I am making a career change late at the age of 50. I recently enrolled in a CNA course and plan to go on to study PCT (which will give me Phlebtomy, EKG, etc). I live in NYC, but will probably lose my job soon. I have researched CNA/PCT AND phlebotomy and EKG Tech. I just don't have the inclination to do the schooling for LPN and this seems like a quick way of getting a trade/job. I have lots of questions and just need some honest answers.
1. I am wondering if its NECESSARY/Preferrable to become a CNA and then a PCT or should I just skip CNA and instead study Phlebotomy and EKG tech seperately? I have to become a CNA first and then take another class to become a PCT(Patient Care tech). I am told that CNA'a can find a job more easily and mostly in nursing homes?? True? What is going to get me employed quickest in a hospital?
2. My sister is a RN and is kind of DOWN on the idea. She said that CNA spend alot of time cleaning up people in dirty diapers (bed pans) and cleaning nasty bed soars. I am sure that CNA's do have clean up bowel movements but is that really something that happens all day long on the job or is it more like once a week/month?
3. Based on my research of this noble field I think the PCT gives me ALL these skills and makes me MORE employable. I just don't necessarily want to study CNA and work in a nursing home. I want to do more of the EKG/Phlebtomy/vital signs stuff.
4. It is really easy to find work? The pay is quite good in hospitals in NYC. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR THE WEALTH OF feedback. This website and all of its members ROCK!!!!! I really have a better idea of what to expect as a CNA And a PCT. I really believe that after all the feedback here that as a PCT that I will be doing more than just bedpan stuff. I am able to compare responses from CNA and PCT'S here and clearly the scope of the changes as a PCT. Bellvue hospital does not hire CNA in NYC. PCT's is what they hire. I can now make an educated choice. ANY additional new info not mentioned above would be greatly appreciated. Your individual stories of what goes on at work also give me an idea of what a day will be like in my new profession. But again many THANKS TO ALL YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE. I have learned more in 24 Hours than in the last 2 months.
I work for a HHC hospital, also in Queens. It is true, they hire Patient Care Associates. We still have CNAs employed there, but that is because they have worked there for many years and will not just let them go. Some got upgraded to PCA, but that was because they already took the entire course that I am trying to tell you to do. I don't know if they plan to upgrade the CNAs that have not taken the course, though.
I don't know about now, but when I took the course in Phlebotomy, I volunteered for a month at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. They hired me a few months later, but I left at the end of that summer (this was 15 years ago), because phlebotomists were only hired for part time. Also, they were phasing out the phlebotomists even then for the Patient Care Associate position because it is a multi-tasked position. I did work for an agency for a while that hired phlebotomists, but then, again as I said, the PCA took over and eventually, I got hired in that same position at Queens Hospital. Since then, I became an LPN. Drawing blood is a talent, so to speak. It was beneficial to me, because now, as a nurse, I can start an IV line, since it still involves searching for the right vein.
I'm telling you, the more you have under your belt, the better it would be for you to cover more places to work. The bedside may not be the place for you so to speak, however, if you were jobless, you will take whatever you can to pay your bills and support your family. You can work for hospital clinics, the emergency room, the wards, many more opportunities than a medical assistant. And, to be a nurse, it is a definite skill to be able to draw blood and read an EKG. I am not sure, but if you take the EKG course, they should be teaching you the most dangerous rhythms that need to be reported to the nurse. In fact, now, at my hospital, they have techs sitting at the monitors to read the strips all day long and have to tell the RN if a person has a PVC, V-tach, heart block and the rest. Well, you'll learn that stuff if you take the entire course. Good luck to you!
pagandeva2000, LPN
7,984 Posts
I work for a HHC hospital, also in Queens. It is true, they hire Patient Care Associates. We still have CNAs employed there, but that is because they have worked there for many years and will not just let them go. Some got upgraded to PCA, but that was because they already took the entire course that I am trying to tell you to do. I don't know if they plan to upgrade the CNAs that have not taken the course, though.
I don't know about now, but when I took the course in Phlebotomy, I volunteered for a month at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. They hired me a few months later, but I left at the end of that summer (this was 15 years ago), because phlebotomists were only hired for part time. Also, they were phasing out the phlebotomists even then for the Patient Care Associate position because it is a multi-tasked position. I did work for an agency for a while that hired phlebotomists, but then, again as I said, the PCA took over and eventually, I got hired in that same position at Queens Hospital. Since then, I became an LPN. Drawing blood is a talent, so to speak. It was beneficial to me, because now, as a nurse, I can start an IV line, since it still involves searching for the right vein.
I'm telling you, the more you have under your belt, the better it would be for you to cover more places to work. The bedside may not be the place for you so to speak, however, if you were jobless, you will take whatever you can to pay your bills and support your family. You can work for hospital clinics, the emergency room, the wards, many more opportunities than a medical assistant. And, to be a nurse, it is a definite skill to be able to draw blood and read an EKG. I am not sure, but if you take the EKG course, they should be teaching you the most dangerous rhythms that need to be reported to the nurse. In fact, now, at my hospital, they have techs sitting at the monitors to read the strips all day long and have to tell the RN if a person has a PVC, V-tach, heart block and the rest. Well, you'll learn that stuff if you take the entire course. Good luck to you!