News Release Details

12/3/2010

Patient Care Technician Certification being offered this spring

By Stephanie Caffall

Thatcher, AZ—

The EAC Allied Health Division will be offering the Patient Care Technician (PCT) Program in the Spring of 2011. This program is geared toward certified nursing assistants who would like to obtain further training and skills in providing patient care at a more advanced level.

Patient care technicians play an important role in patient recovery and monitoring a patients developing signs of distress. Upon completion, students will receive a PCT certificate and will be prepared for an entry-level position working with doctors and nurses to provide direct care to patients. They may work in a hospital under the supervision of other medical staff to provide basic patient care, which includes:

Recording patient condition and treatments

Performing CPR and basic lab work

Monitoring and recording vital signs

Assisting in medical exams and phlebotomy

Helping with nutritional needs

Assisting with patient mobility, bathing, and dressing

Observing and recording a patients physical, mental, and emotional condition

Performing enteral tube feedings, irrigation, and neurovascular checks

This program places an emphasis on the technical skills necessary to perform personal care to complex patients; including implementation of respiratory and rehabilitation services, EKGs, and phlebotomy under the supervision of registered nurses, says EAC allied health instructor, Jo-Ann Draper.

[This program] will also help nursing assistants to be more marketable in the work place. PCTs are in demand and can command a higher salary range than CNAs.

For more information, please contact Draper at (928) 428-8363 or Dr. Mayuree Siripoon at (928) 428-8389.

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