Patient Care Associate Resume Examples & Templates
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A patient care associate, also known as a patient care technician, is a health care professional who provides basic nursing care and support to patients in hospitals, clinics and other health care settings.
Patient care associates work under the supervision of registered nurses and other health care professionals. They play a critical role in ensuring that patients receive high-quality care and support during their hospital stay or medical treatment.
To land a job as a patient care associate, you’ll need a compelling resume that showcases your empathetic nature and medical expertise. Take a look at our professionally made patient care associate resume examples and expert writing tips to craft a job-winning resume in a matter of minutes.
Start by editing our patient care associate resume samples, or browse our selection of 40+ professional resume templates to find the right one for you.
Patient care associate resume example (text version)
Marissa Ray
Philadelphia, PA 19112
(555) 555-5555
example@example.com
Professional Summary
Highly skilled patient care associate with a background in acute care settings. Demonstrated ability to provide personalized care to patients with diverse medical conditions. Proficient in monitoring vital signs, administering medications and collaborating with the health care team to ensure optimal patient outcomes. Known for maintaining a calm and composed demeanor in high-pressure situations, promoting a positive atmosphere for both patients and colleagues.
Work History
November 2021 – Current
Trinity Health – Philadelphia, PA
Lead Patient Care Associate
- Lead and coordinate a team of 12 patient care associates to ensure efficient and effective patient care.
- Optimize resource utilization by managing inventory, scheduling and workload distribution within the patient care team.
- Resolve 90% of patient concerns within 24 hours, leading to a 25% improvement in patient satisfaction and a positive impact on the overall patient experience.
September 2018 – October 2021
Prime Healthcare – Philadelphia, PA
Senior Patient Care Associate
- Oversaw and coordinated patient care activities, ensuring seamless communication between health care providers, patients and their families.
- Decreased patient wait times by 20% through efficient scheduling and coordination, improving overall patient satisfaction.
- Reduced documentation errors by 25%, contributing to improved data accuracy and streamlined communication among health care professionals.
June 2013 – August 2018
Tower Health – Philadelphia, PA
Patient Care Associate
- Assisted patients with daily activities, including bathing, dressing and mobility exercises, fostering a sense of independence and promoting overall well-being.
- Monitored and assessed patient’s vital signs and maintained accurate and up-to-date records for over 30 patients, ensuring timely communication of critical information to the health care team.
- Maintained a 98% compliance rate with infection control measures, contributing to a 30% reduction in hospital-acquired infections within the unit.
Skills
- Patient assessment
- Care plan implementation
- Vital signs monitoring
- Infection control measures
- Medication administration
- Electronic health records (EHR)
- Time management
- Teamwork and communication
Education
Community College of Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA
Associate of Arts Health Care Studies
Community College of Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA
Nursing Aide Training
Certifications
- Patient Care Associate (PCA) – (Updated 2024)
- Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) – (Updated 2023)
- Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification – (2022)
5 essentials of a standout patient care associate resume
Contact details
Add your contact information to the top of your resume. Include your full name, city, state, ZIP code, phone number and professional email address. Add your LinkedIn profile and professional website, if applicable. Reference our guide on writing a resume for more advice on creating an effective contact details section.
Personal statement
Your personal statement — also known as a professional summary — is where you introduce yourself to the hiring manager and highlight your top qualifications in no more than five sentences.
Your professional summary should showcase relevant skills, such as assisting patients with daily living activities and monitoring vital signs. Include one or two notable accomplishments and touch on how long you’ve been in the health care industry.
If you are just starting your career, we recommend including a resume objective instead of a professional summary. Your resume objective should focus on career goals and transferable skills such as communication and customer service.
Here is an example for a patient care associate resume objective:
“Compassionate patient care associate seeking a position at XYZ Hospital. With strong communication skills and a patient-centered approach, I am committed to creating a comfortable and supportive environment for patients and their families. I am a team player who works collaboratively with other health care professionals to ensure that patient needs are met and that the highest standards of care are upheld.”
For additional guidance, take a look at our guide on writing a resume with no experience.
Skills
List your top skills using bullet points to let hiring managers know what you bring to the table as a patient care associate. An impressive resume will showcase a mixture of hard skills and soft skills.
Here are a few skills you might consider adding to your patient care associate resume:
- Helping with patient mobility, such as transferring patients to and from beds, wheelchairs and other equipment.
