PCT jobs harder than they once were?

Nursing Students Technicians

Published

I heard a couple RNs talking at work the other night. They were really experienced RNs who mainly do vascular procedures like PICC lines throughout the hospital, and they were discussing a tech who wound up with a bloody nose after getting punched by a patient, AFTER having a urinal poured on her by a different patient(what a shift eh). Both had started out as Nurse assistants in a hospital over 30 years ago.

According to both of them, the patient care has gotten ten times harder than when they first started out in Nursing, and the workload for techs in particular has gotten a lot worse. They said they feel so bad for the techs they see on the floors and don't remember it ever being as bad as it is now.

I thought it was mainly just THIS hospital, which is notorious for being a great place to work as an RN and a horrible place to work as a tech(so say the RNs who once worked there as techs). Is this pretty much the case everywhere, has the job for techs just gotten much harder than it once was? Is this because of the bad economy and the fact there are so many more people applying for every tech job?

I feel like the attitude is the techs are looked at like horses, and they just ride them to death and switch to another one. A new tech I was orienteering worked in the corporate world before deciding to do a career change into nursing and work as a tech while in school. She was honest, and said the job seems so much more stressful and difficult than what she expected and worse than anything shed experienced before. I think the tech with the bloody nose freaked her out. I tried to comfort her by telling her I've never had a urinal poured on me and been punched in the face during the same shift.

This brings up something else I should mention. Your common theme seems to be that techs have a sense of entitlement, but it seems to me its you, and many other RN's sense of entitlement that is causing the problem. You seem to think a degree entitles you to certain things, and seem upset when people don't automatically grant you this perceived entitlement.

As for not teaching the techs anything. I've been a preceptor and a was a Field Training Officer for an EMS agency and it just doesn't sound like your cut out for any type of teaching anyway, so probably for the best they learn from someone a little more laid back and less egotistical. Having experience with something doesn't make someone superior over someone who doesn't have experience. I've started hundreds of IVs, I would never act like that makes me superior over someone starting one for the first time, regardless of if they are an RN or tech. When I floated as a tech I learned quickly that you will always be inexperienced at something.

Claiming a degree automatically makes you competent or more knowledgeable and skilled in every area of health care than someone else who doesn't have the same degree is going to create lots of problems for you in the long run. I hope you don't work in an ER. I doubt it as most ER Nurses are pretty chill and good at working with different types of staff. On the floors and in the ICUs not so much.

Apparently you didn't understand it the first time I said it, so I'll say it again... You don't know me, but yet you keep making these assumptions about me. Again, this is plain and simple ignorance.

You keep adding comments with your skills and experience as if I'm supposed to be impressed; forgive me if I'm not. Nowhere in this conversation did I mention my age, skills, certifications, or credentials (civilian or otherwise) because it's not relevant to the conversation, but you keep trying to impress with your past experience. Nursing is not my first job and I'm certainly no 22 year old kid fresh out of school.

You can't seem to respect other people's opinions which will undoubtedly create barriers for you in the future if you plan on working in healthcare. I expressed my opinion that I have no need for patient care technicians. I won't apologize for the fact that I am very good at my job and I can do my own job as well as a tech's job. If you think that techs are necessary and aren't going anywhere, you're just kidding yourself. There are already places that don't hire techs but instead hire LPN's to also do the work of techs.

Best wishes to you in your endeavors.

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Apparently you didn't understand it the first time I said it, so I'll say it again... You don't know me, but yet you keep making these assumptions about me. Again, this is plain and simple ignorance.

You keep adding comments with your skills and experience as if I'm supposed to be impressed; forgive me if I'm not. Nowhere in this conversation did I mention my age, skills, certifications, or credentials (civilian or otherwise) because it's not relevant to the conversation, but you keep trying to impress with your past experience. Nursing is not my first job and I'm certainly no 22 year old kid fresh out of school.

You can't seem to respect other people's opinions which will undoubtedly create barriers for you in the future if you plan on working in healthcare. I expressed my opinion that I have no need for patient care technicians. I won't apologize for the fact that I am very good at my job and I can do my own job as well as a tech's job. If you think that techs are necessary and aren't going anywhere, you're just kidding yourself. There are already places that don't hire techs but instead hire LPN's to also do the work of techs.

Best wishes to you in your endeavors.

