What Is a Patient Care Technician?
A patient care technician (PCT) provides hands-on care to patients with a variety of healthcare needs.
What Does a Patient Care Technician Do?
PCTs help patients with procedures such as taking vital signs, performing electrocardiography (ECG), blood draws and other needs. In addition, a PCT will:
- provide bedside care and advocate patients’ needs
- interact in daily communication with patients, nurses, doctors and patients’ families
- conduct catheterizations, saline locks, and wound care procedures
- prepare, initiate and discontinue dialysis treatment of the patient in both hemodialysis and central venous catheters
What Will I Learn With This Training?
Our hands-on training and specialized
courses will teach you how to:
- draw blood and insert intravenous catheters
- perform urinary catheterizations and nasogastric tube removal
- provide wound care, including the removal of sutures and staples
- operate dialysis equipment and readjust treatment parameters as defined by protocols and patient prescriptions
- perform emergency room skills such as splint and cast immobilizations, crutch training, throat cultures, urinalysis and oxygen therapy
What Career Opportunities Does a PCT Have?
PCTs need strong communication skills, empathy and to be attentive to patient needs. PCTs can work in many settings, including hospitals, rehabilitation centers, dialysis facilities and home healthcare agencies as a:
- hospital caregiver
- emergency department technician
- patient advocate
- dialysis technician
- ECG monitor technician
- home health aide
Requirements
You must be a certified nursing assistant (CNA) in order to enroll in the PCT certificate program.