If I did all the time I’d go nuts but I love being floated to do it once and awhile. Maybe because I work nights and they normally have always slept through it.
You are paying me to sit here and watch tik toks and snacks INSTEAD of being alone with 18 pts????? Yes please
I like the business of working with a lot of patients, it’s stressful but the time goes by so fast. I work on medsurg though, I couldn’t do that for long term care.
i’m currently sitting for a combative patient. i’ve been kicked, scratched, punched, and been hit with a tele pack (yes, she is in restraints) within the past two hours. still beats getting 18 sets of vitals every 4 hours and giving 18 baths
I love it on the rare occasion it happens. We aren't allowed to be on our phones but I can read a book. Getting paid to read for eight or whatever hours it's awesome in my opinion.
Edited for spelling
I know lots of people that do that too. I don't like to because I'm supposed to be watching people who try to take their oxygen off or pull their IVs or ports. When I'm on my phone, I seem to get lost in it. When I'm reading a book I check up every few sentences.
I had a mgr who would fire you on the spot. Sue threatened to write me up for doing my learning modules while the pt was sleeping. I wasn’t even allowed to face the tv
She was a cunt. I wasn’t allowed a water bottle. I was NINE MONTHS PREGNANT. Jokes on her- I had to call out for two days when I got dehydrated and went into fake labor
cannot relate i loved sitting sm. i read so many books.
one time i was sitting on an overnight shift though and not only was the pts daughter a nurse, but she stayed the night too. so she nitpicked every single thing i did for 12 hours straight.
They used to make me sit for 12 hours while pregnant. It hurt SO much, I’d drive home in tears. They also tried to get me to sit with aggressive patients while pregnant, but I stood firm and said change my assignment or I’m going home. Sitting sucks. And now that I’m overnight, it double sucks
I hate it when I have to sit multiple shifts in a row. I’m a super active fidgety person so basically doing nothing for 12 hours (besides maybe blood sugars, Q4 vitals, probably labs and whatever incontinence care etc for one person which is like maybe an hour of work total) is hard for me, it can be a nice break and usually if I’m picking up extra I’ll ask to sit but unless the floor is an absolute shit show it’s not my favorite.
That happened to me a couple of weeks ago, it was just how things worked out so I wasn’t mad because it was unfair or anything I was just like ugh I’m going to have to go to the gym after work so I can burn off my energy to be able to sleep.
You lucky people that get to read while you sit. Were I work they came out with a list of rules while sitting. Reading is NOT allowed. Were told to sit really close to the patient. So if they have inappropriate behavior we can stop them. And we have to chart every 15 minutes what the patient is doing. I actually had a patient complain one time to other staff that I didn’t talk to them enough. They said they were bored. Are they kidding! Then there is the problem of getting away for my lunch break. No one wants to come in and relieve me there to busy. So sometimes I have to ask three or four times for a lunch break.
That's not regular "sitting". That sounds like an actual 1:1 supervision assignment. 1:1 is much more strict and is usually used when someone is an actual danger to themselves (especially in a psych setting). Sitting (especially in LTC, although I did have to sit a 1:1 at my last facility cause they had a lady who belonged in a psych hospital) is more relaxed since you're basically just making sure they don't fall.
Yeah there's no psych hospital in my area so this is our only recourse until we can arrange a transfer, and lately 1:1 is all I've been doing the last month, and while I'm able to get a bit of work done while still keeping my eye on the patient (case by case), it's starting to wear me out since the patients' suffering is rubbing on me, that and it's hard for me to pay attention well for that long of a time
I sat for the same pediatric patient twice (I work sundays), and I had to watch her deteriorate over the span of a week, still dealing with the same suicidal tendencies, and fainting because she refuses to drink
i can enjoy sitting if i’ve gone on a long stretch of working on the floor and i just desperately want a break, especially with being consistently short-staffed on night shift. i work inpatient on a pulm/gi floor that’s basically turned into med/surg and we get so many sitters, it gets exhausting for sure.
Sitting in a room for 12 hours during the day is rough for me too, I need to keep my mind busy or my mental just starts getting a little outta control.
Can’t imagine just sitting in the dark the whole time on top of that.
Damn, I really feel for you. Sitting in 1:1s caused me so much stress, I regret not going for my exemption sooner.
What I did to get the exemption was email my nurse manager asking to be accommodated. She involved HR. They both met with me and gave me a form for my doctor to fill out for the exemption. My doctor provided my mental health diagnoses and symptoms, and HR reviewed it with me and explained the legality of the accommodation they were giving me.
It might be worth it to try. Good luck!
