When you choose Caris College, your new career as a Patient Care Technician can begin in as little as seven months. Our curriculum is balanced between lecture, lab work, and real life healthcare settings, so you get the education and hands-on training you need. This extensive training will give you the knowledge, skills, and confidence to assist doctors and nurses in a variety of healthcare facilities, including both acute care (hospital) and clinical settings.
Patient Care Technicians are passionate about helping people feel better. Their top priority is to help patients feel safe and comfortable in their health care facility. Patient Care Technicians assist doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals in providing direct patient care in a variety of healthcare environments.
Common tasks include:
- Basic patient care (bathing, feeding, toileting and ambulating patients)
- Wound care
- Phlebotomy procedures
- Removing sutures and staples
- Administering and reading EKGs
- Performing emergency room skills (splints, immobilizations, nasogastric tube removal)
- Safety checks to ensure patient rooms are clean and clutter free
- Acquiring and distributing patient care supplies
- Changing bed linens and processing dirty linens properly
- Maintaining clear paths in hallways, and returning equipment that is no longer in use
Like other fields in the health care profession, this field is also expected to see growth in the next few years, at a projected growth rate of 21 percent. With the increase in popularity of facilities catering to the elderly, such as assisted living or nursing homes, the field is expected to see even more growth due to a higher demand for Patient Care Technicians in these types of facilities. According to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report (2012), the average Patient Care Technician salary is around $24,400. However, like any other salary, this also varies depending on region.