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The differences between patient sitters and certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both a patient sitter and a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant. Additionally, a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant has an average salary of $36,382, which is higher than the $29,649 average annual salary of a patient sitter.
The top three skills for a patient sitter include patients, BLS and CPR. The most important skills for a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Patient Sitter | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $29,649 | $36,382 |
| Hourly rate | $14.25 | $17.49 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 188,756 | 350,499 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 3.5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 30% | Associate Degree, 26% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 3 |
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.
A certified medical assistant (CMA) or certified nurse assistant (CNA) is a healthcare professional who performs clinical and administrative duties in clinics or medical facilities. Certified medical assistants provide excellent customer service to patients arriving and departing from the medical facility and administer injections or medications to their patients. In administrative duties, certified medical assistants are tasked to help clients submit insurance claims and encode medical records to the computer system. They also can work with specialized physicians such as ophthalmologists and podiatrists.
Patient sitters and certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Patient Sitter | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Average salary | $29,649 | $36,382 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $40,000 | Between $27,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Los Angeles, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Carondelet High School | Aya Healthcare |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a patient sitter and a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant in terms of educational background:
| Patient Sitter | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 30% | Associate Degree, 26% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between patient sitters' and certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants' demographics:
| Patient Sitter | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 21.5% Female, 78.5% | Male, 10.5% Female, 89.5% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 6.8% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |