Patient Sitter Job

[thekidisback]

I am applying to be a patient sitter (per deem) at a hospital here in New Jersey. I am a nursing student right now and about to end my summer semester. I just thought it would be good to keep myself occupied for the rest of the summer so I can get some hospital experience. Plus it would be good when school starts again in the fall, I'll be able to work and get some studying done while I work (if possible)

My main question is: How much do patient sitters usually get paid in New Jersey?? Do night shifts get paid more??

[Work in Progress]

We don't have dedicated sitters at my facility, the CNAs/HCTs rotate out who is sitting. So we get paid CNA wages. I work night shift and I get a lot of studying done some nights. Some nights, however, I am in a 4 pt sitter room running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Tonight (I am on break right now) all four of my pts are asleep, continent, and don't need to be woken until the morning. I have done about 300 NCLEX questions so far. I always bring something to do, but I never count on it as primary study time. It is absolutely okay here to study, read, etc. as long as your pts are taken care of and you are keeping one eye one them at all times. If we couldn't that would be one LONG 12 hours shift of sitting in the dark listening to snoring.

[NurseCard, ADN]

At the hospital where I started out, 1:1 sitters were allowed to study, have a snack, do whatever, as long as they were right there with the patient and as long as the patient was safe.

Where I work right now, 1:1 sitters aren't allowed to do ANYTHING but sit there and stare at the patient. Not even really supposed to have a book... nothing.

[rn/writer, RN]

The facilities that expect a sitter to sit (sometimes in the dark) and do nothing do not understand how the human brain works. It is designed, much like a computer is, to zone out in the absence of any stimulation.

In two places that I have worked, we were allowed to engage in light-concentration activities that could be instantly interrupted because those in charge understood that doing something like reading or playing word games kept the sitters in a more alert state than zoning out.

IMO, several possibilities are behind the mandate to sit like a lump on a log. One is that the powers that be truly do not understand what they are asking. Two is that they are afraid someone will misinterpret what they see and think something is amiss. Three is that they are just green-to-the-bone jealous that an employee is getting paid "to have fun." They don't get the concept that, while you might get to read a few chapters or fill in a couple of sudokus, you might also be jumping the whole shift, trying to re-orient and redirect a delusional patient.

I am in a 4 pt sitter room running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

This is flat out unsafe. There is a reason a sitter patient is often referred to as a 1:1. A co-worker was asked to watch two patients in the same room and had a serious enough problem when both acted up that she was worried about keeping her job. Fortunately, she had the sense to come back with the fact that she never should have been watching two patients at the same time.

[casi, ASN, RN]

I've honestly never seen someone hired just to sit with a patient. Where I work when patients are 1:1's the CNAs cover it.

We however are allowed to study or read.

[Work in Progress]

This is flat out unsafe. There is a reason a sitter patient is often referred to as a 1:1. A co-worker was asked to watch two patients in the same room and had a serious enough problem when both acted up that she was worried about keeping her job. Fortunately, she had the sense to come back with the fact that she never should have been watching two patients at the same time.

Tell me about it! I can't even articulate how difficult that job can be. Unfortunately, these rooms were built for the purpose of having 4 patients and one sitter. There are two of them on our floor. They are always full- etoh w/d, dementia, AMS, acutely psychotic. A lot of psych overflow, or people that psych won't take because they are getting fluids or some such nonsense. The only way that a pt in our hospital gets an actual 1:1 sitter is if they are on isolation.

Not only is it unsafe to have one CNA dealing with all of that, but it is not exactly a therapeutic environment. They often work each other up and set each other off. They get into each other's space and maintaining privacy is next to impossible. It is a HIPPA nightmare! I listened to two poor LOLs with dementia argue (about who let the cat out) for 25 minutes yesterday- it is next to impossible to reorient someone when their neighbor is confirming their version of reality.

I tried to talk to management a couple of times about how unsafe it was. Guess what the #1 reason they gave for the existence of these rooms is? You guessed it- $$$. In response to my concerns, they sent out an email reminding everyone that they "should always call for help if needed in the sitter room and if you need to devote your attention to one patient you need to get someone else in the room to watch the others." Think about the logistics of this. "I'm sorry sir, you are going to need to stop pulling your IV and NG out while we wait for someone to come in and watch the other 3 pts. It will take up to an hour for someone to decide to answer the call light."

I am so sorry to hijack the thread, as this is not the purpose at all. OP- what do I get paid as a sitter? NOT ENOUGH. Anyhow, I think last night was the last night I will ever have to do it, as I take my NCLEX tomorrow!

[corky1272RN]

I think it just depends on the facility and what the situation is. Most of the sitters at the hospital where I work will read, do homework, whatever. Some even surf the web on our COWs because they usually work as techs on the floor. But some sitters will have their hands full (don't have time to do anything) because they are sitting for a pt with dementia who is violent or trying to get out of the bed constantly. Our nurse techs are usually pulled to sit, sometimes an outside agency is used too if ours are not available. The ratio is always 1:1, because this is an acute hospital with only private rooms. The nurse techs get paid their usual hourly wage and shift diff if applicable, not sure about the agency staff. Our facility tries to use sitters instead of restraints! Just find out what the policy is for the place you are sitting for.

And the poster that mentioned 1:4, that is just plain crazy!!!! Not you, but whoever thought that disaster up!

[CrazierThanYou]

I have to say, I've never heard of a patient sitter. They must not have them in my area. But either way, it seems insane that the sitter can't read or study or whatever. I mean, do you just sit there and stare at the wall all day long? What?

When I did home health (as a CNA), I would read or study while my client watched TV or napped in her chair. I don't see why that shouldn't be allowed but it doesn't surprise me that its not.

[thekidisback]

My bf is working as a patient sitter while doing his prereqs for nursing school and he gets min wage (in my state, that's $8.50) plus shift differentials ($3.50 nights, $3.50 weekends). So, he ends up making $12.00-$15.50/hr since he works nights. It's nice change. He can study if his patient is mellow. Other nights, he gets no studying done, so don't depend on your work shift to get school work done!

That's not so bad! Is this in New Jersey?? I plan to work nights.

[Reno1978, BSN, RN]

No, we live in WA.

[thekidisback]

I just went for my interview for the patient sitter position. It went well. They offered me a Support/Sitter position instead. They told me that I would need to take a test. I didn't go for my CNA. I just completed my first year of Nursing School, which is why they said it would make more sense for me to a Support/sitter. But I'm just curious what this test consists of. Is it writing and skills?