CNA, EKG, and PHLEBOTOMY Certification

Nursing Students Technicians

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hello,

i just started a cna course and i'm loving it! i just discovered the pct forum and was very excited at the thought of providing patient care, drawing blood, handling specimens, and monitoring heart activity. however, the director of my cna school says that cna's don't do all of this, and that pct is another name for cna and they do the same thing, at her hospital.

my aunt, who is a respiratory therapist says the same thing.

i've registered for an ekg course and plan to do phlebotomy as soon as registration opens up for the next course.

can the pcts here just sign on and let me know what you do, and in what state . . . just looking for a bit of support and justification for continuing with my plans . . . i don't want to certify and then not be able to use my skills.

by the way i've been reading job postings as well to get a feel for what "techs" can do.

all posts are greatly appreciated.:nurse:

I work in PA and I am a CNA but work as a PCA in a hospital. You don't need to have CNA qualifications to work in a hospital but it does help. I would volunteer at the hospital first (I did) and find out what you need to know exactly before spending money on an EKG/Phlebotomy course.

I was looking into those too until I found out that they did on the job training for the phlebotomy and with the EKG's you just punch in the patient info, slap on the electrodes, push one button and you're done. So I would have just wasted my money in the long run.

I completed a course in GA where I got my CNA, PCT, Phleb., and EKG certifications. If I could do it all over again, I would have just gotten my CNA cert only, and here's why:

1. Most of the job postings at the hospitals only require that you have your CNA cert., even if you are a PCT, you may have to go through their training anyway.

2. Most hospitals here will give you advanced training for free in EKG, and Phleb. I know someone that was trained to start IV's and everything.

3. I still have not found a job, and it's been over a year. Mostly because I don't want to work in a LTC Facility. I've been taking nursing prerequisites and would prefer the 12hr shift 1-2 days a week. I want to work in a hospital but it is really hard to get in. Since I am off this semester, I've started looking for a job again.

Save your money. do the CNA for now, research the hospitals in your area and see what advanced training they offer. Go volunteer at the hospital, and talk to some of the Techs there. Good Luck!!!!

Specializes in Focusing on Epidemiology.

I was trained as a Ground Search & Rescue Medic. Started working as a Nurse Tech in 82 before all of the Certification Requirements in TX. I now have 2 BS Degrees and I can't find a job so I went back and received my CNA Cert.(To make it official), EKG Tech Cert, Phlebotomy Cert., completed my 1st Semester of LVN School until I was accepted into CLS(Hematology School). So I should be able to get hired now until I graduate from Hematology School and sit for my ASCP Certification in Hematology (Blood Bank School) in Texas. Sometimes you have create your own trail. I will say too that my Instructors at the San Jacinto College North LVN School in Houston, TX were outstanding. I received some wonderful training. They were tough, but fair and lead by example.

So what your saying is that since I am currently working as a PCA but am an RN (still havent found me a job as an RN yet) if there is ever something that happen and is in my scope of practice as RN and if i dont act on it i can loose my RN? I would think that because i am not cover under my hospital as an RN i should not act as one if there is ever a code. I should take the responsibility of an PCA. Maybe I should do some reading.

I have also heard that you must assume the role of the RN, which is why most facilities will not hire a new grad RN as a CNA.

Well, it varies.

In my job as a PCT at a small rural hospital ER, we trained in the lab to draw blood for six hours and did EKGs. We also inserted foleys and straight cathed patients. We didn't really monitor heart activity. They had three of us and I was an EMT finishing up my medic school and first semester of nursing. The other guy was an EMT who may have been starting medic school or something. The other one was a medical assistant. The manager did not hire anyone who was a CNA alone.

The 2nd job is as a unit clerk/paramedic at a level II trauma center which isn't really anything special considering we have 3 level I trauma centers in our city. I don't know why since we're small. I think it's the medical university wanted one affilated with the school and the two other healthcare systems both had to have one because the other one had one. Both healthcare systems have helicopters too. They try to do out do each other.

There, the people who are PCTs vary vastily in what they are and what they are trained to do. All PCTs do EKGs, hook up the regular monitor leads, transport patients, reposition, etc. However, only the ones who are EMT intermediates insert lines. The paramedics can triage. We do have phlebs that can act as PCTs too. I think two of the older PCTs are CNAs, but the other ones are 1 phleb who was hired in as a pct, 1 nursing student, and 1 EMT intermediate. We think they may be getting rid of the phlebs shift of 1 pm to 1 am and may make them PCTs because they just hired the paramedics last June. The phlebs can start IVs. We also have nurse externs that insert foleys. Technically, it's in my job description to insert foleys and straight caths up here but I'm not one to point that out. Now that I think about it, it's really screwy. It's even more amusing when I come in and find out I am working the other job.

On the floor, PCTs do not do the EKGs but the RNs or the EKG techs will do them. The PCTs on the floor are very much like CNAs and they don't draw blood, don't do 12-leads, don't insert foleys. They will hook them up to the monitors, but they aren't trained in the rhythms. They can do "wound care" technically, but they don't.

We call them PCTs, the competitor calls them nursing assistants. One of the competitor hospital calls them nurse techs for some reason.

Oh, we all do splinting too at both ER locations but not up on the floor. It's been months since I've splinted though. Usually the RN does it and I was sick at the refresher course.

There are EKG tech programs which is greatly different than what a PCT does. The pay difference is evident too. They make like 17-22 bucks an hour whereas a PCT makes between 11.50 to 16.00 bucks an hour. I think phlebs start out at 13 something.

I know this post was made a while ago...

But I have a dilemma:

I recently interviewed for a PCA position and the job description says that EKG/ Phlebotomy certification is required, however I don’t have ekg or phlebotomy experience & the nurse manager never said anything about it in the interview... so I’m wondering if they’ll provide otj training for it even though it was a requirement. Btw this is a L&D PCA position which I would absolutely love, but if they don’t offer EKG/ Phlebotomy training I wouldn’t be able to accept the job offer.

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