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Service Assistant Vs Patient Care Assistant

The differences between service assistants and patient care assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a service assistant, becoming a patient care assistant takes usually requires 1-3 months. Additionally, a patient care assistant has an average salary of $32,799, which is higher than the $31,928 average annual salary of a service assistant.

The top three skills for a service assistant include excellent interpersonal, basic math and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a patient care assistant are patients, vital signs, and PCA.

Service assistant vs patient care assistant overview

Service AssistantPatient Care Assistant
Yearly Salary$31,928$32,799
Hourly rate$15.35$15.77
Growth Rate12%9%
Number Of Jobs69,115261,345
Job Satisfaction-5
Most Common DegreeBachelor's Degree, 49%High School Diploma, 26%
Average Age4342
Years Of Experience123

What does a Service Assistant do?

A Service Assistant's responsibility depends on the line of work or industry involved. However, the primary responsibility of a Service Assistant is to respond to a customer's inquiry and offer them assistance, a suggestion, or a solution. Aside from ensuring customer satisfaction, a Service Assistant may also process payments, discuss product information, and sell products or services in adherence to the company's policies and regulations. Furthermore, A Service Assistant needs to keep records of transactions at all times and report to management or supervisors.

What does a patient care assistant do?

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.

Service assistant vs patient care assistant salary

Service assistants and patient care assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Service AssistantPatient Care Assistant
Average Salary$31,928$32,799
Salary RangeBetween $23,000 And $43,000Between $23,000 And $45,000
Highest Paying CityWashington, DCSan Diego, CA
Highest Paying StateHawaiiHawaii
Best Paying CompanyBeth Israel Deaconess Medical CenterMicrosoft
Best Paying IndustryGovernmentHealth Care

Differences between service assistant and patient care assistant education

There are a few differences between a service assistant and a patient care assistant in terms of educational background:

Service AssistantPatient Care Assistant
Most Common DegreeBachelor's Degree, 49%High School Diploma, 26%
Most Common MajorBusinessNursing
Most Common CollegeNorthwestern University-

Service assistant vs patient care assistant demographics

Here are the differences between service assistants' and patient care assistants' demographics:

Service AssistantPatient Care Assistant
Average Age4342
Gender RatioMale, 35.8% Female, 64.2%Male, 14.4% Female, 85.6%
Race RatioBlack or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.4% Asian, 6.7% White, 54.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.1%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 Percentage11%7%

Differences between service assistant and patient care assistant duties and responsibilities

Service Assistant Example Responsibilities.

  • Manage day-to-day operations including contract management, accounts payable, receivables, payroll and general administrative assistance.
  • Develop contracting strategy to build capacity and achieve ongoing compliance with Medicare and Medicaid provider network adequacy requirements.
  • Manage and update company Facebook page with daily updates, finding/sharing relevant and interesting information, and encouraging fan engagement.
  • Function as part of the trauma team by performing CPR.
  • Set up and maintain CPR certifications for all instructional aids.
  • Review supplies, materials, vendor selection for WIS and NICU.
  • Show More

Patient Care Assistant Example Responsibilities.

  • Conduct and facilitate PCA lead group activities as scheduled
  • Assist patients in achieving independence and increase functional ability.
  • Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
  • Answer call lights, vital signs, EKG'S, transporting patients to other areas, keep rooms clean and orderly.
  • Provide high quality patient care as an in-demand per-diem RCA within, home-healthcare, nursing home settings and memory support care.
  • Work extensively with Alzheimer and dementia patients.
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Service assistant vs patient care assistant skills

Common Service Assistant Skills
  • Excellent Interpersonal, 17%
  • Basic Math, 13%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 10%
  • Math, 7%
  • Patients, 6%
  • Veterans, 6%
Common Patient Care Assistant Skills
  • Patients, 23%
  • Vital Signs, 9%
  • PCA, 8%
  • CPR, 7%
  • Home Health, 6%
  • Customer Service, 5%

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