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What does a sitter do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
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.

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Sitter responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real sitter resumes:

  • 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.
  • Verify Medicaid statuses using IVANS online system.
  • House sit with a physically challenge family member/assist with a Hoyer lift.
  • Transfer clients who cannot assist themselves from bed to wheelchair/chair using a Hoyer lift.
  • Assist with Medicare billing and perform Medicaid billing on monthly basis, verification of Medicaid billing numbers and obtaining prior authorizations.

Sitter skills and personality traits

We calculated that 26% of Sitters are proficient in Patients, Kids, and CPR. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Integrity, and Interpersonal skills.

We break down the percentage of Sitters that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 26%

    Commended for ability to handle difficult patients and maintained a clean organized work environment.

  • Kids, 20%

    Prepare either dinner, lunch, or breakfast for the kids Help them complete homework Play educational games

  • CPR, 13%

    Practice CPR and First Aid in case of emergencies.

  • Patient Safety, 6%

    Maintain patient safety performing direct supervision, reorienting and/or redirecting patients.

  • Home Health, 5%

    Home Health Aide Duties Included: Assist client's with daily living activities and provide companionship.

  • PET, 5%

    Demonstrated a high degree of professionalism in all interactions with pet owners and provided exceptional care to their pets.

Most sitters use their skills in "patients," "kids," and "cpr" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential sitter responsibilities here:

Detail oriented. One of the key soft skills for a sitter to have is detail oriented. You can see how this relates to what sitters do because "home health aides and personal care aides must adhere to specific rules and protocols and carefully follow instructions to help take care of clients." Additionally, a sitter resume shows how sitters use detail oriented: "maintained focused attention to detail, remaining alert and attentive at all times while monitoring patient safety. "

Integrity. Another essential skill to perform sitter duties is integrity. Sitters responsibilities require that "home health aides and personal care aides should make clients feel comfortable when they tend to personal activities, such as helping a client bathe." Sitters also use integrity in their role according to a real resume snippet: "entrusted with daily duties of caring for household pets attended to pet's routine and medical needs successfully handled various estate duties"

Interpersonal skills. sitters are also known for interpersonal skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to sitter responsibilities, because "home health aides and personal care aides must work closely with clients." A sitter resume example shows how interpersonal skills is used in the workplace: "provided interpersonal customer service with patient. "

Physical stamina. A big part of what sitters do relies on "physical stamina." You can see how essential it is to sitter responsibilities because "home health aides and personal care aides should be comfortable performing physical tasks." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical sitter tasks: "provide an one to one companionship to mentally and physically impaired children of all ages. "

See the full list of sitter skills

The three companies that hire the most sitters are:

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Sitter vs. Nanny

Nannies are family employees who are primarily responsible for taking care of children in the family's house. They are usually tapped to take care of the kids while the parents are at work or away on vacation. Their responsibilities include preparing food for the children, feeding the children, bathing them, dressing them up, ensuring that they take a nap, playing with them, and tucking them to bed at night. They also ensure that the schedule set by the parents is being followed. They may also do other household chores such as cleaning, watering the plants, washing the dishes, among others.

We looked at the average sitter salary and compared it with the wages of a nanny. Generally speaking, nannies are paid $11,538 higher than sitters per year.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both sitter and nanny positions are skilled in kids, cpr, and meal prep.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between sitters and nanny. For instance, sitter responsibilities require skills such as "patients," "patient safety," "home health," and "pet." Whereas a nanny is skilled in "first aid aed," "transport children," "discipline programs," and "drop offs." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Nannies tend to make the most money working in the non profits industry, where they earn an average salary of $41,844. In contrast, sitters make the biggest average salary, $33,017, in the non profits industry.nannies tend to reach similar levels of education than sitters. In fact, nannies are 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Sitter vs. Home health aid

Home health aides provide care and assistance to patients who have chronic illnesses, injuries, disabilities, or age-related challenges inside the patient's home. They monitor the patient's condition and help them in any activity they may need assistance in. They provide support to both the patient and the family to manage the patient's condition. Home health aides care for the patient by providing personal services like bathing and basic grooming, designing nutritional plans, cooking and preparing meals, running errands, maintaining the cleanliness of the home, managing medication intake, and ensuring the home is safe and secure for the patient.

A career as a home health aid brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a sitter. In fact, home health aids salary is $1,475 lower than the salary of sitters per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both sitters and home health aids have skills such as "patients," "cpr," and "home health. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real sitter resumes. While sitter responsibilities can utilize skills like "kids," "patient safety," "pet," and "allergies," home health aids use skills like "patient care," "hha," "in-home care," and "care plan."

On average, home health aids earn a lower salary than sitters. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, home health aids earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $27,162. Whereas sitters have higher pay in the non profits industry, with an average salary of $33,017.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Home health aids tend to reach similar levels of education than sitters. In fact, they're 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Sitter vs. Companion

A companion is responsible for assisting sick and recovered patients, as well as the elderly. Companions perform housekeeping duties, ensuring that a facility is well-maintained and safe for the use of the patients. They also monitor the patients' medication, prepare their meals based on a medical professional's prescription, support them on their daily activities, respond to the patients' needs and special requests as allowed, and report any developments to their family or guardians. A companion must be compassionate enough to extend physical and emotional support, depending on the client's condition.

An average companion eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of sitters. The difference in salaries amounts to companions earning a $522 higher average salary than sitters.sitters and companions both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "patients," "cpr," and "patient safety," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, sitters are more likely to have skills like "kids," "pet," "allergies," and "child care." But a companion is more likely to have skills like "patient care," "customer service," "care plan," and "direct care."

Companions make a very good living in the non profits industry with an average annual salary of $30,973. On the other hand, sitters are paid the highest salary in the non profits industry, with average annual pay of $33,017.When it comes to education, companions tend to earn similar degree levels compared to sitters. In fact, they're 0.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Sitter vs. Personal care assistant

Personal care assistants are employed to help individuals who may need special attention or assistance. They are usually trained to care for individuals with specific conditions, whether physically or mentally. Personal care assistants manage their meal plans, medicine intake, daily schedule, and therapy, among others. They help their clients move, eat, bathe, and dress. They also run errands and provide any other assistance that their clients may need. Personal care assistants also provide emotional and moral support to their clients. They are also in touch with medical professionals and provide updates on the health of their clients.

Personal care assistants average a lower salary than the annual salary of sitters. The difference is about $2,081 per year.While both sitters and personal care assistants complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like patients, cpr, and home health, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between sitters and personal care assistants, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a sitter might have more use for skills like "kids," "patient safety," "pet," and "allergies." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of personal care assistants require skills like "patient care," "tb testing," "direct care," and "hair care. "

Personal care assistants enjoy the best pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $27,341. For comparison, sitters earn the highest salary in the non profits industry.personal care assistants reach similar levels of education compared to sitters, in general. The difference is that they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of sitter

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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