How To Become An Observer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an observer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

An observer is responsible for supporting patients' conditions under the health personnel's supervision and ensuring that the medical operations comply with the institution's policies and procedures. You must have excellent communication and organization skills, respond to the patients' inquiries and concerns, and perform administrative tasks as required by the management. You must also be able to identify possible improvements for clients' safety and security and create reports, manage expenses, and report any complaints to the senior management for immediate resolution. Your duties are to ensure that the patient does not injure themselves and respond to patient care needs quickly.

An observer's position typically requires you to have a high school diploma or GED certificate, CPR training, and nursing qualifications. As an observer, you need excellent verbal and written communication skills, as well as good judgment, attention to detail, problem-solving skills, and interpersonal skills. An observer earns an average of $42,466 annually.

ScoreObserverUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,542

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.9

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.98%

Asian 5.74%

Black or African American 17.44%

Hispanic or Latino 17.46%

Unknown 6.05%

White 51.34%

Gender

female 44.61%

male 55.39%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

8.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.8

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an observer

Explore observer education requirements

Most common observer degrees

Bachelor's

59.2 %

Associate

11.9 %

Master's

9.2 %

Start to develop specific observer skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	37.16%
Patient Care	19.26%
Patient Safety	13.16%
CPR	5.85%
Patient Behavior	4.84%

Complete relevant observer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New observers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an observer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real observer resumes.

Gain additional observer certifications

Observer 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 observer certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for observers include Basic Life Support (BLS) and OSHA Safety Certificate .

More About Certifications

Research observer duties and responsibilities

Assist in taking patient medical history and managing clinical patients and participate in medical team discussions regarding patient treatment plans.
Participate in rounding on patients in the ICU and on the floor with the surgical team.
Identify different gear types and characteristics on bottom trawl, gill-net, longline and clam dredge vessels.
Observe patients in for cardiology consultation.

Prepare your observer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your observer 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 an observer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable observer resume templates

Build a professional observer 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 observer resume.

Apply for observer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an observer 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 observers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Observer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2019

Pros

Only observation of course. But I have observed patterns over the course of my life and have accurately been able to predict where the next one is going to happen. Predicted the Tsunami of Thailand. Knew other big quakes were coming due to earthquakes in Alabama

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019