Sitter vs patient sitter

The differences between sitters and patient sitters can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a patient sitter has an average salary of $29,649, which is higher than the $28,724 average annual salary of a sitter.

The top three skills for a sitter include patients, kids and CPR. The most important skills for a patient sitter are patients, BLS, and CPR.

Sitter vs patient sitter overview

	Sitter	Patient Sitter
Yearly salary	$28,724	$29,649
Hourly rate	$13.81	$14.25
Growth rate	36%	9%
Number of jobs	85,152	188,756
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 30%
Average age	48	42
Years of experience	-	3

What does a sitter do?

A sitter is responsible for assisting medical needs under the supervision of an attending physician, registered nurses, and other health professionals. Sitters monitor the patients' daily activities and perform medical duties such as taking the patient's temperature, administering medications, monitoring food intake, helping with bathing needs, and responding to the patients' inquiries, concerns, and requests. They also keep track of medical charts to report the patients' health condition and progress to the senior staff.

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.

Sitter vs patient sitter salary

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

	Sitter	Patient Sitter
Average salary	$28,724	$29,649
Salary range	Between $20,000 And $39,000	Between $21,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	Fair Lawn, NJ	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Washington
Best paying company	Southcoast Health	Carondelet High School
Best paying industry	Non Profits	Health Care

Differences between sitter and patient sitter education

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

	Sitter	Patient Sitter
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 30%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	-	-

Sitter vs patient sitter demographics

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

	Sitter	Patient Sitter
Average age	48	42
Gender ratio	Male, 13.9% Female, 86.1%	Male, 21.5% Female, 78.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 17.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 8.0% White, 54.2% 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 sitter and patient sitter duties and responsibilities

Sitter example responsibilities.

Run groceries or medical errands for patients.
Complete light housekeeping duties, such as dishes, folding laundry, buying groceries.
Help out with regular ADL's as well such as bathing, ambulating, eating, dressing, and exercise.
Assist with ADL's; bathing needs, food prep, exercise, drive and assist with appointments, light housekeeping
Provide colostomy care and administer medication for pain management in accordance with current physician recommendations.
Help nursing with flushing of catheters with certain residents.

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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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Sitter vs patient sitter skills

Common sitter skills

Patients, 26%
Kids, 20%
CPR, 13%
Patient Safety, 6%
Home Health, 5%
PET, 5%

Common patient sitter skills

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

Sitter vs. similar jobs

Sitter related careers

Sitter related jobs

Sitter jobs by location

Updated January 8, 2025

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