7 Qualities of a Patient Care Technician

Patient Care Technicians (also called PCTs) are an important part of the chain in healthcare as they are the ones who assist patients in their day-to-day lives, helping them with tasks such as eating, bathing, and changing their clothes. Being a patient care technician is rewarding in the sense that you are helping people by improving the quality of a person’s life during a time when they cannot help themselves. However, it also takes a special mix of soft skills and technical care in order to do this job effectively. Patient Care Technicians are in high demand as more and more patients need extended help to get through their daily lives, but first, it’s important to look within to see if you have these seven qualities to help determine if this career is right for you:

Before we dive into that, if you’re interested in training to become a patient care technician, consider enrolling in FCC’s Patient Care Technician Training Program. You can complete and graduate from the program in as little as 10 months, placing you on the fast track to beginning a new and rewarding career.

THE THREE TOP SOFT SKILLS THAT EVERY PATIENT CARE TECHNICIAN SHOULD POSSESS

Being a Patient Care Technician can be a demanding job as patients rely on you for pretty much everything that has to do with their health, safety, and comfort. Therefore, before pursuing a secondary diploma in this field of healthcare, it’s good to have a certain mix of technical skills and soft “people” skills in order to be effective in this role. Here are three traits that are especially effective that quality PCTs show when helping their patients:

1. Compassion- It can be hard when people lose certain cognitive or motor skills that they’ve relied on their whole lives to do certain tasks and it’s easy for patients to get frustrated and angry when their freedoms are taken away. That’s why it’s important for a Patient Care Technician to show empathy, understanding, and try to be relatable to the patient to help them get through their difficult time. The best PCTs take their patient’s feelings into account when helping them with any task big or small.
2. Patience- Since a Patient Care Technician is solely responsible for helping people who can’t feed, bathe, or clothe themselves due to disabilities or illness, it’s important for a PCT to display patience in helping them with seemingly menial tasks in a nonjudgmental manner that we all may take for granted.
3. Being detail-oriented and responsive- Patients likely know their conditions and preferences for care better than you do, so it’s important to listen, pay attention, and pick up on cues that the patient may be trying to give you. In certain cases, a Patient Care Technician must follow a specific process in order to keep patients safe. Therefore, being alert, attentive, and following directions from the Registered Nurse is key.

FOUR OTHER HELPFUL TRAITS THAT THE BEST PATIENT CARE TECHNICIANS POSSESS  

Along with patience, compassion, and empathy, here are four more top work styles that the best Patient Care Technicians display in their daily interactions with patients:

1. Integrity- Patients are wholly reliant on their PCT for their health and safety, therefore PCTs must be ethical and honest in their work.
2. Teamwork and cooperation- PCTs must be able to work with others in the healthcare industry to follow certain procedures set by any doctors or physicians involved with the patient’s care. Likewise, good PCTs that are pleasant, positive and cooperative with their patients can make a difficult situation easier on everybody.
3. Ability to take vital measurements- While many PCTs help patients with basic tasks such as eating or bathing, it’s also important to be able to properly monitor a patient’s condition by taking their blood pressure and measuring their oxygen intake levels and perhaps administering any correct doses of medication at the right time.
4. You know what an EKG is and can read them regularly- Electrocardiograms (EKGs) are vital in showing doctors and PCTs how well a person’s heart muscle is functioning. Therefore, knowing how to perform, read, and act on an irregular EKG output is vital in many patient cases. 

FLORIDA CAREER COLLEGE IS THE PLACE TO GO TO BECOME A PATIENT CARE TECHNICIAN

Once again, becoming a Patient Care Technician is a rewarding career, but it takes the right kind of person to thrive in this sector of healthcare. If you have these seven qualities and are excited about the prospect of becoming a Patient Care Technician, then Florida Career College can help you achieve your goal. Offered at 10 campus locations throughout Florida, FCC offers a Patient Care Technician program that teaches students patient assistance, nursing, and geriatric care along with hands-on training. Click here to learn more about the Patient Care Technician program today!