What does a resident care assistant do?

Updated January 8, 2025

7 min read

Resident care assistants work with a group to care for residents with Alzheimer's disease, administer treatments, and chart their conditions. They manage intermediate care patients with EKG monitoring and epidural infusions. They assist residents with various forms of dementia to live while providing for their well-being. The assistants may also facilitate activities and games to engage residents with dementia. They assist residents in the dementia care unit with including dressing, showers, and bed baths. This position may require traits like integrity, compassion, and physical stamina.

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Resident care assistant responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real resident care assistant resumes:

Conduct and facilitate PCA lead group activities as scheduled
Perform patient care, to include ADL's and assistance with ambulation and activities in an Alzheimer's unit.
Provide care and assistance with ADL's to the residents of the memory care and rehab units.
Work with a team to care for 48 residents with Alzheimer's disease, chart conditions, administer treatments
Assist client with: elastic support hose, condom catheter, indwelling catheter, emptying collection bag, hygiene.
Maintain distribution and tracking of telemetry packs for entire hospital.
Communicate medical concepts to patients using layman's terms to facilitate complete understanding.
Ensure monitors are functioning properly, and ensure telemetry supplies are readily available.
Promote continuity of care by accurately and completely communicating to other caregivers the status of patients for which care is provided.
Take cardiograms and identify arrhythmia on monitor.
Assist nurses with resident's womb care, oxygen tanks, colostomy bags, and feeding tubes
Provide foley and colostomy care, ability to chart results efficiently

Resident care assistant skills and personality traits

We calculated that 18% of Resident Care Assistants are proficient in Resident Care, Customer Service, and Patients. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Integrity, and Interpersonal skills.

We break down the percentage of Resident Care Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:

Resident Care, 18%
Provided personalized compassion and supportive resident care to assisted living senior residents to help with dependent and independent living.
Customer Service, 8%
Provided customer service/communication with residents, family members and Physicians;.
Patients, 8%
Provided patients with daily medical assistance involving various aspects of out-patient care Participated in several social activities and resident programs with patients
Home Health, 8%
Train new Home Health Aide employees for specified shift.
Compassion, 6%
Provided compassion care for residents transitioning to death.
Assist Residents, 5%
Assist residents during meal times always accounting for attendance and encouragement of participation and documenting otherwise.

Most resident care assistants use their skills in "resident care," "customer service," and "patients" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential resident care assistant responsibilities here:

Physical stamina. resident care assistant responsibilities often require "physical stamina." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "nursing assistants and orderlies spend much of their time on their feet." This resume example shows what resident care assistants do with physical stamina on a typical day: "assist residents in meeting their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. "

Communication skills. Another common skill required for resident care assistant responsibilities is "communication skills." This skill comes up in the duties of resident care assistants all the time, as "nursing assistants and orderlies must communicate effectively to address patients’ or residents’ concerns." An excerpt from a real resident care assistant resume shows how this skill is central to what a resident care assistant does: "provide patience, compassion, along with excellent listening and communication skills. "

Compassion. While "compassion" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to resident care assistant responsibilities. Much of what a resident care assistant does relies on this skill, seeing as "nursing assistants and orderlies assist and care for the sick, injured, and elderly." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of resident care assistants: "build a relationship with the residents with compassion and integrity. "

See the full list of resident care assistant skills

The three companies that hire the most resident care assistants are:

Banfield Pet Hospital36 resident care assistants jobs
Grace Management22 resident care assistants jobs
The Bristal Assisted Living22 resident care assistants jobs

Choose from 10+ customizable resident care assistant resume templates

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Compare different resident care assistants

Resident care assistant vs. Hospice aide

A hospice aide is responsible for assisting patients in their daily activities, usually in a medical institution or private household. Hospice aides monitor the patients' conditions, administer medication, and report updates to the attending physician or other health care professionals. They also manage the patients' food intake, support them with their lifestyle activities, and perform duties that would make the patients comfortable. A hospice aide must have excellent communication skills, especially in responding to the patients' inquiries and concerns and listening to their stories.

