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The differences between psychiatric 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 psychiatric nursing assistant and a patient care assistant. Additionally, a patient care assistant has an average salary of $32,799, which is higher than the $30,184 average annual salary of a psychiatric nursing assistant.
The top three skills for a psychiatric nursing assistant include patients, mental health and vital signs. The most important skills for a patient care assistant are patients, vital signs, and PCA.
| Psychiatric Nursing Assistant | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $30,184 | $32,799 |
| Hourly rate | $14.51 | $15.77 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 181,338 | 261,345 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 38% | High School Diploma, 26% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 3 |
Psychiatric Nursing Assistants require the ability to carry out individual patient treatment programs, as well as verbalization of patients' needs, clear and concise communication of information, and ensuring patient safety and well-being. Paying out at around $26K per year, this position requires no formal education outside of a diploma or GED, but postsecondary courses in psychology may help. Those who choose this career will be called on to assist mentally impaired or emotionally disturbed patients under nursing or medical staff direction, assist patients with their daily living activities, lead them to and from examinations and treatment, and restrain patients who become violent.
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.
Psychiatric nursing assistants and patient care assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Psychiatric Nursing Assistant | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Average salary | $30,184 | $32,799 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $40,000 | Between $23,000 And $45,000 |
| Highest paying City | Olympia, WA | San Diego, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Maine Health/maine Mental Health Partners | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a psychiatric nursing assistant and a patient care assistant in terms of educational background:
| Psychiatric Nursing Assistant | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 38% | High School Diploma, 26% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between psychiatric nursing assistants' and patient care assistants' demographics:
| Psychiatric Nursing Assistant | Patient Care Assistant | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 41.7% Female, 58.3% | Male, 14.4% Female, 85.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 16.8% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 20.8% Asian, 7.3% White, 49.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | 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% |