Post job

What does a transportation aide do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read

A transportation aide is responsible for assisting the patients and transporting from one hospital to another medical facility as needed. Transportation aides also deliver laboratory specimens for examinations and clinical trials. They perform administrative functions, especially if they are assigned to a specific department, such as handling and completing documents, logging patients' information, checking transportation schedules, and assisting patients upon arrival to the hospital. A transportation aide must have excellent organizational skills to follow schedules strictly and inform the management of any delays immediately.

On this page

Transportation aide responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real transportation aide resumes:

  • Perform CPR and respond to code blue pages as necessary.
  • Train and certify to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid procedures.
  • Transport clients to and from various destinations, schedule appointments, transfer clients on and off stretchers and wheel chairs.
  • Assist nurse in the care of patients to include: wind care, catheters, Accu-checks, bathing and cleaning patients.
  • Provide safe and timely transportation of patients, medical records, and laboratory specimens to designate areas of the hospital
  • Monitor patients during transport communicating with the appropriate individuals relate to arrival and departure times in order to facilitate scheduling.
  • Examine injure persons and administer first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, if necessary, using training and medical supplies and equipment.
  • Examine injure persons and administer first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, if necessary, using training and medical supplies and equipment.

Transportation aide skills and personality traits

We calculated that 34% of Transportation Aides are proficient in Patients, Customer Service, and CPR. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Physical stamina.

We break down the percentage of Transportation Aides that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 34%

    Monitored patients during transport communicating with the appropriate individuals related to arrival and departure times in order to facilitate scheduling.

  • Customer Service, 11%

    Identified to management ineffective scheduling procedures for escort services resulting in changes to process and increased customer service.

  • CPR, 7%

    Provide First aid and CPR when necessary.

  • Patient Transport, 7%

    Maintain knowledge of applicable rules, regulations, policies, laws and guidelines that impact the Patient Transportation area.

  • Good Communication, 5%

    Communicated information as required, maintained good communication with the Parent aide.

  • Rehabilitation, 5%

    Counseled individuals and families regarding mental health substance abuse, physical abuse and rehabilitation issues.

Common skills that a transportation aide uses to do their job include "patients," "customer service," and "cpr." You can find details on the most important transportation aide responsibilities below.

Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a transportation aide to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "nursing assistants and orderlies must communicate effectively to address patients’ or residents’ concerns." Transportation aides often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "developed communication skill through direct interaction with patients. "

Compassion. Many transportation aide duties rely on compassion. "nursing assistants and orderlies assist and care for the sick, injured, and elderly," so a transportation aide will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways transportation aide responsibilities rely on compassion: "demonstrated respect and compassion in interactions with clients.skills usedpunctuality, courteous and accomadating. "

Physical stamina. This is an important skill for transportation aides to perform their duties. For an example of how transportation aide responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "nursing assistants and orderlies spend much of their time on their feet." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a transportation aide: "identify and supports patient care needs, including language, physical and psychological, cultural, religious and educational barriers. ".

Patience. For certain transportation aide responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "patience." The day-to-day duties of a transportation aide rely on this skill, as "the routine tasks of cleaning, feeding, and bathing patients or residents can be stressful." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what transportation aides do: "prepared patience for surgery and conducted lab specimens. "

All transportation aide skills

The three companies that hire the most transportation aides are:

Choose from 10+ customizable transportation aide resume templates

Build a professional transportation aide resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your transportation aide resume.
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume
Transportation Aide Resume

Compare different transportation aides

Transportation aide vs. Prn

A PRN or a "pro re nata" employee is responsible for covering a shift or a specific situation, especially during short-staffing or the need to complete a particular task. The PRNs often work for a medical industry without a regular or full-time commitment, having the freedom to manage their time and take multiple assignments from different organizations. A PRN must have excellent communication and organization skills, providing quality healthcare services to the patients and the organization.

