Patient observer or pca?

[kaya33068]

I'm doing some job hunting and i ran across a job post for patient observer.Im wondering What exactly do they do? do they make more then a pca or less? which is better?

[CoffeemateCNA]

Never heard of it. It sounds like a "sitter" position. You would probably make less than a PCA.

[ctmed]

Patient observer is 1:1s. You will have to watch demented and restless folks to make sure they do not pull foleys, IVs, or tubes. You also got to redirect them if they get a wild tear insisting they need to 'go home' to some place that existed 10 years ago. You are stuck in there and typically have to ask if you can leave to eat, smoke, or go to the restroom. Not the job if you are claustrophobic or like your nicotine. Occasionally, you get good patients that behave. It is really cool if you are in school and need to study or you can watch TV or surf the web if they let you bring a laptop.

PCA, like CNA, PCT is the latest trend in the 50 names they have for orderly/aide. If this is a hospital, this is usually doing vitals or fingersticks, doing baths, emptying foleys/ recording I+O, feeding, and making sure rivers of yellow do not overflow into the hall.

The pay is usually about the same, but some of these "sitter" agencies can be kind of cheap and some do not even require CNA.