Can I work as a sitter?

[Zara1209]

Hello everyone!

In the State of Texas can I work as a sitter with my RN license? I graduated from school a month ago and will start a residency program in October. I was wondering if i'm allowed to work as a patient sitter at another hospital system while I work full time as a graduate nurse? Thank you so much for your help!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

You can work in any sort of job you wish to - LOL. However, in any sort of patient contact / healthcare role, you will still have to fulfill the responsibilities of your license, no matter what the job description says. So - this means that you could find yourself in a very bad situation in which you recognize a problem with the patient you're 'sitting', you're not employed as a nurse (probably not even an employee of the hospital if you were hired by the patient's family), so you can't do anything about it & the patient's nurse won't listen to you.... what now? Definitely between a rock and a hard place.

Our board also requires us to wear a name tag that clearly indicates our licensure whenever we are in a healthcare work setting..... but it's unlikely that any organization would allow an RN "Sitter" situation in their facility.

Bottom line - it's never a good idea to try to work in a role that is subordinate to the one in which you're licensed. If you need to earn some money prior to entering your residency, it's probably a better idea to look for a part time job outside of healthcare.