Patient Care Tech in the UK?

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I’m a Patient Care Tech and have been trying to find information about transferring to the NHS in England from the US and eventually pursing a nursing career. Was wondering if you may have any information or even know someone with experience in this situation. My friends don’t have any connections in the NHS that I can ask. Any tips or even websites would be really appreciated! I’ve looked at the nursing associate duties and it’s on par with what I do now. 

I understand that titles and such would change and I’m willing to put in the work to be correctly certified there if it comes down to that. Just for more information, I also have a bachelors in biology, have hospital experience, and am looking at getting extra certification as a EKG (ECG)/ Monitor Tech if that helps at all.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Any help or places for me to possibly check out would be amazing! 

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

First thing, what is a Patient Care Tech? What exactly do you do? Serious question as that is not a role I recognise. Obviously may be called something else here, or more likely you have an amalgam of roles.  For example, an ECG tech is a separate thing and doesn't really need certification, just training in how to do it.

I appreciate this is not helpful but any employer would need to know what it is exactly you do. Good luck.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

As an addendum to the above, I have had a quick look online to see what the role entails. As far as I see you are a glorified Health Care Assistant (HCA) which is not a registered role in UK. You would be on Band 2 or 3 of the pay scales depending on what you did and you would have no or very little autonomy.

It is a very important role but I don't think it seems to be what you are used to. 

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On 3/8/2022 at 1:08 PM, GrumpyRN said:

As an addendum to the above, I have had a quick look online to see what the role entails. As far as I see you are a glorified Health Care Assistant (HCA) which is not a registered role in UK. You would be on Band 2 or 3 of the pay scales depending on what you did and you would have no or very little autonomy.

It is a very important role but I don't think it seems to be what you are used to. 

So I looked at what a HCA does and it sounds more like a CNA position here. Who you would find most likely in an assisted living or senior living community. 

I don’t take what you said rudely at all, cause honestly any help is needed and wonderful at this point. 

This is what I’m certified in: 

Course includes areas of study in Patient Care, Vital Signs, EKG (ECG), Venipuncture, and CPR, Anatomy and Physiology, Infection Control, Emergency Procedures, Knowledge of Behavioral Health and Patients with Special Needs including Legal and Ethical Responsibilities.

I also have work experience in endocrinology, telemetry, and clinical decision. 

I’ve looked at the NHS website for more information about the positions and still feel like a Nursing Associate is more on par with what I do. 

Look forward to hearing from you

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Specializes in Emergency Department.
12 hours ago, Bethany Rivera said:

I’ve looked at the NHS website for more information about the positions and still feel like a Nursing Associate is more on par with what I do. 

They don't/didn't have Nursing associates in Scotland which is why I was unaware. As it seems to be a registerable qualification with the NMC then I suspect you are going to have to go down the route of RN's looking to transfer over and try to get your qualification recognised. Unfortunately that is neither easy or cheap. There are plenty of threads on this site which can give you an idea of problems with trying to do that and you can always contact the NMC direct.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do because it is going to take a lot of work.

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On 3/9/2022 at 7:45 AM, GrumpyRN said:

They don't/didn't have Nursing associates in Scotland which is why I was unaware. As it seems to be a registerable qualification with the NMC then I suspect you are going to have to go down the route of RN's looking to transfer over and try to get your qualification recognised. Unfortunately that is neither easy or cheap. There are plenty of threads on this site which can give you an idea of problems with trying to do that and you can always contact the NMC direct.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do because it is going to take a lot of work.

Thank you so much for all of your help! I think contacting the NMC will be my next step. 

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