Working as a PCT?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hello! First off, I'm so sorry if this is in the wrong spot, I'm new to the site. I'm almost done my freshman year in a new 4 year nursing program, and we don't have any nursing classes until the spring of our sophomore year. Needless to say, I have no background on nursing except what I observed when I shadowed on a med surge floor. Our school gave out fliers from a local hospital to work as PCT there, they will train you on the job. I haven't applied yet but I'm really thinking about it. The floors available are float, acute cardiac, med surge and tele. I thought float would be cool to see many different things, but I'm not sure if it will be overwhelming. I didn't love med surge from shadowing,so that would probably be my last choice, but anything you guys could tell me about these floors or make recommendations would be awesome. Also, what is your day like? What do you do as a PCT? My shift will be every other weekend both days, 12 hours. Thank you so much in advance.

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Specializes in Pediatric Cardiac ICU.

My junior year of nursing school I got a job as a PCT at a local hospital and I really enjoyed it. They as well trained me on the job as long as I had already taken a Nursing Fundamentals course in school. My unit was a Cardiac Med/Surg Unit and I saw a lot of stuff which was nice because I learned a lot from work that I could apply to my nursing clinicals. Personally, I wouldn't want a position that floats all the time just because it may get overwhelming because you're never consistently on one unit. You'd have to learn where everything is and how things work on each unit you float too which for a new person in the nursing field may be hard, but that's just my opinion! I liked that I was always on my unit and could master everything because I was there all the time. Once I gained experience however, there were several times where I floated to the unit next to us if they needed help, but it was rare. While I was in school I only worked 1-2 days a week and most of the time they were 8hr shifts but I did work a lot of 12hr shifts before I left (only left to move down south with my husband, or else I would've become a nurse on that floor!).

There are a lot of stuff that you are responsible for as a PCT. The basics are vital signs, changing linens, ADL's (activities of daily living so bathing, feeding, helping with bathroom, etc), obtaining blood sugars, tracking Intake/Output, sending specimens off to the lab, drawing blood for the lab (once trained), repositioning patients on bedrest, and reporting any abnormal findings to the nurse. My unit was a 24 bed so between three PCT's we each had 8 patients, a few times I had 12 if someone called off. It's not really that bad because some of those 8 patients were what we'd call "selfs" and they were completely independent, so you didn't need to do too much with them. The rest of your patients could be anywhere from an "assist" where they'd need a little help with ADL's or they could be a "complete" which means they are completely relying on help. Overall I was happy that I got to work as a PCT because it gave me some experience in a hospital before I became an RN. Good luck!

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Hi, thank you for replying! I just talked to the woman in charge again and she said she'd not recommend the float since I don't have any experience yet. They also have a critical care step down unit. I'm so overwhelmed with trying to choose and I have to stay on the floor I pick for 6 months.

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Specializes in Pediatric Cardiac ICU.

Well if you're able to apply to all units then do that! Maybe each unit can give you a tour and talk a little bit about the unit so that you can get a better idea of what they're all about!

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That's a good idea! I don't have much background so I'm just trying to make a good decision so that I'll like it. Do you think that 2 12 hour shifts in a row is going to be impossible? It's every other weekend so at least it isn't every week.

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Specializes in Pediatric Cardiac ICU.

no I think that'll be fine! I mostly worked once a week and could've easily worked two every week but I wanted weekends off! I think it just depends on your schedule for classes and then eventually clinical. My classes were all on Mondays and I had clinical Tuesday and Wednesday and then my week was over! I used to work on Thursdays every week and then sometimes on the weekends when they needed me. Overall I could've handled working two days a week if I wanted. If my schedule was a little more spread out like say classes Monday and Wednesday and clinical Tuesday and Thursday, then I definitely would've just worked one day so that I had the weekend for school work.

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For next fall, I know I have classes every day that start at 9:40 am, and on Friday at 9:10. That's only because I'm taking a summer class to get it over with. Our program is really crazy, I have 7 classes now and I would have 8 in the fall if I didn't decide to take that one in the summer. I really appreciate your help because I have hardly any background and I want to make a good decision that I'll be happy with.

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