We looked at the average transportation aide salary and compared it with the wages of an prn. Generally speaking, prns are paid $9,827 higher than transportation aides per year.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both transportation aide and prn positions are skilled in patients, customer service, and cpr.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a transportation aide are more likely to require skills like "patient transport," "good communication," "compassion," and "transport residents." On the other hand, a job as an prn requires skills like "healthcare," "occupational therapy," "acute care," and "surgery." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Prns tend to make the most money working in the professional industry, where they earn an average salary of $49,871. In contrast, transportation aides make the biggest average salary, $30,564, in the health care industry.prns tend to reach higher levels of education than transportation aides. In fact, prns are 9.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.5% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Transportation aide vs. Hospital corpsman

Hospital corpsmen are U.S. Navy enlisted medical specialists who perform the initial treatment during combat. The medical specialists serve as assistants in injury and disease prevention and treatment. They assist the health care professionals in the medical care of the Marine Corps and Navy personnel. Among their duties and responsibilities include preventive care, maintenance of patient treatment records, and administration of injections and medications. Also, it is their job to carry out emergency dental or medical treatment to marines and sailors.

A career as a hospital corpsman brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a transportation aide. In fact, hospital corpsmen salary is $4,542 higher than the salary of transportation aides per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both transportation aides and hospital corpsmen have skills such as "patients," "cpr," and "vital signs. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real transportation aide resumes. While transportation aide responsibilities can utilize skills like "customer service," "patient transport," "good communication," and "rehabilitation," hospital corpsmen use skills like "emergency medicine," "direct patient care," "clinical laboratory tests," and "laboratory specimens."

Hospital corpsmen earn similar levels of education than transportation aides in general. They're 3.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Transportation aide vs. Nurse technician

Nurse technicians, also known as nursing aides, assistants, or attendants, usually work in clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes. Primarily, they help a registered nurse by providing essential mobility, care, and support to patients. Everyday routine duties include maintaining patients' hygiene and moving them using wheelchairs or stretchers around the facility for their meals, treatment, events, and other activities. They do tasks that help improve a patient's comfort level and become their caregivers in the long run. This job requires a high school diploma along with the completed certified nursing assistant (CNA) program.

An average nurse technician eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of transportation aides. The difference in salaries amounts to nurse technicians earning a $3,190 higher average salary than transportation aides.By looking over several transportation aides and nurse technicians resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "patients," "customer service," and "cpr." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from transportation aide resumes include skills like "patient transport," "good communication," "transport residents," and "radiology," whereas a nurse technician is more likely to list skills in "direct patient care," "direct supervision," "telemetry," and "phlebotomy. "

Nurse technicians earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $32,642. Transportation aides earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $30,564.When it comes to education, nurse technicians tend to earn similar degree levels compared to transportation aides. In fact, they're 1.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Transportation aide vs. Certified nursing assistant

A certified nursing assistant generally assists patients in their healthcare needs and medical procedures. They support patients in their daily activities by monitoring patients' temperature and food intake, ensuring the cleanliness of the patient's room, and keeping documentation of patients' conditions for reference of nurses and doctors. A certified nursing assistant should also communicate with patients' families and provide updates as often as needed. It is also important that a nursing assistant is patient and compassionate enough to attend to direct patient needs, which could get demanding or challenging at times.

Certified nursing assistants tend to earn a higher pay than transportation aides by an average of $2,782 per year.According to resumes from transportation aides and certified nursing assistants, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "patients," "customer service," and "cpr. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "patient transport," "good communication," "transport residents," and "radiology" are skills that commonly show up on transportation aide resumes. On the other hand, certified nursing assistants use skills like quality care, care plan, resident care, and blood pressure on their resumes.In general, certified nursing assistants earn the most working in the health care industry, with an average salary of $32,376. The highest-paying industry for a transportation aide is the health care industry.The average resume of certified nursing assistants showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to transportation aides. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.1%.

Types of transportation aide

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
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.

Browse healthcare support jobs