Resident care aide vs care associate

The differences between resident care aides and care associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a care associate has an average salary of $32,558, which is higher than the $28,846 average annual salary of a resident care aide.

The top three skills for a resident care aide include CPR, home health and assist residents. The most important skills for a care associate are patients, vital signs, and PCA.

Resident care aide vs care associate overview

	Resident Care Aide	Care Associate
Yearly salary	$28,846	$32,558
Hourly rate	$13.87	$15.65
Growth rate	36%	9%
Number of jobs	164,696	192,391
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 35%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Average age	48	42
Years of experience	-	3

Resident care aide vs care associate salary

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

	Resident Care Aide	Care Associate
Average salary	$28,846	$32,558
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $37,000	Between $21,000 And $48,000
Highest paying City	-	Hollister, CA
Highest paying state	-	Hawaii
Best paying company	-	Analysis Group
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between resident care aide and care associate education

There are a few differences between a resident care aide and a care associate in terms of educational background:

	Resident Care Aide	Care Associate
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 35%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	-	-

Resident care aide vs care associate demographics

Here are the differences between resident care aides' and care associates' demographics:

	Resident Care Aide	Care Associate
Average age	48	42
Gender ratio	Male, 13.9% Female, 86.1%	Male, 22.3% Female, 77.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 8.1% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	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 resident care aide and care associate duties and responsibilities

Resident care aide example responsibilities.

Recognize by physicians for ability to meticulously prepare patient's chest and attach leads to obtain excellent quality EKG tracings.
Operate medical devices (hoyer, sit to stand, walkers, wheelchairs) [].
Take care of residents per ADL's (dressing, basic hygiene, toileting, medication reminders and ambulation).
Perform wound, catheter, and colostomy care.
Escort residents to meals with walkers or wheel chairs.
Assist in emptying a catheter as well as providing the daily peri-care.

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.

Resident care aide vs care associate skills

Common resident care aide skills

CPR, 18%
Home Health, 15%
Assist Residents, 12%
Patients, 11%
Vital Signs, 6%
RCA, 5%

Common care associate skills

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