I learnt both of these words as an equivalent to "nurse". What is the difference in meaning between those two ?
Also what is the pitch accent for 介護士 ?
1 Answer
介護士 are more like a social worker. They generally help the elderly and people with disabilities live normal lives by doing things like bathing them, changing their clothes, making food for them, feeding them, dealing with excrement etc. One place they might work is a retirement home. There is an official certification, 介護福祉士 (Certified Care Worker), but one can do many of the tasks without a certification. They are not really supposed to be administering medicine or making medical decisions. In English, the might be a social worker or caregiver or maybe even a hospice worker. The pitch accent is かいごし{LHHL}.
看護師 are nurses in more traditional sense. They can do medical tasks like administer medicine, change IVs, check for medical issues etc.