Wow what a ego LOL

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Apparently you didn't understand it the first time I said it, so I'll say it again... You don't know me, but yet you keep making these assumptions about me. Again, this is plain and simple ignorance.

You keep adding comments with your skills and experience as if I'm supposed to be impressed; forgive me if I'm not. Nowhere in this conversation did I mention my age, skills, certifications, or credentials (civilian or otherwise) because it's not relevant to the conversation, but you keep trying to impress with your past experience. Nursing is not my first job and I'm certainly no 22 year old kid fresh out of school.

You can't seem to respect other people's opinions which will undoubtedly create barriers for you in the future if you plan on working in healthcare. I expressed my opinion that I have no need for patient care technicians. I won't apologize for the fact that I am very good at my job and I can do my own job as well as a tech's job. If you think that techs are necessary and aren't going anywhere, you're just kidding yourself. There are already places that don't hire techs but instead hire LPN's to also do the work of techs.

Best wishes to you in your endeavors.

A couple responses. First off about LPN's.

I have seen zero evidence of LPNs replacing techs in hospitals, quite the opposite actually. It could be a regional thing but where I am LPNs have all but been phased out, and the few remaining ones are currently being replaced by techs when they retire. If hospitals are going back in the other direction and bringing back LPNs again I think that's great. LPNs wont tolerate the crap techs do, and that would be good for patient care, but its actually because of that fact though that I doubt it will happen(in addition to the cost factor).

You also have the issue of confusion over roles, particularly in the case of issuing meds. On the rehab unit I saw LPNs on there had been situations where patients were double dosed with meds when both an LPN and RN administered the same med to a patient. One of them was a serious situation and I believe the LPNs role was reduced as a result(even though it was just as likely the RNs fault).

Second thing is my mentioning my experience. It has nothing to do with impressing anonymous strangers. I did it for a couple reasons. One is the fixation on having a license that you seem to have, and which I've heard over and over again from RNs over the years. I don't quite understand where it comes from, and why a LICENSE in particular is a bigger deal that a certification or registry or a simple diploma.

The point seems to be that a license implies more accountability, but with other non licensed personnel like CNAs you still have a regulatory agency which personnel can and frequently are reported to, and which can prevent that person from working in that role again, so I don't get why a license is any different. That's why I mentioned having a couple different EMS licenses. If having a license implies some extra special knowledge or training I could just imagine the chuckling that would be heard in an ER if some EMT Basic dropping a patient off claimed that the fact they are licensed means their medical opinion should be given more weight.

I've just never seen this obsession with licensing expressed anywhere else outside of Nursing. Maybe its something driven home in Nursing school to try to ingrain a sense of pride and professionalism, but it seems to have had the side effect of making nurses incredibly difficult to work with for "unlicensed" medical personnel.

I also mention my and other techs experience because of the notion you seem to have that skills and knowledge can only be learned in Nursing school, and if someone hasn't learned it in nursing school it is apparently forbidden knowledge. This despite the fact most new RNs themselves never actually performed these skills in Nursing school. My wife never started an IV, inserted a foley or started an NG tube in Nursing school, and had to be pretty much taught these things over again at her first job.

Even if a tech doesn't personally do certain things, it is still good for them to have knowledge of them so they can report if something seems to be wrong and know what NOT to do, or what to look out for when working with these patients. Seems to me keeping your techs in the dark and treating them like mushrooms because you have some territorial tendencies seems like its bad for patient care. But what do I know, im just a tech right. I guess when I'm an RT, if an RN has questions for me about vents I should just tell them not to worry their little heads over it because that's my turf, that sounds like it would be great for patient care huh?

I think it makes sense to have staff involved in a patient's care be as knowledgeable about procedures and equipment that patient has as possible. Of course everyone has to know and stay within their scope.

Also if you don't think PCTs are necessary there is nothing wrong with having that opinion, and in your situation maybe that's actually the case, but it is definitely not the case everywhere, and I should add apparently your unit manager and medical director think otherwise, which is why you have techs.

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To be honest I wish we could get rid of the techs. The ones that have constant attitude and barely do the minimum required for the job are an impediment to patient care. When you talk about the learning environment for the techs, do you realize what the techs scope of practice is? What good would it do if I showed them how I place an NG tube or a foley, or how to properly do a sterile technique? The answer is it would do no good because they couldn't do any of those procedures anyway as it's way outside their scope of practice. If they want to learn medical skills, they should go to medical school; and if they want to learn nursing skills then they should go to nursing school. My job description does not state that I need to teach a tech how to do my job. Know your role and do your own job.

