6 Skills You Need as a Patient Care Technician

If you're considering a career as a patient care technician (PCT), you'll need to know what skills patient care techs have. In addition to being kind, compassionate and caring, PCTs need a combination of skills to help them deliver the best care to their patients.

The Top 6 Patient Care Technician Skills

We've gathered the top six PCT skills necessary to be successful on the job. Review these skills to help you decide if the job is right for you.

1. Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills, commonly called people skills, are the traits you use to interact and communicate with others. Strong interpersonal skills on the job are a valuable asset for patient care technicians as they balance the complex, ever-changing demands of the healthcare industry. Interpersonal skills for patient care technicians include:

• Communication: Communication is of utmost importance when taking care of patients. Patient care technicians communicate with doctors, nurses and other medical team members, as well as with the patient and their loved ones. To care for your patients successfully, you must communicate and work well with others.
• Active listening: Active listeners give their undivided attention to the speaker to understand what they're saying correctly. Patient care technicians need active listening skills when they accept orders from their supervisors and communicate with their patients.
• Teamwork: Patient care technicians work alongside a team of medical professionals to deliver exceptional patient care, making teamwork an important skill to have.
• Dependability: Caring for people in need requires dependability. As a patient care technician, your colleagues will depend on you to perform your job duties, and your patients will depend on you to be their allies.
• Leadership: As you gain experience, your supervisor may ask you to help train new patient care technicians. The ability to lead, teach and inspire will benefit those who train with you.
• Motivation: The healthcare industry is fast-paced. You can match it by being a motivated, proactive patient care technician.
• Flexibility: Being flexible is vital to a successful career in healthcare. Patient needs change rapidly, and you should be ready to adapt at the drop of a hat.
• Patience: Often, you will work with patients who are unable to care for themselves properly. Daily tasks may take a bit longer, so patience is needed. You will also likely come across patients who are stubborn, difficult and resistant to medical care. Patience will help you provide them with the compassionate care they need.
• Empathy: The ability to empathize with your patients, no matter how they present, is crucial to providing care that nurtures and heals. Empathy allows you to step into your patients' shoes and envision what they're going through.

2. Physical Strength and Stamina

Working as a patient care technician is an active job. Physical stamina is vital as you'll be on your feet and assisting patients much of the time. Prepare yourself to:

• Lift and carry around 30 pounds daily
• Transfer and help patients into various positions
• Stand and walk for 85% of your shift
• Handle bending, reaching and repetitive hand movements throughout your workday

The degree to which you move and lift patients depends on where you work, but it's safe to assume physical strength is important as a patient care technician.

3. Assisting With Activities of Daily Living

Patient care technicians often act as primary caregivers. This means PCTs are responsible for assisting patients with activities of daily living (ADLs) that they may be unable to perform alone. You may help your patients with ADLs such as:

• Eating and drinking
• Getting dressed
• Bathing
• Using the restroom

Assisting with these activities may not seem like a skill, but ADLs have best practices you will learn in your patient care technician training program.

4. Technical Skills

Patient care technicians perform basic medical tests and procedures. Having these PCT skills on your resume is attractive to potential employers. You will learn how to conduct these interventions in your training program. Technical PCT skills include:

• Measuring vital signs: Taking vital signs is an important responsibility because vital signs help indicate a patient's health status at a given time. You will learn how to measure blood pressure, pulse, temperature, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation.
• Handling lab specimens: As a PCT, you may be responsible for collecting blood, urine, sputum or other samples for the lab to analyze. These collections need to be performed safely and correctly.
• Administering EKGs: EKGs are tests that measure electrical activity in the heart. They need to be conducted accurately to give the doctor a clear picture of how the heart is functioning.
• Performing CPR: CPR is a life-saving measure that involves compressing the chest in a rapid, rhythmic manner to restore heart and lung activity.
• Performing venipuncture: PCTs need to know how to access a patient's veins properly to collect blood samples.

5. The Ability to Anticipate Needs

Patient care technicians work with a diverse patient population. They may care for people who are injured, physically ill, mentally ill, disabled or a combination of these. Injuries and illnesses can often make it difficult for patients to communicate their needs, so PCTs must be perceptive and proactive when determining their patients' requirements.

Empathizing with your patients can help you better anticipate their needs. You can gain a lot of insight by imagining yourself in their unique position.

Intuition is another valuable tool to help you anticipate patient needs. As you gain experience working with patients, your intuition will become sharper, allowing you to be proactive about patient care.

6. Soft Skills

Soft skills are personal attributes that relate to how well you interact and work with others. Unlike technical skills, soft skills are difficult to teach because they must come from within. However, you can hone your soft skills with experience and practice. Patient care technicians who possess soft skills are more likely to succeed in their careers.

The following soft skills are valuable for patient care technicians:

• Problem-solving
• Effective communication
• Self-direction
• Drive
• Adaptability

Learn the Skills to Become a PCT With AIMS Education

AIMS Education College of Health Sciences offers high-quality, career-focused training to students seeking to improve their lives and the lives of others by entering the medical field. With our patient care technician program, you can start a new career in less than a year. You will gain the skills you need to work as a patient care technician through a combination of lecture, lab and clinical hours. Contact AIMS Education today to request more information or register for an upcoming info session.