A personal care assistant's main responsibility is to help provide clients with compassionate, considerate assistance with their hygiene, exercise, medication and communication. Personal care assistants are usually supervised by a registered nurse (RN) and may be assigned extra duties such as ordering medical supplies. A personal care assistant works as part of a team of hospital or care center staff that helps ill, weak or elderly clients with their personal needs.

Personal care assistants may help nursing staff lift and turn people in bed to prevent bedsores. They make sure a client's bed linens and clothes are kept clean by removing dirty bedding and clothing and replacing them with clean items. A personal care assistant bathes and dresses clients as well as helps feed them if necessary. Personal care assistants may also help exercise the client by walking with him or her or helping with arm and leg stretches if the person is confined to bed or in a wheelchair. Accompanying clients to social events such as games or crafts sessions in a care home may also be one of a personal care assistant's duties.

Many personal care assistant jobs are very stressful due to overcrowded or understaffed hospital conditions or to dealing with disoriented people with challenging behaviors. For example, clients with memory loss conditions such as Alzheimer's disease may wander off or may undo what a personal care assistant just did, such as getting back into bed after being dressed and prepared for a walk outdoors.

Reporting any changes in a client's behavior to the nurse supervisor is an important part of a personal care assistant job. RNs or other nurses who supervise personal care assistants may instruct an assistant to administer medication to a client or take a client's blood pressure. With experience, education and training, it may be possible for personal care assistants to become nurses.

Nurse's aides, personal care workers and nurse's assistants are other names for personal care assistants. These personal care assistance jobs require workers to spend most of their work shifts communicating and interacting with people, so patience and good communication skills are necessary. Since a personal care assistant is on his or her feet for most of the workday, good physical health is also important.