What Is a Patient Care Technician? Key Job Duties and Responsibilities
As a patient care technician (PCT), you help patients in hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient clinics, and other medical settings. The role is all about direct patient interaction, but it’s different from a certified nurse assistant (CNA) or medical assistant (MA).
What Does a Patient Care Technician Do?
As a PCT, you provide important care to patients. The specific duties can vary depending on where you work, but here are 5 responsibilities you can expect to perform regularly:
- Monitor Vital Signs: This includes checking blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, and respiration rates.
- Assist with Daily Activities: Many patients need help with basic tasks of living like eating, dressing, bathing, or using the restroom. This is especially important for patients recovering from surgery or with limited mobility.
- Collect Lab Samples: You gather specimens like blood or urine for diagnostic testing.
- Assist with Patient Mobility: You help patients move, whether walking or transferring between bed and chair, preventing complications like bedsores and accidental falls.
- Administer Basic Treatments: Depending on your training and facility, you may help with medication administration, wound care, and other treatments under the supervision of a nurse or doctor.
Top Skills for a Patient Care Technician
To do your PCT job well, you need a combination of technical and interpersonal skills. Do you have the traits you need to be a patient care technician?
- Empathy and Compassion: You’ll work closely with patients who are ill or recovering from major illness or medical procedures, and empathy and compassion are directly connect to better patient outcomes.
- Attention to Detail: Attention to detail ensures that important patient information is captured accurately and your patients are provided the services they need.
- Physical Stamina: As a PCT, you may work long hours and assist with patient mobility, so it’s important to maintain your own physical strength and endurance capabilities.
- Communication Skills: You often act as a liaison between patients, families, and healthcare teams. And strong and effective communication is key to providing quality care.
- Technical Competence: You will likely be required to use electronic health records (EHRs), and need familiarity with medical tools, EHR systems, and diagnostic equipment.
PCT vs. CNA and MA: What’s the Difference?
The role of a patient care technician is similar to other healthcare roles like certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and medical assistants (MAs) but there are some important differences.
As a PCT, you provide hands-on patient care, including assisting with daily activities, performing some basic medical tasks like drawing blood, and operating medical equipment, often in hospitals. Your training takes more time than a CNA but less than an MA.
As a CNA, you’re more likely to work in a nursing home or long-term care facility. You help patients with basic care like bathing, feeding, and monitoring vitals. Your training takes less time than both MAs and PCTs.
MAs work in clinical and administrative roles, assisting physicians with tasks like taking vitals, recording medical histories, administering injections, and managing office operations, usually in outpatient or clinic settings. MAs often require more formal training than CNAs or PCTs.
Job Outlook for Patient Care Technicians
The demand for patient care technicians nationally is expected to stay steady through 20331. Demand varies depending on where you live and work.
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1 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, , last Updated April 18, 2025. Retrieved on May 18, 2025.