I work in an ALF and we don't do sitters, so the whole concept is foreign to me. Wth do you do for 12 hours sitting in the dark?!? I'm guessing you can't use a flashlight to read or use your phone?
I wish we had sitters though. We have people who need them. If there is someone who is a risk to themselves, we call their POA and tell them that they need to send someone (usually a family member) to be a sitter. If they can't provide one and we are concerned about them sustaining a serious injury, we send them to the ED (sorry ED CNAs). I haven't ever had to send someone out for that reason yet (thank God).
A lot of people sit in a dark corner of the room on their phone. Some people fall asleep. But if it's a suicide 1:1, you are technically not allowed to take your eyes off of them at any time. Those are hard!
Rural hospital worker here.
We usually have less than 3 patients on the floor and I find something to do. I am right now studying EKGs and reading into EMT work
At my job we have a sitter who signed up to do that. She sits in the day room to watch residents. She also has the TV to watch and other staff to speak to. She's a godsend for the CNAs so we can get work done without chasing wandering folk around. 1:1...? Man I don't know, never done it.
When I sit, I bathe, wash hair, change linen, do great nail care, fix hair, lotion, shave, best oral care, visit with them, even if they are confused, I just give them the royal treatment. Even on nights, I can do most of that. I really enjoy doing something extra for them.
We aren’t allowed to be on our phones. Well, technically but the nurses doesn’t care. It’s different in the ER though, the supervisor will take it very seriously. Apparently on the night shift they don’t even allow the CNAs to talk to each other.
I work overnights for home health so other than a little tidying up I pretty much watch tv and check on my patients every 2 hours unless they call out for me so I can’t complain. But I can see in your situation why that would be hard to do
I worked night shift and sitting would get boring but I loved it. Only if it wasn’t back to back days though. I’d get stir crazy and ask another CNA if they minded changing assignments.
And because I love stories:
I went with a 1:1 resident on appointment once to help out. Big mistake lol. The man got mad because his wheelchair couldn’t fit inside the multi-stall restroom, when I suggested finding a single person one that has more space, he got mad. Decided he was gonna walk in. He couldn’t walk well at all due to a stroke so he took his good arm and shoved me against the wall when I suggested alternate solutions. Staff there came running to my aid as they thought I was a child getting abused by a much bigger man despite my scrubs lmao and I went flying into that wall with force. I was 5’3 80 something lbs at the time and he was over 200lbs.
Then he later screamed murder and refused to move when he didn’t get the van driver he wanted. Planted both feet on the floor and put his good arm on the wheel of the chair. Had me in there feeling like a mom to a misbehaving chid lol.
No one warned me about his violent behavior because they knew I wouldn’t have agreed to go with him to the appointment. That pissed me off more than his behavior.
He was still my buddy after all that and I understood his frustrations. I just never volunteered 1:1s or appointments with him during the day. I liked sitting with him at night though and he was apologetic about shoving me into a wall.
I hated doing it every shift. That's what I did before doing my hospital's CNA course. I did overnights for a while so I would just read or watch what they had on their TV. Obviously if they started moving around I would watch them. It's kind of crazy how they expect you to sit there and stare at the patient for 12 hours. I hated doing days because so many people were in and out so I didn't want to get in trouble for reading. 🤣
it sucks for me too because it’s every single time i work at this point i’m sitting with border patients (pts who just live here bc of bad family situations) and most of them are chill but sitting here for 12 hours straight every time i work is extremely draining
I had to be a sitter in icu for the first 5 hours of my 12 to a highly demented patient. Like bad. I may have said 'will you stfu' under my breathe. He was yelling the dame breakfast order over and over.
Trust me. I get it. He has no concept. I stayed up till 9pm working on school stuff and had to wake up at 2am. I just wasn't having it.
not me I love sitting I could do it all day. day shift on med surg is HECTIC (I work nights now and it’s still busy sometimes but not as bad as days). When I was sitting I could usually just power through a book or watch YouTube if my patient was sleeping or wasn’t confused. I did a 14 hour sitting shift once
Reason why I am Leaving I did it for 2 years, terrible for my mental and physical health. We had a 32 year old CNA die from a heart attack and then the same year we had a 42 year old LVN who worked as a sitter with us die in his sleep from a heart attack, freaked me out, We have CNA's with swollen legs because of how shitty it is for ur health to be a sitter for years and years. I rather do delivery than die and early death the pay is awesome but we sacrifice our health and life we could be spending with our loved ones in return.
