A patient care tech (technician) is a medical professional who assists nurses and doctors in caring for patients who are sick and ailing.
After completing a certification course that lasts about a year, patient care techs are in demand for caring for sick people. Their areas of study comprises of, but is not restricted to, being a nursing assistant; a phlebotomy technician responsible for drawing blood for lab tests; being adept at carrying out and reading electrocardiograms or in other words; monitoring patient’s heart performance by attaching wires and electrodes to a their arms, legs, and chest; and has knowledge of performing CPR, a basic emergency procedure that manually preserves the brain function of a person until advanced medical measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who has had a cardiac arrest.
Patient care associates are an important link in the healthcare field. They get employment in hospitals, nursing homes, and doctor’s offices. Patient care techs spend the most time with patients taking care of their needs. The responsibility of a patient care tech includes:
Being disciplined, starting with arriving on time, to following a precise routine in attending to essential patient requirements;
Taking care of the daily necessities of patients like brushing their teeth, helping them use the restroom, bathing and getting them dressed, feeding the right foods, and making sure that patients’ medications and injections are given as per prescribed schedules. Patient care techs are also in charge of changing patient’s bedsheets, ensuring hygienic maintenance of the patient’s rooms, checking their temperature and blood pressure, keeping an eye on their vital signs, arranging for specimens for tests when required, and providing primary nursing care.
Besides these, patient care tech jobs involve assisting nurses and doctors in the physical examination of patients and helping with the mobility of the patient on and off hospital beds and accompanying them to other areas/rooms for necessary evaluations and screenings.
Patient care jobs pay fairly well. Employees can earn between $1500–$3500 per month depending on their qualification and experience.