- Assisting with patient meals and nutrition, including feeding patients who are unable to feed themselves.
- Performing basic medical procedures, such as collecting specimens for laboratory testing and performing electrocardiograms (ECGs).
- Providing emotional support to patients and their families, including answering questions and providing reassurance.
- Maintaining patient records and documenting any observations or interventions.
Also make sure to note your excellent communication and interpersonal skills, which help you assist patients, family members and hospital personnel in a courteous and professional manner.
Work history
To create the work history section of your resume for your patient care associate resume, start with your present or most recent job and list your remaining work experience in reverse-chronological order.
Remember to mention the job title, employer’s name, company location and the duration of your employment. Use bullet points to showcase your accomplishments and quantifiable achievements for each role.
For example: “Implemented a new patient monitoring system that reduced response times to critical patient needs by 50%. This led to improved patient outcomes and increased patient satisfaction scores.”
We recommend scanning patient care associate job descriptions for resume skill ideas that are relevant to your target role. Read our guide on writing the work experience section of your resume for additional tips from career experts.
Education
List your educational background starting with the most recent degree and working backward. Include the name of the schools and the year of graduation. If you did not attend college, provide information about your high school and any relevant courses you have taken since graduating.
The education requirements to become a patient care associate can vary depending on the employer and the healthcare setting. In general, a high school diploma or equivalent is required, and some employers may prefer or require additional education and training.
Some patient care associates have a degree or certificate in a related field, such as medical assisting or patient care technology. These programs can provide additional training and skills in areas such as medical terminology, anatomy and physiology and patient care techniques.
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Action verbs for a standout patient care associate resume
If you take a look at our resumes for patient care associates, you’ll notice that the work experience bullet points use strong action verbs to make an impact.
Here are some examples of action words you can use for your patient care associate resume:
- Assist
- Monitor
- Administer
- Document
- Communicate
- Collaborate
- Respond
- Maintain
- Provide
- Participate
- Prepare
- Improve
- Track
- Support
- Process
Use our patient care associate resume samples to get started or make a resume from scratch using our Resume Builder.
Top skills for your patient care associate resume
Make sure the resume skills you include on your patient care associate resume are relevant to the job description and what the employer is looking for in a candidate.
Here are some examples of patient care associate skills:
- Patient care
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Organization
- Problem-solving
- Flexibility
- Empathy
- Knowledge of safety procedures
- Infection control measures
- Electronic health records
- Health care technology
- Emotional support
- Emergency response
- Time management
- Monitoring vitals signs
- Assisting with activities of daily living
- Medication administration
Candidates who possess these skills and can demonstrate them on their resume and during the interview process are more likely to be successful in securing a job in this field. Explore our library of 800+ resume examples for more inspiration.
Certifications to include on a patient care associate resume
Create a separate section on your resume for certifications and licenses and list them using bullet points.
Here are a few certifications many patient care associates receive and include on their resumes:
- Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
- Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification
- Patient Care Technician (PCT) Certification
- Certified Medication Aide (CMA)
- Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT)
- Certified EKG Technician (CET)
Pair your resume with a matching cover letter
Patient care associate resume FAQ
How do you write a patient care associate resume?
An effective resume for a patient care associate position will highlight both soft skills and technical skills, such as medicine administration and monitoring vital signs.
Use action verbs and specific, quantifiable achievements to describe your accomplishments in past patient care associate positions.
For example, “Implemented a new patient care plan that reduced the number of patient falls by 50%.” This achievement demonstrates the individual’s problem-solving skills, ability to work collaboratively with health care team members and commitment to improving patient outcomes.
Make sure your resume is tailored to the specific job description and includes keywords and phrases used in the posting. This will catch the eye of hiring managers in increasing your chances of landing an interview.
What is the best format for a patient care associate resume?
The best resume format for a patient care associate depends on your years of experience. There are three resume formats to choose from: Chronological, combination and functional.
If you have more than 10 years of experience, we recommend using the chronological format, which highlights your work history. Midlevel job seekers might consider using the combination format, which details your top work experiences and clearly displays your relevant skills. Entry-level patient care associates can use the functional format, which focuses on relevant skills.