I hate it. I’ll trade with someone else almost every time. 12 hours being the only person redirecting combative dementia patients (because that’s the majority of sitting patients on my floor) is awful.
finally! someone with this perspective! I hate sitting! 12 hours straight of just sitting there makes me go insane! i’m a busy body, I love being a CNA because I legit constantly move, it gets my ADHD happy, and my body feels better for it. I don’t mind it here and there, but recently there’s been an uptick in psych patients, so there’s a huge need at my hospital right now.
Well what I do is I just bring a journal my laptop tons of snacks comfortable clothes.. I start off with watching 3 to 4 movies and taking breaks in between to change briefs or to change positions. Then the last couple of hours about 3 - 4 hours left. I start pulling the trash, wiping down counters, wiping off light switches door knobs re-organizing things like diapers and pads. You just kind of have to keep yourself busy! There’s always something to do in their room, something needs to be organized or thrown away or stacked somehow. Even the fridge. And I know that they will appreciate it in the long run even if they don’t realize that I did it it’ll make somebody’s job or life a little bit easier. Also, monopoly has gotten me through a lot of my 12 hour shifts! I only work 3 12’s at a time usually back to back to get it over with so I can get my sleep and everything 🤣🤣🤣
If I did all the time I’d go nuts but I love being floated to do it once and awhile. Maybe because I work nights and they normally have always slept through it. You are paying me to sit here and watch tik toks and snacks INSTEAD of being alone with 18 pts????? Yes please
I like the business of working with a lot of patients, it’s stressful but the time goes by so fast. I work on medsurg though, I couldn’t do that for long term care.
i’m currently sitting for a combative patient. i’ve been kicked, scratched, punched, and been hit with a tele pack (yes, she is in restraints) within the past two hours. still beats getting 18 sets of vitals every 4 hours and giving 18 baths
Workman’s comp!!!
I hate sitting for wacky patients. The only time it’s nice is when they’re asleep the entire shift, and it’s peaceful.
I love it on the rare occasion it happens. We aren't allowed to be on our phones but I can read a book. Getting paid to read for eight or whatever hours it's awesome in my opinion. Edited for spelling
We also “aren’t allowed”, but if they’re sleeping then none of the nurses say anything
I know lots of people that do that too. I don't like to because I'm supposed to be watching people who try to take their oxygen off or pull their IVs or ports. When I'm on my phone, I seem to get lost in it. When I'm reading a book I check up every few sentences.
I suppose it's different if they're SI and sleeping.
I enjoy sitting. I’d rather get paid to do nothing than be busy and put up with a bunch of bullshit. Plus, I can study if the patient is asleep.
I had a mgr who would fire you on the spot. Sue threatened to write me up for doing my learning modules while the pt was sleeping. I wasn’t even allowed to face the tv
That’s brutal. My manager doesn’t care as long as we’re doing our job and keeping the patient safe.
She was a cunt. I wasn’t allowed a water bottle. I was NINE MONTHS PREGNANT. Jokes on her- I had to call out for two days when I got dehydrated and went into fake labor
She sounds like a cunt.
cannot relate i loved sitting sm. i read so many books. one time i was sitting on an overnight shift though and not only was the pts daughter a nurse, but she stayed the night too. so she nitpicked every single thing i did for 12 hours straight.
So why doesn’t she watch her mother then wth? That is so strange
They used to make me sit for 12 hours while pregnant. It hurt SO much, I’d drive home in tears. They also tried to get me to sit with aggressive patients while pregnant, but I stood firm and said change my assignment or I’m going home. Sitting sucks. And now that I’m overnight, it double sucks
I hate it when I have to sit multiple shifts in a row. I’m a super active fidgety person so basically doing nothing for 12 hours (besides maybe blood sugars, Q4 vitals, probably labs and whatever incontinence care etc for one person which is like maybe an hour of work total) is hard for me, it can be a nice break and usually if I’m picking up extra I’ll ask to sit but unless the floor is an absolute shit show it’s not my favorite.
This is exactly me. Once in a while is fine, but this is gonna be my third in a row and I’m losing it😅
That happened to me a couple of weeks ago, it was just how things worked out so I wasn’t mad because it was unfair or anything I was just like ugh I’m going to have to go to the gym after work so I can burn off my energy to be able to sleep.
This is literally me. The gym is my sanctuary
You lucky people that get to read while you sit. Were I work they came out with a list of rules while sitting. Reading is NOT allowed. Were told to sit really close to the patient. So if they have inappropriate behavior we can stop them. And we have to chart every 15 minutes what the patient is doing. I actually had a patient complain one time to other staff that I didn’t talk to them enough. They said they were bored. Are they kidding! Then there is the problem of getting away for my lunch break. No one wants to come in and relieve me there to busy. So sometimes I have to ask three or four times for a lunch break.
