New ICU PCT

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I'm currently transferring from a pharm tech to a PCT in ICU. We have 20 ICU beds at our 200 bed hospital. What should I expect? Any advice?

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Specializes in MICU.

Expect to see a lot of equipment that you are unfamiliar with! In the ICU we work with a lot more machines than they do out on the floors even. Not just telemetry monitors, but vents, bipap, patient temperature regulators, art lines, cvp’s, roto-beds, balloon pumps, ecmo, etc etc etc. Basically, get used to the fact that there’s a huge learning curve just being in the ICU. Stay organized and stay familiar with your surroundings. You never know when you’re going to be asked to grab something quickly in an emergency situation, so familiarize yourself with the stock supplies and where everything is. Communicate with your nurses to find out what times work for them to help with bed baths, turns, cards, etc. Between rounds, meds, dressing changes, assessments, tests, procedures, etc etc etc that the nurses have to either do for the patient or get the patient ready for, they’ll probably thank you for being ready to go with their flow for patient care. Be a team player. Teamwork in the ICU is of utmost importance, it’s almost impossible to get anything done without it.

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Hey Kendra!

I am a tech who transferred from a telemetry unit to the ICU within the last 6 months!

Hannah gave very good advice! You will see so many machines and do not be afraid to ask questions and LEARN!

Always ask for help!

If you are uncomfortable or experiencing something new, VOICE IT! My first time proning a patient i made sure the team knew i was new to this and needed explaining and guidance. Everyone made sure to explain to me exactly what we were doing.

Always be aware of any tubes and lines! In the ICU patients can get super cluttered with lines running all over the place so make sure when turning you try to stay aware of everything!

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Be very careful about your orthopedic health, in particular your back. I work at an extremely large hospital and Injury rates for PCTs are through the roof. Far higher than they are for Nurses, because you have far more patients. This is especially the case in ICU's, where RNs have 1 or 2 patients but PCTs way more.

Back and shoulder injuries are especially common and I have seen several people lose their Nursing career, job and even ability to work while working as a PCT. ER's are usually great places to work and have a fairly low injury rate, the floors can vary from no more physically demanding to the ER, to worse than the ICUs, but usually the ICUs and rehab units are the most physically dangerous for PCTs.

Most hospitals are becoming a lot stricter about safety because patients are getting so heavy, but this isnt always the case. If it isnt a hospital with a strict safety culture, run away from the job as fast as you can. Whatever knowledge you gain isnt worth the risk unless you are the very end of Nursing school and just work a few shifts here and there.

Nurses are usually fairly well protected, especially if they have a union, and they have many options should they become injured. This isnt the case for PCTs, and people incorrectly believe that should they become injured they will be taken care of. This is not always the case. The hospital I work at is notoriously ruthless towards injured techs, and its not a case of if you get injured, but when.

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Not to jump on board this post

Great read in the hiring process for a ICU Tech job. Switching from Psych which I've done for 8 years. Have my EMT Cert but haven't been on the medicine side.

Post gives great insight into what work could be possibly

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