What should I pick between PCT or CNA?

nichefinder · Mar 24, 2014

from wat i understand in my facility, pcts can draw labs... other than that, same cleaning butts haha good luck

cdsavannah59, CNA · Mar 24, 2014

A PCT is a CNA with additional training. Such as EKGs, Inserting or removing Catheters, Blood draws, glucose checks, etc. The pay depends mostly on facility. But pay should be slightly higher for PCT. Pay depends on State you live in, for example Ga pays less for PCT then New York or California, but cost of living is higher in those two states. Also the facility you work at plays a big part in pay level. When I graduated I got a job in a hospital as PCT, my former classmate got a job as PCT at another hospital we have in our city which is a teaching hospital and she earns 3.00 more dollars an hour starting out pay then I do and I have years of patient care experience and she had no prior experience. Also the longer you are a PCT the chances are better pay when applying for jobs. A CNA in my state barely makes over minimum wage at a lot of facilities around here, Working at a home health care business the pay is lower then LTC facility in my experience. Home health care is not usually gonna ever get you much more then minimum wage because the agency keeps a large portion of the hourly rate they charge insurgence companies. When I worked at home health care agency I was hired as home health care aide, a few months later I got my CNA license so I expected a raise, mostly because when I was hired they told me CNAs make more money. I quit about 4 months after I got my CNA because they refused to give me a raise, told me depends on what client you watch that determines pay and that my current client wasn't a hard case. I was ticked off and told them my client is now bedridden, requires bed baths, and prior to him becoming bed ridden and needing hoyer lifts, I had to transfer him by myself supporting this large man who required all my energy to keep him on his feet. I made the same pay rate with another client who just required supervision for safety reasons so I asked "You don't think my job is hard, for the bedridden patient, I'm assisting a client that you have a hard time getting another aide to do, in fact he had been my client for several months because they wanted dependable care. Fact is why would another aide want a hard case to care for when they can get the easy ones where they just sit around all day with patient because pay level is same. My pay rate was private care wage and always the same no matter who I watched, easy or hard case. I realized after being refused a raise that if the home health agency gave me a raise it would mean a cut in pay on the rate they received. Back to your question lol, go for PCT, in a few years it will be a better career choice as far money.