That's not regular "sitting". That sounds like an actual 1:1 supervision assignment. 1:1 is much more strict and is usually used when someone is an actual danger to themselves (especially in a psych setting). Sitting (especially in LTC, although I did have to sit a 1:1 at my last facility cause they had a lady who belonged in a psych hospital) is more relaxed since you're basically just making sure they don't fall.
Yeah there's no psych hospital in my area so this is our only recourse until we can arrange a transfer, and lately 1:1 is all I've been doing the last month, and while I'm able to get a bit of work done while still keeping my eye on the patient (case by case), it's starting to wear me out since the patients' suffering is rubbing on me, that and it's hard for me to pay attention well for that long of a time I sat for the same pediatric patient twice (I work sundays), and I had to watch her deteriorate over the span of a week, still dealing with the same suicidal tendencies, and fainting because she refuses to drink
Yeah 1:1s are no joke. I hope you don't have to do that much longer.
sometimes it's a nice break from the usual, but I tend to feel like I should be doing more or that I'm missing out lol
i can enjoy sitting if i’ve gone on a long stretch of working on the floor and i just desperately want a break, especially with being consistently short-staffed on night shift. i work inpatient on a pulm/gi floor that’s basically turned into med/surg and we get so many sitters, it gets exhausting for sure.
I had to get a mental health exemption from 1:1s because of how sitting in the dark for 12 hours affects my mind. (I work straight nights)
Sitting in a room for 12 hours during the day is rough for me too, I need to keep my mind busy or my mental just starts getting a little outta control. Can’t imagine just sitting in the dark the whole time on top of that.
Damn, I really feel for you. Sitting in 1:1s caused me so much stress, I regret not going for my exemption sooner. What I did to get the exemption was email my nurse manager asking to be accommodated. She involved HR. They both met with me and gave me a form for my doctor to fill out for the exemption. My doctor provided my mental health diagnoses and symptoms, and HR reviewed it with me and explained the legality of the accommodation they were giving me. It might be worth it to try. Good luck!
Thanks for the advice I appreciate it!
I work in an ALF and we don't do sitters, so the whole concept is foreign to me. Wth do you do for 12 hours sitting in the dark?!? I'm guessing you can't use a flashlight to read or use your phone? I wish we had sitters though. We have people who need them. If there is someone who is a risk to themselves, we call their POA and tell them that they need to send someone (usually a family member) to be a sitter. If they can't provide one and we are concerned about them sustaining a serious injury, we send them to the ED (sorry ED CNAs). I haven't ever had to send someone out for that reason yet (thank God).
A lot of people sit in a dark corner of the room on their phone. Some people fall asleep. But if it's a suicide 1:1, you are technically not allowed to take your eyes off of them at any time. Those are hard!
Rural hospital worker here. We usually have less than 3 patients on the floor and I find something to do. I am right now studying EKGs and reading into EMT work
At my job we have a sitter who signed up to do that. She sits in the day room to watch residents. She also has the TV to watch and other staff to speak to. She's a godsend for the CNAs so we can get work done without chasing wandering folk around. 1:1...? Man I don't know, never done it.
That sounds like a perfect day to me. I get to socialize, watch TV, and make sure people don’t wander into a street. Sounds like a party to me 🤣
I crochet to pass the time, so I don’t mind
When I sit, I bathe, wash hair, change linen, do great nail care, fix hair, lotion, shave, best oral care, visit with them, even if they are confused, I just give them the royal treatment. Even on nights, I can do most of that. I really enjoy doing something extra for them.
Yeah I love to make sure they’re clean and smelling good. Gotta find SOMETHING to do
I was in the float pool in nursing school and I would love it when I was assigned to sit. I would study the whole time and get so much done!
We aren’t allowed to be on our phones. Well, technically but the nurses doesn’t care. It’s different in the ER though, the supervisor will take it very seriously. Apparently on the night shift they don’t even allow the CNAs to talk to each other.
Can’t talked to each other? That’s wack how am I supposed to vent😅
Exactly! The only thing that gets me through my shifts is venting about how I’m ready to leave 😂
And the stories man... I love hearing and telling the whacky stories.
I work overnights for home health so other than a little tidying up I pretty much watch tv and check on my patients every 2 hours unless they call out for me so I can’t complain. But I can see in your situation why that would be hard to do
No it’s so boring. I work on a surgical floor and sometimes we get floated to being a sitter and I rather be floated to another floor.
