ED Tech

The role of ER tech seems to vary a lot more than PCTs on the floors. PCTs on the floors are pretty much run ragged non stop in most cases, whereas in the ER there seems to be a lot more downtime in between stretches of craziness, unless you work in some ghetto ER, in which case the craziness rarely stops. Most people would prefer the ER to an inpatient PCT job because its a lot less physically demanding, although the culture of an ER can be more harsh, cliquish and ego driven in some cases. At least this is my impression from visiting lots of ERs as an EMT and working as a tech on the floors.

My opinion is that aside from maybe a "nurse tech" position which some ICUs have, ER techs are pretty much the only tech positions where you can learn something valuable if you are going into Nursing, or EMS. Techs on the floors are basically just aides who spend most of their shift cleaning up poop, running after call lights and doing much of the patient care while the RNs chart, give meds, do assessments, and gab/text on their cell phones. That's why I generally advise nursing students to skip a tech job unless they are cruising through Nursing school and nearing the end and want to get their foot in the door at a hospital. Being an inpatient tech has limited value in terms of education, its lots of stress for little gain. About the only value you'll get is networking and maybe making your first couple weeks as a rookie RN slightly less harrowing, as I've seen brand new RNs struggle mightily doing things like making an occupied bed when an immobile patient is covered in urine and BM and has tubes, drains and dressings all over them, so I guess if nothing else PCT experience will make those situations less awkward at first.