Care associate vs patient sitter

The differences between care associates and patient sitters can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both a care associate and a patient sitter. Additionally, a care associate has an average salary of $32,558, which is higher than the $29,649 average annual salary of a patient sitter.

The top three skills for a care associate include patients, vital signs and PCA. The most important skills for a patient sitter are patients, BLS, and CPR.

Care associate vs patient sitter overview

	Care Associate	Patient Sitter
Yearly salary	$32,558	$29,649
Hourly rate	$15.65	$14.25
Growth rate	9%	9%
Number of jobs	192,391	188,756
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 30%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	3	3

What does a care associate do?

Patient care associates typically work at different healthcare settings where their primary job is to provide basic patient needs and comfort. They are also responsible for several patient care tasks, including bathing patients, changing the pillows and bedsheets of patients, and serving patients' meals. They should comply with safety protocols when performing these tasks. Some of them can give patients medication depending on the level of their training. To become a patient care specialist, one should possess several skills, such as good communication.

What does a patient sitter do?

The primary job of a patient sitter is to provide patients with care and companionship. You will be responsible for a few duties that always include supervising patients, assisting them with basic personal hygiene and care, and monitoring their vital signs. As a patient sitter, you are expected to refrain from doing unauthorized or additional functions, identifying changes in patient's conditions, and maintaining patient information confidentiality. You are also expected to comply with relevant standards, procedures, and policies.

Care associate vs patient sitter salary

Care associates and patient sitters have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Care Associate	Patient Sitter
Average salary	$32,558	$29,649
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $48,000	Between $21,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	Hollister, CA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Washington
Best paying company	Analysis Group	Carondelet High School
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between care associate and patient sitter education

There are a few differences between a care associate and a patient sitter in terms of educational background:

	Care Associate	Patient Sitter
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 30%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	-	-

Care associate vs patient sitter demographics

Here are the differences between care associates' and patient sitters' demographics:

	Care Associate	Patient Sitter
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 22.3% Female, 77.7%	Male, 21.5% Female, 78.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 7.8% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 7.5% White, 61.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between care associate and patient sitter duties and responsibilities

Care associate example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
Provide direct care to patients in intensive care unit with empathy, compassion and enthusiasm.
Utilize strong interpersonal skills to educate patients on procedures, rehabilitation and contraception methods.
Care for patients requiring telemetry monitoring and work collaboratively with telemetry technician/nurses to detect and report abnormalities to physicians.
Coordinate with clinicians to meet the specific needs of patients and perform clinical care in an ICU.
Assign to new ER and ICU departments by leadership to maintain quality of patient care and increase patient satisfaction.

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Patient sitter example responsibilities.

Conduct and facilitate PCA lead group activities as scheduled
Apply restraints to violent and combative patients.
Maintain OSHA and HIPAA compliance with regulatory standards.
Train in techniques for physical restraints (CPI).
Provide therapeutic companionship and close observation of patients in a safe and clean environment
Transport patient to MRI department.

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Care associate vs patient sitter skills

Common care associate skills

Patients, 24%
Vital Signs, 11%
PCA, 7%
Phlebotomy, 7%
CPR, 7%
Customer Service, 5%

Common patient sitter skills

Patients, 41%
BLS, 12%
CPR, 7%
Customer Service, 6%
Patient Observation, 5%
Continuous Observation, 4%

Care Associate vs. similar jobs

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Updated January 8, 2025

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