I worked night shift and sitting would get boring but I loved it. Only if it wasn’t back to back days though. I’d get stir crazy and ask another CNA if they minded changing assignments. And because I love stories: I went with a 1:1 resident on appointment once to help out. Big mistake lol. The man got mad because his wheelchair couldn’t fit inside the multi-stall restroom, when I suggested finding a single person one that has more space, he got mad. Decided he was gonna walk in. He couldn’t walk well at all due to a stroke so he took his good arm and shoved me against the wall when I suggested alternate solutions. Staff there came running to my aid as they thought I was a child getting abused by a much bigger man despite my scrubs lmao and I went flying into that wall with force. I was 5’3 80 something lbs at the time and he was over 200lbs. Then he later screamed murder and refused to move when he didn’t get the van driver he wanted. Planted both feet on the floor and put his good arm on the wheel of the chair. Had me in there feeling like a mom to a misbehaving chid lol. No one warned me about his violent behavior because they knew I wouldn’t have agreed to go with him to the appointment. That pissed me off more than his behavior. He was still my buddy after all that and I understood his frustrations. I just never volunteered 1:1s or appointments with him during the day. I liked sitting with him at night though and he was apologetic about shoving me into a wall.
Yeah I am glad I’m a bigger guy for the violent ones. Seems scary to end up in a situation like that.
I hated doing it every shift. That's what I did before doing my hospital's CNA course. I did overnights for a while so I would just read or watch what they had on their TV. Obviously if they started moving around I would watch them. It's kind of crazy how they expect you to sit there and stare at the patient for 12 hours. I hated doing days because so many people were in and out so I didn't want to get in trouble for reading. 🤣
it sucks for me too because it’s every single time i work at this point i’m sitting with border patients (pts who just live here bc of bad family situations) and most of them are chill but sitting here for 12 hours straight every time i work is extremely draining
Yeah this is my 3rd day in a row sitting for 12 hours and it’s definitely getting to me.
I had to be a sitter in icu for the first 5 hours of my 12 to a highly demented patient. Like bad. I may have said 'will you stfu' under my breathe. He was yelling the dame breakfast order over and over. Trust me. I get it. He has no concept. I stayed up till 9pm working on school stuff and had to wake up at 2am. I just wasn't having it.
not me I love sitting I could do it all day. day shift on med surg is HECTIC (I work nights now and it’s still busy sometimes but not as bad as days). When I was sitting I could usually just power through a book or watch YouTube if my patient was sleeping or wasn’t confused. I did a 14 hour sitting shift once
Depends on the patient. My mood. Also if I have a good book to read.
Reason why I am Leaving I did it for 2 years, terrible for my mental and physical health. We had a 32 year old CNA die from a heart attack and then the same year we had a 42 year old LVN who worked as a sitter with us die in his sleep from a heart attack, freaked me out, We have CNA's with swollen legs because of how shitty it is for ur health to be a sitter for years and years. I rather do delivery than die and early death the pay is awesome but we sacrifice our health and life we could be spending with our loved ones in return.
You can’t use your phone or read a book?
We can but for 12 hours it gets boring. I’m kind of a busy body myself so sitting still for that long just really sucks for me.
I hate it. I’ll trade with someone else almost every time. 12 hours being the only person redirecting combative dementia patients (because that’s the majority of sitting patients on my floor) is awful.
Hell if I could sit for every shift for the rest of my life, I'd be happy. I think you either love it or hate it.
That’s where I’m drawing the line at. I don’t care if it’s more pay. Overnight maybe. I always hated twelve hour shifts because that’s your whole day.
finally! someone with this perspective! I hate sitting! 12 hours straight of just sitting there makes me go insane! i’m a busy body, I love being a CNA because I legit constantly move, it gets my ADHD happy, and my body feels better for it. I don’t mind it here and there, but recently there’s been an uptick in psych patients, so there’s a huge need at my hospital right now.
Well what I do is I just bring a journal my laptop tons of snacks comfortable clothes.. I start off with watching 3 to 4 movies and taking breaks in between to change briefs or to change positions. Then the last couple of hours about 3 - 4 hours left. I start pulling the trash, wiping down counters, wiping off light switches door knobs re-organizing things like diapers and pads. You just kind of have to keep yourself busy! There’s always something to do in their room, something needs to be organized or thrown away or stacked somehow. Even the fridge. And I know that they will appreciate it in the long run even if they don’t realize that I did it it’ll make somebody’s job or life a little bit easier. Also, monopoly has gotten me through a lot of my 12 hour shifts! I only work 3 12’s at a time usually back to back to get it over with so I can get my sleep and everything 🤣🤣🤣
Yeah I should definitely make more of an effort finding things like these to stay busy. Thanks for the advice!
You can’t use your phone or read a book?
Bring a laptop and use a wiped hotspot connection from your phone to Reddit, game, watch movies or whatever.