Sitter vs resident care associate

The differences between sitters and resident care associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a resident care associate has an average salary of $30,497, 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 resident care associate are resident care, administer medications, and RCA.

Sitter vs resident care associate overview

	Sitter	Resident Care Associate
Yearly salary	$28,724	$30,497
Hourly rate	$13.81	$14.66
Growth rate	36%	36%
Number of jobs	85,152	130,625
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 32%	High School Diploma, 26%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	-	-

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 resident care associate do?

Resident Care Associates are responsible for providing support and care to individuals living in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Their duties include assisting residents with daily tasks such as eating, bathing, and dressing, audit care records, as well as making sure patients take their prescribed medications. They implement daily group activities, attend to medical or safety issues, and communicates any concerns to a resident's family members as required.

Sitter vs resident care associate salary

Sitters and resident care associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Sitter	Resident Care Associate
Average salary	$28,724	$30,497
Salary range	Between $20,000 And $39,000	Between $24,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	Fair Lawn, NJ	Salem, OR
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Oregon
Best paying company	Southcoast Health	The Philadelphia Coalition
Best paying industry	Non Profits	Media

Differences between sitter and resident care associate education

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

	Sitter	Resident Care Associate
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 32%	High School Diploma, 26%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	-	-

Sitter vs resident care associate demographics

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

	Sitter	Resident Care Associate
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 13.9% Female, 86.1%	Male, 14.6% Female, 85.4%
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, 9.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.2% Asian, 8.7% White, 58.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between sitter and resident care associate 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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Resident care associate example responsibilities.

Assist Alzheimer patients with daily activities including personal care, administering medications and communicating with their families.
Assist in rehabilitation to transfer home.
Have been train to administer medication, CPR train, and mechanical lift train.
Maintain cleanliness throughout med pass, and practice aseptic technique when pouring and assisting with medication.
Assist with ADL's, medication assistance, dinning room service, answering the telephones and front desk monitoring.
Care for residents with diagnosis such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and arthritis.

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Sitter vs resident care associate skills

Common sitter skills

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

Common resident care associate skills

Resident Care, 24%
Administer Medications, 13%
RCA, 12%
Assist Residents, 7%
Emergency Situations, 6%
Pathogens, 5%

Sitter vs. similar jobs

Sitter related careers

Sitter related jobs

Sitter jobs by location

Updated January 8, 2025

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