How To Become A Care Partner: What It Is and Career Path

What is a care partner and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Healing happens best when patients have the comfort of a familiar face nearby. The care partner is a trusted friend or a family member that serves in this capacity so that the patient feels comfortable during treatment. They perform daily care tasks, serve as an active member of the healthcare team, and receive patient updates over the phone.

Their key responsibilities are to provide physical care for patients including any and all activities of daily living needs including bathing, toileting, dressing, transferring, assistance with eating, etc. They are also responsible for the overall well-being of patients through the implementation and facilitation of meaningful, social, emotional, spiritual, physical, and intellectual programming. The qualifications needed for a career as a care partner begin with an associate's degree in nursing or a related field. Some hospitals and nursing homes hire care partners that have not yet completed nursing school. Many university hospitals even hire their own nursing students as care partners, as it is an excellent opportunity to further their education.

The average hourly salary for the position is $13.27, which equates to $27,609 annually. The career is expected to grow substantially in the coming years and result in various new job opportunities emerging all over the United States.

ScoreCare PartnerUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $31,723

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.0

Growth Rate 36%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.17%

Asian 8.71%

Black or African American 11.99%

Hispanic or Latino 17.53%

Unknown 4.35%

White 56.25%

Gender

female 85.02%

male 14.98%

Age - 50

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 50

Stress Level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.4

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

9.6

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a care partner

Explore care partner education requirements

Most common care partner degrees

Bachelor's

34.4 %

Associate

22.6 %

High School Diploma

15.7 %

Start to develop specific care partner skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	17.05%
Vital Signs	9.29%
Care Plan	6.23%
Medication Administration	4.86%
CPR	4.64%

Gain additional care partner certifications

Care partner certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific care partner certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for care partners include Medical Assistant and Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT).

More About Certifications

Research care partner duties and responsibilities

Manage CMS, state, and complaint surveys.
Manage shelterpractices and evaluate various volunteering, outreach, foster, rescue, and pet placement programs.
Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
Direct motion capture shoots for adding more animation to existing characters for crowd simulation.

Prepare your care partner resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your care partner resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a care partner resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Care Partner Resume templates

Build a professional Care Partner resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Care Partner resume.

Apply for care partner jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a care partner job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do care partners rate their job?

3/5

Based On 1 Ratings

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Care Partner reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2019

Pros

Working to help speak and advocate for my patients .

Cons

There nothing about this job I dont like .

3.0

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019