Patient Sitter Job Description
Patient sitters are healthcare workers who tend to work in hospitals and nursing homes. It’s their job to observe patients in these facilities and monitor their health conditions. Patient sitters usually work under the supervision of trained nurses. A patient sitter may be asked to complete a variety of tasks while observing patients. For example, they might need to record the patient’s food and liquid intake, report any changes that occur to senior staff members, and help the patient move in and out of bed. Employees in this role may also help the patients they work with eat or walk around their room. Patient sitters need to be patient, empathetic, and have excellent interpersonal skills.
Patient Sitter Job Description Template
Our facility is looking to add a compassionate patient sitter to its team. In this role, you will be responsible for observing our patients and monitoring their health conditions. You will provide relief to patients and their family members who are concerned about them. As part of this role, you may be asked to sit and spend time with individuals who are antagonistic, distressed, dying, or even suicidal. You will need to be comfortable with dealing with a wide variety of patient types.
Your tasks will also involve helping patients who need it with daily living tasks, such as eating and getting out of bed or moving around. If you notice any changes in a patient’s condition, you will be responsible for reporting it to a supervisor as soon as possible. We’d love to see your resume if you believe that you would do well in this role.
Patient Sitter Responsibilities:
- Sit with patients who are highly distressed
- Provide comfort to patients through conversations
- Support the patients who need it with daily living tasks such as eating and moving
- Report any changes in a patient’s condition to a supervising nurse
- Adhere to all company policies and legal requirements at all times
Patient Sitter Requirements:
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Previous experience working directly with patients is a plus
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to support the needs of diverse patients
- Ability to work at odd hours based on scheduling needs
- Ability to perform basic nursing functions such as taking vitals
Patient Sitter FAQ
What tasks does a patient sitter complete?
A patient sitter’s main responsibility is to sit with patients who need observation. They will take the patient’s vital signs and watch to ensure that they don’t deteriorate. Individuals in this role will also communicate with the patient to lift their spirits. Finally, they may also need to help patients with some basic daily living tasks such as eating or getting out of bed.
What should I include in my patient sitter help-wanted ads?
We recommend that you follow the same strategy that we’ve used in our template. Begin with a few paragraphs in which you talk about the job generally. This is where you should highlight the information that you think will appeal to your applicants the most. After that, you can create two bulleted lists that talk about the job’s responsibilities and requirements in more depth.
Can I use your patient sitter job description template?
You can absolutely use our job description template however you see fit. Just make sure that you’re including enough unique information about your position to make it stand out to your applicants. For example, you may need to add additional requirements or responsibilities that aren’t listed above. Doing so is an important part of ensuring that your applicants have all relevant information before applying for your job.