We have a variety of professionally made templates in all three formats so that you can choose the right one for you. Our templates are customizable so that you can rearrange sections as needed and apply the fonts and colors that work best for you.
Do’s and don’ts for your patient care associate resume
- Use measurable achievements to describe your experience. For example: “Assisted in the implementation of a new patient communication program that improved patient satisfaction scores by 20% over a six-month period.”
- Use action verbs — such as “monitored” and “listened” — to make an impact on your patient care associate resume.
- Tailor your resume to the patient care associate job you are applying for.
- Use keywords from the job description throughout your patient care associate resume. For example, “patient experience” and “vital monitoring.”
- Format your patient care associate resume with clear sections and appropriate fonts so that it is easy for ATS software to parse and hiring managers to read.
- Don’t lie about your experience and skills on your resume for patient care associate jobs.
- Don’t make vague claims about your skills. Instead, provide specific examples of your ability to work collaboratively with healthcare team members to improve patient outcomes and the overall patient experience.
- Don’t include irrelevant personal information such as your ethnicity and age.
- Don’t include irrelevant skills and work experience. Focus on relevant skills instead, such as empathy and commitment to providing high-quality patient care.
- Don’t forget to proofread. A patient care associate is expected to have high attention to detail, and your resume should reflect that.
Top 4 tips for interviews for a patient care associate job
Learn about the facility or hospital.
When applying for a patient care associate role, it is important to research the hospital or healthcare facility to gain a better understanding of its mission, values and culture. Here are some key areas to research:
- Hospital’s Mission and Values: Research the hospital’s mission statement, values and goals to gain an understanding of the organization’s purpose and priorities.
- Health Care Services Offered: Learn about the health care services offered by the hospital, such as emergency care, surgery and specialty services.
- Patient Satisfaction Scores: Look up the hospital’s patient satisfaction scores to gain insight into the quality of care provided by the organization.
- Hospital Culture: Research the hospital’s culture to gain an understanding of its work environment and values. Look for information about employee engagement, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and opportunities for career growth and development.
Practice your answers.
It is important to prepare for your job interview by practicing commonly asked questions. Here are a few behavioral questions to prepare for:
- Describe a time when a colleague disagreed with you
- Give an example of a time you used research skills to solve a problem
- How would your coworkers describe you?
During a patient care associate interview, you may be asked a variety of questions to assess your knowledge, skills and experience in the healthcare field. Here are some common questions that you might encounter:
- How do you prioritize your tasks when caring for multiple patients?
- How do you ensure patient safety and prevent medical errors in your work?
- What experience do you have working with patients from diverse backgrounds?
- How do you work collaboratively with other healthcare professionals, such as nurses and physicians, to ensure high-quality patient care?
- Can you describe your experience with electronic medical records (EMRs) and other healthcare technology, and how do you ensure patient privacy and confidentiality when using these tools?
- How do you handle stressful situations in the healthcare setting, such as emergencies or difficult patients?
- Why do you want to work for our hospital, and how do your skills and experience align with our organization’s mission and values?
Prepare questions to ask during the interview.
As a candidate for a patient care associate position, it is important to ask thoughtful questions during the interview to gain a better understanding of the role and the hospital’s culture and expectations. Here are some questions you can ask the interviewer during a patient care associate interview:
- Can you describe the patient population that this role serves, and what are the most common types of care provided?
- Can you describe the training and support provided to new patient care associates?
- How does your hospital support diversity and inclusion, and what steps have been taken to ensure that patients and employees from diverse backgrounds feel valued and respected?
- What qualities or skills do you think are most important for success in this role?
- What do you think sets your hospital apart from other health care organizations, and why do you enjoy working here?
Gather references.
Gather your professional references to share with the hiring manager if requested. Make a list of two or three former colleagues and a former manager willing to speak highly about your abilities and performance as a patient care associate.
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Sources
- ZipRecruiter. Article. What is a Patient Care Associate and How to Become One
- Learn.org. Article. What Does a Patient Care Associate Do?
- American Institute of Medical Science and Education. Article. Patient Care Technician Career Paths and Job Outlook
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Patient Care Associate Resume Example
Elizabeth is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and a member of the Professional Association of Résumé Writers & Careers Coaches. She is passionate about delivering information that empowers job seekers to achieve their professional goals.
More Articles by Elizabeth Muenzen, CPRW