Careers
Patient Care Technician
Scope
Patient Care Technicians work along side doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to provide direct patient care in a variety of healthcare environments. The Patient Care Technician (PCT) plays a vital role in the healthcare delivery setting often having more patient contact than any other team member including doctors and nurses.
The Patient Care Technician (PCT) assists patients with many tasks that they can not do for themselves while they are in hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, assisted living facilities, nursing homes or long-term care facilities. PCT may assist patients with tasks such as eating, getting out of bed, taking a bath, and brushing their teeth and hair. The Patient Care Technician can also be called a hospital attendants, nurses’ assistants, certified nurse assistant, CNA clinical support associate, health care assistant and nurse’s aides among others depending on the nature of the facility.
Duties
PCT’s work under the supervision of nursing or medical staff to provide basic patient care, including Assisting with patient care, planning and assessments including – recording vital signs, height, weight, input output, collect and test specimens, report and record patients condition and patient treatments. Help patient with nutritional needs - check deliver food trays, assist with feeding the patient if necessary, and refill water and ice. Assist patients with their mobility - turn and positioning, do range of motion exercises, transferring patients to and from wheelchair, assist with ambulation. To become a patient care technician specialized training is required.
Clinical job duties of the Patient Care Assistant may include: Discontinuation of IV’s, Clean and Irrigate lacerations Set up Rapid Infusor, Heptafiler Setup. Answer phones Locate equipment and Transport Non Critical Patients and Assist with Critical Patients. Foley Catheters Dressing Changes and Feed patients assist with Comfort Measures / Safety Measures. Attend to the Psyche patients and Escort patients to treatment areas, Clean Rooms, Collect specimens, Chest Tube Setups Relieve MR’s, Clinitech Documentation and collection Change Sharp boxes and O2. Decontamination procedures EKG’s, Assist with O2 delivery Clean Instruments and Post-Mortem Care. Copy charts for admissions Splint Assistance, Suction, Crutch Walking Instructions and Adjustments take Vital Signs and Assist with Pelvic Exams perform Phlebotomy.