Your ignorance and attitude are consistent with many of the techs that I deal with; that is, an attitude of entitlement. Here's the cold, hard fact of the matter... You're an unlicensed technician. Your job is to assist the nurses in taking care of patients. If that means cleaning someone up because I'm busy dealing with a code, well then that's the way it is at that moment. If you can't accept that then you need to find another job. It sounds as if you want to practice outside the scope of your practice and that will quickly get you into trouble.

You have no idea what the culture is on my unit, nor do you know me. So to make those assumptions just further illustrates your ignorance and entitlement attitude.

Like I said before, if you want to be a physician then go to medical school. If you want to be a nurse then go to nursing school. If you want to be a tech and work within the limitations that exist for techs, then continue doing what you're doing. Otherwise you need to know your role and do your own job.

Reading over your posts it sounds like you need a new job. If your techs ONLY do vitals maybe you need to go somewhere else if that's not enough for you?

If you cant tget decent help when you ask for it and they are no where to be found like you stated in another of your posts maybe you've burned bridges?

I love my techs. I was once their fellow tech. Personally - being a tech was way harder then now an RN. That's just me. I know their value, even if it's JUST vitals. They show up, they work hard and they care for their patients. Maybe your co-workers just suck.

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I'll also add another thing about exclusively using LPNs instead of techs. If you think getting some techs to clean up your code browns all shift is difficult, the RNs will be in for a rude awakening getting LPNs to do it. I worked in a Nursing home where the LPNs occasionally had to work as CNAs when a couple of aides called in sick. They despised doing it and by the end of the shift would always be complaining about how their back hurt and they were exhausted. Its one thing to do it occasionally, its another to do it day in and day out, and the daily grind will get to them eventually and there will be friction, that's how it went in the rehab unit I saw them on, which is partially why the RNs preferred techs.

Much easier to get a young eager to please tech trying to make a good impression for when they graduate from Nursing school, knowing its just a temporary gig. Or using a CNA who is just happy to be away from a Nursing home and prefer having a few confused combative back breaker patients versus a dozen of them every shift and 15 incontinent q2 turns when they were in a nursing home. There would be a certain satisfaction seeing the inevitable griping and battles that will ensue when its LPNs having to do it all shift every shift.

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Reading over your posts it sounds like you need a new job. If your techs ONLY do vitals maybe you need to go somewhere else if that's not enough for you?

If you cant tget decent help when you ask for it and they are no where to be found like you stated in another of your posts maybe you've burned bridges?

I love my techs. I was once their fellow tech. Personally - being a tech was way harder then now an RN. That's just me. I know their value, even if it's JUST vitals. They show up, they work hard and they care for their patients. Maybe your co-workers just suck.

Why do you think I need a new job? I love my job and I am pretty darn good at it. The fact that most of the techs that work on my unit are useless doesn't affect my job satisfaction one bit.

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A couple responses. First off about LPN's.

I have seen zero evidence of LPNs replacing techs in hospitals, quite the opposite actually. It could be a regional thing but where I am LPNs have all but been phased out, and the few remaining ones are currently being replaced by techs when they retire. If hospitals are going back in the other direction and bringing back LPNs again I think that's great. LPNs wont tolerate the crap techs do, and that would be good for patient care, but its actually because of that fact though that I doubt it will happen(in addition to the cost factor).

You also have the issue of confusion over roles, particularly in the case of issuing meds. On the rehab unit I saw LPNs on there had been situations where patients were double dosed with meds when both an LPN and RN administered the same med to a patient. One of them was a serious situation and I believe the LPNs role was reduced as a result(even though it was just as likely the RNs fault).

Second thing is my mentioning my experience. It has nothing to do with impressing anonymous strangers. I did it for a couple reasons. One is the fixation on having a license that you seem to have, and which I've heard over and over again from RNs over the years. I don't quite understand where it comes from, and why a LICENSE in particular is a bigger deal that a certification or registry or a simple diploma.

The point seems to be that a license implies more accountability, but with other non licensed personnel like CNAs you still have a regulatory agency which personnel can and frequently are reported to, and which can prevent that person from working in that role again, so I don't get why a license is any different. That's why I mentioned having a couple different EMS licenses. If having a license implies some extra special knowledge or training I could just imagine the chuckling that would be heard in an ER if some EMT Basic dropping a patient off claimed that the fact they are licensed means their medical opinion should be given more weight.

