Tell me about your job!

Published

I've been newly hired as a PCT at a hospital and I know the job varies greatly across different units and departments. Tell me about your department and what kinds of responsibilities you have, what are some new things that you've been excited you've learned? Why do you think your unit is the best unit to work for?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I currently work on a medical ward (unit) here in the UK- your scope of practice will be different. I do basic nursing assistant things, and I also do vital signs, simple dressings, very occasionally I do blood sugars (nurses responsibility).

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Is medical unit similar to med-surg? What kinds of patients do you get in your unit? I have been offered a position in either general internal or cardiothoracic surgery-telemetry and am trying to get an understanding of what kinds of new skills I will be able to learn. Sounds like your job is amazing! :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Float.

I work on a telemetry-cardiac stepdown unit and I'll never forget the time the ??? came to observe and change the dressings of a post openheart surgery pt while I was doing his a.m. care! I don't remember her title as I was fascinated and fixated on observing the wound when she unpacked it. I saw bone and tissue and I don't even know what else! She told me that I could see the heart beating if I look from a certain angle but I was on the other side and it was too dark to make out any movement details. I saw my first code on that floor as well as did my first post mortem.

I observed a pt expire last week. In the morning I was feeding him and cracking little jokes with him, mid morning I was doing his am care. As I turned him, he started to defecate. I cleaned him, turned him and he defecated again. This cycle was repeated twice more. I had to call for help and by the time we finished he was in bad shape. His hands were white, his nail beds were blue, his eyes were rolled up in his head and his breathing was labored. I was ready to get a set of vitals on him and was off to get the NIBP when the RN told me he was a DNR. I left the room to continue my work and by the time I got back to his room for accuchecks, he was hooked up to a pulse oximeter and I observed his hr @ 115 and SpO2@ 75%. I came back about an hour later and his hr was 48, sats 68%. The machine was beeping steadily. I noticed that he'd made another bowel movement but was told not to change him. When I was on my way to lunch @ approximately 2:30pm, I was told he was gone. I couldn't believe it happened so fast. Needless to say I didn't have lunch that day because I did his post mortem. For some reason, this particular expiration caused some feelings in me that I'm still trying to figure out.

Wow....sorry to have hijacked your thread, I guess I really needed to get it out. Anyway, as a Tech, I do EKG's, phlebotomy, wound care, texas foley's, fleets and anything else that doesn't require a license. I learn every day, for instance, the RN told me in the above case that when the pt's bowels let go as they did then, it's a sure sign they're about to go. I mean the sheer amount of it was almost equal to his body weight.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I work in a hospital on an ICU stepdown telemetry unit as a nursing technician. I've been working there for 3 years and I like it a lot. I check patients' vitals every 4 hours, check blood glucose levels, turn & position patients every 2 hours, empty foleys, record I&Os, assist RNs with dressing changes & assist with inserting foleys. Some nurses allow us to do things we arent supposed to do.. just so we can learn. Like insert foleys or start an IV. I'm hoping that once I get into nursing school, I'll find it to be a bit easier because of the experience that I have working in a hospital and learning many new things each day. I love my unit because the nurses are willing to teach us things so we'll be prepared once we're in school.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Radiation Oncology.

I work PRN on the weekends on a busy oncology floor. We have 32 beds (all privates thank goodness) and usually I am on shift with another CA (clinical assistant is what the hospital calls us). So I can have a maximum of 16 or 17 on evening shift. On day shift we are supposed to have less due to the AM care but it doesn't always work out that way.

If I have a full side, that being 16 or 17 patients, I will start 0800 vital signs right after report and sometimes not finish until close to 0830. If I have a lot of blood sugar checks then I will make time to do those patients morning vital signs before breakfast is served at 0800. The rest of the day is spent turning patients, giving AM care, changing linens, bathroom help, and other things. At our hospital we are supposed to do hourly rounding on everyone. I split this responsibility with the RN and most of the RN's I work with are great! We are also encouraged to check in with our RN at least every 2 hours for updates.

We also get trained to run the nurses desk for order entry, chart building, and phone calls. After a few months of working, they send us to a 2 day phlebotomy course since our hospital did away with lab technicians. Overall, I really like the floor and I love oncology and the nurses there.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Reading all of these posts have gotten me so pumped! While I loved my previous job, I am really excited for all the learning opportunities it sounds like PCTs get to have.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I work as a Student Nurse in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Basically the SN's and PCT's do the same job, we just get paid a little bit more yet don't get benefits. As far as the job goes, I think its a lot different than any other unit. Since the patient population is so fragile, there is little patient interaction. I mostly am in charge of keeping each of the rooms stocked with things like lancets, syringes, needles, alcohol swabs, gloves, blankets, nipples, BP cuffs...you get the point. Unlike any other unit, there isnt one or two babies to a room, instead, all of the babies are put into rooms based on their birthweight or the complication they were born with. there are usually around 6-9 babies per room, and we have 5 rooms. In Satellite (where the babies go when they are almost ready to go home and not as sick), I occasionally help by taking vitals, bathing and feeding. Thats a nice change. Other than that, as long as we get all the stocking done, we can go to the tech room and hang out/study/read or do whatever. Oh, and the nurses can page for us over the intercom to bring stuff to them (med pumps, bili lights, make up beds). Its a pretty sweet job. If I want, I can watch the nurses and docs do stuff on the babies (insert umbilical catheters, circumcisions, set up IV's) and ask questions, or I can just chill in the tech room. The learning possibilities are endless, but I'll only learn in proportion to the amount I apply myself.

I got a job in the NICU because it was the only job offered at the time where I could be surrounded by infants. I plan on becoming a Midwife, and I feel being immersed in this surrounding is adding to my knowledge base, even beyond what I've learned in clinicals so far.

Hope this helps!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER, progressive care.

I work on a renal/plastic & reconstructive surgery unit as a nurse tech. Plastics/reconstructive surgery include repairing of decub ulcers and things like that. As for renal - we get anything related to renal stuff, but being a "med-surg" floor we will sometimes get other patients with other diagnoses. My unit is a smaller, older unit (22 beds) but it can be CRAZY at times!

As for what I do, I get vital signs (of course!) - they only let NT's (nurse techs) get manual BPs if needed (the aides aren't allowed to do them). I do accuchecks on patients (aides aren't allowed to do those at my hospital either unless they take a separate class on how to do them). I meet the patient's basic needs and if I'm working morning shift, do AM care. I can do dressing changes (both sterile and non-sterile) and on my floor it's a plus because we sometimes get some awful looking wounds that need a lot of packing...I can do foleys, give enemas, draw blood (only peripheral, not from a PICC), get blood cultures, do tracheostomy suctioning/care...I can pretty much do everything I've learned in nursing school except assess and pass meds. I do I/O's and clear all of the pumps and everything. If patients are being discharged, I'll bring them to the discharge area or if they're being moved I'll assist transport with that. Sometimes they will have me run down to the lab to get supplies or drop things off.

I LOVE my job. I'm trying to transfer to the ICU, tho :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Melosaur, how come only the nurse techs are allowed to do manual BPs? That seems really odd to me!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am thinking of becoming a PCT while in Nursing School. I read that it helps you get a job after you graduate! Sounds like it is such good practice!!!

Thanks!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I work now as a PCT in a hospital. It definitely helps to work as a PCT while in Nursing school. You get to see many different things that can help while you are in school. And yes, it does help A LOT when it comes to getting a job after graduating. Most, if not all, hospitals will hire within the hospital before they try to hire outside of the hospital.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion