What does a resident care associate do?
Resident Care Associates are responsible for providing support and care to individuals living in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Their duties include assisting residents with daily tasks such as eating, bathing, and dressing, audit care records, as well as making sure patients take their prescribed medications. They implement daily group activities, attend to medical or safety issues, and communicates any concerns to a resident's family members as required.
Resident care associate responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real resident care associate resumes:
- Assist Alzheimer patients with daily activities including personal care, administering medications and communicating with their families.
- Assist in rehabilitation to transfer home.
- Have been train to administer medication, CPR train, and mechanical lift train.
- Maintain cleanliness throughout med pass, and practice aseptic technique when pouring and assisting with medication.
- Assist with ADL's, medication assistance, dinning room service, answering the telephones and front desk monitoring.
- Care for residents with diagnosis such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and arthritis.
- Assist Alzheimer's and dementia residents with activities of daily living (bathing, toileting, grooming etc . )
- Advise families, the elderly, and disable on such things as nutrition, cleanliness, and household utilities.
- Assist with elderly care, ADL'S, scheduling doctor's appointments, medication management, cook clean, activities.
- Provide supervision and counseling to youth with autism, mental retardation, and other developmental disorders in a residential setting.
- Perform EKG's, vital signs, obtain urine, stool and sputum specimens and assist the RN whenever are needed.
- Provide residents with compassion and independence.
- Provide rehabilitation support services on a continual basis.
- Administer EKG's, give injections, obtain blood samples for various lab procedures, obtain urine samples for testing.
- Offer conversation and companionship to long-term care residents, establishing and maintaining positive patient relationships.
Resident care associate skills and personality traits
We calculated that 24% of Resident Care Associates are proficient in Resident Care, Administer Medications, and RCA. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Integrity, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Resident Care Associates that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Resident Care, 24%
Position: Resident Care Specialist/Transportation Driver/Medical Records
- Administer Medications, 13%
Administer medications; prepare equipment and assist during examinations and treatments.
- RCA, 12%
Communicate daily with Nurse and Lead RCA on resident's physical and mental status.
- Assist Residents, 7%
Assist residents with activities of daily living- Maintain appropriate documentation- Maintain a safe and clean environment
- Emergency Situations, 6%
Identified safety hazards and emergency situations and initiated corrective action as appropriate.
- Pathogens, 5%
Cared for patients with blood born pathogens such as but not limited to HIV/AIDS.
Common skills that a resident care associate uses to do their job include "resident care," "administer medications," and "rca." You can find details on the most important resident care associate responsibilities below.
Detail oriented. The most essential soft skill for a resident care associate to carry out their responsibilities is detail oriented. This skill is important for the role because "home health aides and personal care aides must adhere to specific rules and protocols and carefully follow instructions to help take care of clients." Additionally, a resident care associate resume shows how their duties depend on detail oriented: "keep detailed logs/records of patient care and behavior. "
Integrity. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling resident care associate duties is integrity. The role rewards competence in this skill because "home health aides and personal care aides should make clients feel comfortable when they tend to personal activities, such as helping a client bathe." According to a resident care associate resume, here's how resident care associates can utilize integrity in their job responsibilities: "med tech improving the lives of those i served with compassion, respect, excellence, and integrity. "
Interpersonal skills. This is an important skill for resident care associates to perform their duties. For an example of how resident care associate responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "home health aides and personal care aides must work closely with clients." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a resident care associate: "provide personal care assist in daily hygiene meal preparation laundry/linen changes daily activity excellent interpersonal skills".
Physical stamina. resident care associate responsibilities often require "physical stamina." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "home health aides and personal care aides should be comfortable performing physical tasks." This resume example shows what resident care associates do with physical stamina on a typical day: "provide physical support to assist patients to perform daily living activities. "
The three companies that hire the most resident care associates are:
- Commonwealth Senior Living164 resident care associates jobs
- Trilogy Health Services51 resident care associates jobs
- Bridge Investment Group5 resident care associates jobs
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Compare different resident care associates
Resident care associate vs. Companion
A companion is responsible for assisting sick and recovered patients, as well as the elderly. Companions perform housekeeping duties, ensuring that a facility is well-maintained and safe for the use of the patients. They also monitor the patients' medication, prepare their meals based on a medical professional's prescription, support them on their daily activities, respond to the patients' needs and special requests as allowed, and report any developments to their family or guardians. A companion must be compassionate enough to extend physical and emotional support, depending on the client's condition.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between resident care associates and companion. For instance, resident care associate responsibilities require skills such as "resident care," "administer medications," "rca," and "good judgment." Whereas a companion is skilled in "companionship," "home health," "provide emotional support," and "patient care." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Companions earn the highest salaries when working in the non profits industry, with an average yearly salary of $30,973. On the other hand, resident care associates are paid more in the media industry with an average salary of $29,599.The education levels that companions earn slightly differ from resident care associates. In particular, companions are 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a resident care associate. Additionally, they're 1.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Resident care associate vs. Home health aid
Home health aides provide care and assistance to patients who have chronic illnesses, injuries, disabilities, or age-related challenges inside the patient's home. They monitor the patient's condition and help them in any activity they may need assistance in. They provide support to both the patient and the family to manage the patient's condition. Home health aides care for the patient by providing personal services like bathing and basic grooming, designing nutritional plans, cooking and preparing meals, running errands, maintaining the cleanliness of the home, managing medication intake, and ensuring the home is safe and secure for the patient.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that resident care associate responsibilities requires skills like "resident care," "administer medications," "rca," and "assist residents." But a home health aid might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "home health," "companionship," "patient care," and "hha."
Home health aids may earn a lower salary than resident care associates, but home health aids earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $27,162. On the other hand, resident care associates receive higher pay in the media industry, where they earn an average salary of $29,599.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Home health aids tend to reach similar levels of education than resident care associates. In fact, they're 1.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Resident care associate vs. Medication aide
A medication aide is a healthcare professional who is responsible for administering medication to patients daily in a hospital or medical facility. As certified nursing assistants, medication aides should possess knowledge of patient care procedures so that they can coordinate with different nurses to deliver them. They follow written or verbal instructions from physicians on how to manage their patients' medications. Medication aides are also required to observe their patients and document changes in their conditions.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from resident care associate resumes include skills like "administer medications," "rca," "good judgment," and "assist residents," whereas a medication aide is more likely to list skills in "state regulations," "infection control," "memory care," and "medication distribution. "
Medication aides make a very good living in the manufacturing industry with an average annual salary of $39,103. On the other hand, resident care associates are paid the highest salary in the media industry, with average annual pay of $29,599.medication aides typically earn similar educational levels compared to resident care associates. Specifically, they're 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Resident care associate vs. Certified nurses' aide
A certified nurses' aide specializes in providing health care and welfare support to patients in nursing homes, hospitals, hospice, or any facilities that offer long-term care. A nurses' aide is responsible for assisting patients in bathing and dressing, toilet and catheter use, essential daily exercise and walks, and preparing and feeding meals. Furthermore, a nurses' aide must monitor a patient's vital signs and overall condition. It is also essential to coordinate with nurses and other health care workers by reporting changes or improvements.
Types of resident care associate
Updated January 8, 2025
