Sitters are new members of the hospital team!
Sitters are new members of the hospital team!
A hospital is no place to be left alone. Even with the most professional medical team and the latest monitoring technology, it only takes an instant for a dangerous fall or other accident to happen. Even just the loneliness of a hospital stay can slow recovery and even increase the physical pain a patient suffers.
The solution is a hospital sitter, a specialized caregiver who provides round-the-clock companionship and monitoring for a patient. Sitters help by keeping watch, getting water or other things that may be out of reach, running errands, waiting for unconscious patients to wake up, reading aloud or just keeping the patient company.
In-hospital falls are especially common for elderly patients. Approximately ten percent of fatal falls for seniors occur in hospitals. Disoriented or heavily medicated patients of any age can accidentally injure themselves, not just by falling, but by removing IVs and other medical equipment. With only one or two nurses typically working long shifts and handling many patients with critical needs, it’s unrealistic to expect the continuous personal monitoring some patients need. It often seem like ages from the time you push the nurse call button until anyone responds.
While safety is critical, hospital sitters do more than help prevent falls and alert nurses.
“Companionship makes great medicine,” says Dr. Jim Johnson of Home Care Assistance, a leading provider of hospital sitters and other caregivers, at www.HomeCareAssistance.com. “Knowing a friendly person is in the room watching over them makes patients feel more secure and hospital rooms more human,” he adds.
Hospital sitters cannot aid or participate in any patient care or physical contact and must stay out of the way of hospital staff. When sitters are used, they stay under the direction of the registered nurse. If the patient has an urgent need or suffers a fall or a medical emergency, the sitter will immediately summon the nurse in charge.
Hospital sitters help lower accident risks, so some hospital administrators hire sitters to watch over their patients who are at risk for falling out of bed. Some physicians sometimes order a continuous, one-to-one sitter for patients who have an impaired ability to understand or
follow directions or who are unable to realize they could harm themselves.
Some sitters even keep a journal for the patient's family members, to record every doctor visit/outcome that occurs, describing any procedures done and the expected and actual outcomes. Sitters can also hold onto legal documents, such as a copy of the patient's Advanced Directives, if a relative cant's be reached for a critical decision.
Hospital sitters provide peace of mind for the patient's family. They supply vigilance that ensures safety and companionship that reduces a patient's boredom and depression. They also enable the patient's family to go home and rest, knowing their loved one will never be alone. For more information about hospital sitters, contact Home Care Assistance in Houston at 1-866-454-8346, or visit www.HomeCareAssistance.com.