The annual salary of hospice aides is $2,298 lower than the average salary of resident care assistants.Even though resident care assistants and hospice aides are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require customer service, patients, and home health in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a resident care assistant are more likely to require skills like "resident care," "assist residents," "direct care," and "rca." On the other hand, a job as a hospice aide requires skills like "care plan," "hha," "direct patient care," and "direct supervision." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Hospice aides tend to make the most money working in the professional industry, where they earn an average salary of $32,484. In contrast, resident care assistants make the biggest average salary, $34,087, in the government industry.The education levels that hospice aides earn slightly differ from resident care assistants. In particular, hospice aides are 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a resident care assistant. Additionally, they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Learn more about resident care assistants vs hospice aides.

Resident care assistant vs. Nurses' aide

A nurses' aide is responsible for providing healthcare and welfare assistance to patients in long-term care facilities while under the supervision of a registered nurse or a licensed colleague with extensive expertise. A nurses' aide is mostly involved in basic hygienic tasks, such as helping a patient in bathing and dressing, using the toilet, preparing meals, feeding, and performing basic chores. It is also vital for a nurses' aide to coordinate with supervisors, reporting any changes in a patients' condition or behavior.

Nurses' aide positions earn lower pay than resident care assistant roles. They earn a $434 lower salary than resident care assistants per year.A few skills overlap for resident care assistants and nurses' aides. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "resident care," "customer service," and "patients. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, resident care assistant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "assist residents," "direct care," "rca," and "cleanliness." Meanwhile, a nurses' aide has duties that require skills in areas such as "electrocardiogram," "medical equipment," "english language," and "care plan." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Nurses' aides may earn a lower salary than resident care assistants, but nurses' aides earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $30,130. On the other hand, resident care assistants receive higher pay in the government industry, where they earn an average salary of $34,087.nurses' aides earn similar levels of education than resident care assistants in general. They're 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Learn more about resident care assistants vs nurses' aides.

Resident care assistant vs. Patient sitter

The primary job of a patient sitter is to provide patients with care and companionship. You will be responsible for a few duties that always include supervising patients, assisting them with basic personal hygiene and care, and monitoring their vital signs. As a patient sitter, you are expected to refrain from doing unauthorized or additional functions, identifying changes in patient's conditions, and maintaining patient information confidentiality. You are also expected to comply with relevant standards, procedures, and policies.

An average patient sitter eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of resident care assistants. The difference in salaries amounts to patient sitters earning a $1,281 lower average salary than resident care assistants.resident care assistants and patient sitters both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "customer service," "patients," and "compassion," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a resident care assistant is likely to be skilled in "resident care," "home health," "assist residents," and "direct care," while a typical patient sitter is skilled in "bls," "patient observation," "continuous observation," and "direct observation."

Patient sitters earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $29,697. Resident care assistants earn the highest pay from the government industry, with an average salary of $34,087.Most patient sitters achieve a similar degree level compared to resident care assistants. For example, they're 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Learn more about resident care assistants vs patient sitters.

Resident care assistant vs. Certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant

A certified medical assistant (CMA) or certified nurse assistant (CNA) is a healthcare professional who performs clinical and administrative duties in clinics or medical facilities. Certified medical assistants provide excellent customer service to patients arriving and departing from the medical facility and administer injections or medications to their patients. In administrative duties, certified medical assistants are tasked to help clients submit insurance claims and encode medical records to the computer system. They also can work with specialized physicians such as ophthalmologists and podiatrists.

Certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants typically earn higher pay than resident care assistants. On average, certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants earn a $5,452 higher salary per year.According to resumes from resident care assistants and certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "resident care," "customer service," and "patients. "Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A resident care assistant uses "assist residents," "direct care," "rca," and "patient care." Certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants are more likely to have duties that require skills in "direct patient care," "phone calls," "medical terminology," and "infection control. "The health care industry tends to pay the highest salaries for certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants, with average annual pay of $34,559. Comparatively, the highest resident care assistant annual salary comes from the government industry.In general, certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants hold similar degree levels compared to resident care assistants. Certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants are 0.4% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Learn more about resident care assistants vs certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistants.

Types of resident care assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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