A Patient Care Technician (PCT) or Certified Nursing Assistant is much more than a job. It is about caring: caring for people where you work and while you work.
As a Personal Care Technician, you are essentially a caregiver in medical settings: such as hospitals, nursing homes, in-home care or to care for loved ones of your own.
A technician will work throughout a facility where employed administering duties related to comforts of patients by changing sheets on a bed, help with a change of clothes, keeping a sterile environment, adjusting furniture in a room or else at directions of a supervisor.
To become a PCT, criteria varies from state to state. On average from state to state, certification requires at least 180 hours of classroom, skills labs and clinical experience.
What is patient care and what does 180 hours cover?:
Age-specific care, safe patient care, infection control principles and practices, body mechanics and mobility skills, communication skills, assisting with activities of daily living, nutrition and assisting patients, common health problems and nurse assistant care, CPR and Basic Life Support (BLS).
The medical industry is a growing field and from the PCT certification platform, a student may find later in life that they would like to go back to school and become a nurse. Community colleges and accredited institutions offer 2-year and 4-year degrees to become a nurse.
Certified in the medical field as a PCT reaps other rewards too:
Not only are your "caring" qualities characterised by your job and how you perform it, but most employers in the medical field offer good health benefits as well as overtime and maybe bonuses (depending on a given employer).
So: if you are thinking of becoming a PCT, assess what it means to you to take the utmost care of people who are your clients, what you have to do for your clients to see that their needs are met during your shift and assess your motive to take directions from a supervisor in secure facilities where people are in need because of poor health.
Then, ask yourself: can I meet this need? Is the pay scale suitable to me according to what I could earn in another field? Will the benefits of a good employer help me and/or my family, keeping in mind that the medical industry is growing? Is job security in the long term a concern? etc.
As a Personal Care Technician, you are essentially a caregiver in medical settings: such as hospitals, nursing homes, in-home care or to care for loved ones of your own.
A technician will work throughout a facility where employed administering duties related to comforts of patients by changing sheets on a bed, help with a change of clothes, keeping a sterile environment, adjusting furniture in a room or else at directions of a supervisor.
To become a PCT, criteria varies from state to state. On average from state to state, certification requires at least 180 hours of classroom, skills labs and clinical experience.
What is patient care and what does 180 hours cover?:
Age-specific care, safe patient care, infection control principles and practices, body mechanics and mobility skills, communication skills, assisting with activities of daily living, nutrition and assisting patients, common health problems and nurse assistant care, CPR and Basic Life Support (BLS).
The medical industry is a growing field and from the PCT certification platform, a student may find later in life that they would like to go back to school and become a nurse. Community colleges and accredited institutions offer 2-year and 4-year degrees to become a nurse.
Certified in the medical field as a PCT reaps other rewards too:
Not only are your "caring" qualities characterised by your job and how you perform it, but most employers in the medical field offer good health benefits as well as overtime and maybe bonuses (depending on a given employer).
So: if you are thinking of becoming a PCT, assess what it means to you to take the utmost care of people who are your clients, what you have to do for your clients to see that their needs are met during your shift and assess your motive to take directions from a supervisor in secure facilities where people are in need because of poor health.
Then, ask yourself: can I meet this need? Is the pay scale suitable to me according to what I could earn in another field? Will the benefits of a good employer help me and/or my family, keeping in mind that the medical industry is growing? Is job security in the long term a concern? etc.
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