Patient Care Tech or CNA

[CruzanNurseRN, BSN, RN]

Hello everyone!!! I am currently a nursing student going in to my second year of nursing school.(BSN)

I am considering getting my CNA License in a couple weeks.

The question is when i do obtain my license I plan on getting a job in a hospital. When I do go on to these hospital websites I see they have position listed as "Patient Care Tech" or "CNA". What is the diffrence? Does any one know the current starting salary for these positions in Tampa Florida? Is it hard to get a job in the hospital? Thanks in advance..:wink2:

[Cococure]

hey

pct, cna and nursing assistants are all the same thing...same job different titles

good luck

coco

[JeepDudeRN]

Before you go and pay money to get certified, check with you local hospitals. If you have completed your first semester of clinicals, or fundamentals, they may hire you as a tech, which is the same thing as a PCT, or a CNA. The difference between the two is basically what you can do, depending on where you work. As a CNA in nursing home, you are going to only be doing personal care ( bathing, feeding, cleaning up), in the hospital, you will learn more skills ( EKG's, bladder scans, glucose checks, some dressing changes) in addition to personal care. I dont believe a nursing home will hire anyone without a certificate, where at the hospital, they will take you without one, as long as you are in a program and have completed the first semester.

[Florida NICU RN]

I work at a large teaching hospital in Tampa, FL as an RN and previously (when I was in Nursing school) worked there as a "Nurse Tech"...same as a PCT just that I was in school. You can get that "title" after your first semester of Nursing school and get paid more than a PCT or CNA. It was pretty cool.