How Much Do Healthcare Assistants Get Paid

Are you a newbie trying to explore the world of health care system and thinking to start your career as a health care assistant?

Well, then you need to know that opting for health care assistant job is a stepping stone for opening various doors of opportunities in the health sector.

Working as an HCA is highly recommended keeping in consideration that it has a quite competitive wage for beginners, doesn’t require a lot of qualifications, and can be a great source of training for upcoming career opportunities

As a person searching about health care system for the first time, it may be possible that you have various questions in mind, with the most common query, ‘how much do healthcare assistants get paid?‘

Well, to get your answer you need to read the article as it answers all your queries in the simplest way possible! So, let’s get started:

Who is a healthcare assistant?

A healthcare assistant may be defined as a person who offers his/her services in the form of looking after patients and treating them either at the patient’s residential space, clinics, or hospitals. A health care assistant is assigned to perform medical services under the supervision and instructions of other health professionals.

What is HCAs salary?

In the United States, the estimated total pay for a healthcare assistant is $38,809 per year, with an average salary of $36,358 per year.

In addition to this, the extra pay is estimated to be $2,451 per year. Further compensation may include a cash bonus, a commission, tips, and profit sharing.

According to Zip recruiter, health care assistant salary per hour in the United States is $15.70 whereas the HCA average salary per month is 2,949$.

Is HCA a hard job?

A health care assistant’s is not an easy task. It plays a major role in the health sector by ensuring the patient they are assigned are taken care of. However, this ‘care’ is not just limited to keeping a check on patient’s physical fitness or giving them medicine when needed. It is, in fact, a much deeper job.

The role of a health care assistant includes, firstly, providing the patient with the care they demand. This care could either be personal, mental, or physical such as feeding, dressing, bathing, therapy sessions, oral medications, physiotherapy, daily exercises, massage, etc.

Secondly, it includes treating the patient as per the plans, instructions, and supervision of associate or health professionals. Whether it is an oral medication or simple ones, they are assigned to ensure the patient is given the required treatment at the right time.

In addition to this, a health professional is also expected to take care of the patient’s hygienic needs which includes, cleaning and changing their bed sheets, doing laundry, making sure the patient is clean, and at the same time the assistant is demanded to take care of his/her own hygiene around the patient as well

Required Skills

Communication Skills: An HCA must know how to convey medical information and instructions to the patients. Such as being able to explain oral or non-oral treatments, complex details on a certain medication, and being a good listener
Observation skills: It is highly crucial for a health care assistant to have good observation skills and be attentive to most minor details in order to monitor and analyze the patient’s condition and physical and mental behavior in order to come up with effective strategies when needed at the right time.
Organizational skills: Being an organized healthcare assistant is a must. This is because duties of an HCA include keeping the patient’s lab reports, files and ensuring they are up to date which requires much time, patience, management as well as organizational skills.
Being Empathetic: Empathy is a basic skill for an HCA as the patients who hire assistants are mostly in dire need of emotional support besides physical monitoring. An HCA must have patience, be positive and keep their patient cheered up.
Strength and stamina: A health care assistant’s job requires much stamina and strength to deal with and treat patients round the clock and be on their toes on one call. Therefore, standing and being active for longer periods should be the last concern for an HCA.

Hence, it can be said that if you have the right skills then you may not find HCA job as hard as the rest.

Is healthcare assistant a good job?

It is safe to say that opting for a job as a health care assistant is one of the greatest decisions you can take keeping in consideration that the field has enormous growth opportunities, competitive wage rate, job stability, and a high demand in almost entire world.