursing Assistant | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 26.2% Female, 73.8% | Male, 14.4% Female, 85.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 7.1% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | 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 | 7% | 7% |