I've just never seen this obsession with licensing expressed anywhere else outside of Nursing. Maybe its something driven home in Nursing school to try to ingrain a sense of pride and professionalism, but it seems to have had the side effect of making nurses incredibly difficult to work with for "unlicensed" medical personnel.

I also mention my and other techs experience because of the notion you seem to have that skills and knowledge can only be learned in Nursing school, and if someone hasn't learned it in nursing school it is apparently forbidden knowledge. This despite the fact most new RNs themselves never actually performed these skills in Nursing school. My wife never started an IV, inserted a foley or started an NG tube in Nursing school, and had to be pretty much taught these things over again at her first job.

Even if a tech doesn't personally do certain things, it is still good for them to have knowledge of them so they can report if something seems to be wrong and know what NOT to do, or what to look out for when working with these patients. Seems to me keeping your techs in the dark and treating them like mushrooms because you have some territorial tendencies seems like its bad for patient care. But what do I know, im just a tech right. I guess when I'm an RT, if an RN has questions for me about vents I should just tell them not to worry their little heads over it because that's my turf, that sounds like it would be great for patient care huh?

I think it makes sense to have staff involved in a patient's care be as knowledgeable about procedures and equipment that patient has as possible. Of course everyone has to know and stay within their scope.

Also if you don't think PCTs are necessary there is nothing wrong with having that opinion, and in your situation maybe that's actually the case, but it is definitely not the case everywhere, and I should add apparently your unit manager and medical director think otherwise, which is why you have techs.

Thank you for writing a well thought out argument instead of resorting to immature personal accusations and allegations. We'll just agree to disagree on some points...

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Why do you think I need a new job? I love my job and I am pretty darn good at it. The fact that most of the techs that work on my unit are useless doesn't affect my job satisfaction one bit.

By your posts, it sure seems like your not 100% satisfied because those lazy techs you say you have on your unit have affected your attitude. I'm thankful I don't work on a unit with people with ego attitudes such as yours, it doesn't make a good team player.

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By your posts, it sure seems like your not 100% satisfied because those lazy techs you say you have on your unit have affected your attitude. I'm thankful I don't work on a unit with people with ego attitudes such as yours, it doesn't make a good team player.

Sorry but if you need your techs to "do more" maybe your time management sucks

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Specializes in Cath/EP lab, CCU, Cardiac stepdown.

Just a lot of bias from both sides of the professions. Let's just agree that both are respected fields. I agree that techs have a hard back breaking job and so do nurses. And yes, nurses do get paid more and some Will say fairly (others Will say otherwise) but nurses are required higher education and legal requirements in order to practice, thus the higher salary (on top of their wider scope of practice). Side note: nurses are proud of their license because they've worked hard to get it. Most people would be proud of something that they've worked hard for.

Now in terms of a techs salary. Should it be as high as a nurse? Honestly I don't think so, as the requirements are lower, however does this mean that their wages are fair right now? I don't think so either. Their job if tough and honestly I feel that they are underpaid. That is the fault of administration. Unfortunately, techs do not have as good of representation or union groups as nurses do. Nurses activist are more active and prevalent than techs, but that is in no fault of nurses. However nurses should support the plight of their underappreciated co workers.

Bottom line is that in today's society, hospitals are no longer meant to help patients. They're a business first and they will do anything to save a buck. We've all seen short staffed units whether nurses or techs. We've all seen the lack of proper pay for both professions, albeit it's more ridiculous for techs. I say stand together and be more proactive in obtaining fair treatment for healthcare workers.

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RescueNinjaKy, excellent post. I agree with everything you said.

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By your posts, it sure seems like your not 100% satisfied because those lazy techs you say you have on your unit have affected your attitude. I'm thankful I don't work on a unit with people with ego attitudes such as yours, it doesn't make a good team player.

Can you please quote where I stated that because of the useless techs on my unit that I am not satisfied with my job?

Can I implore you to please grow up. The fact that you are playing into the whole mob mentality and piggybacking on other people's posts that disagree with me, as well as liking any posts that disagree with anything I have said, is evidence that you are clearly very immature. I'm sorry, but I don't have time for people that act the way you do.

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