Teamwork is being able to perform your job while depending on other members and also helping out each other when it’s necessary. In any hospital, there are different team players from the nurses, the supervisors, and the patient care technicians (PCT) or nurses aids depending on where you work. I work very closely with my PCT, and I have noticed a significant tech can make my night so much more comfortable, and a less than stellar tech can make the shift very difficult. The emphasis on remembering is teamwork, yes the nurse is to delegate to the tech, but don’t let that go to your head. I have seen some nurses treat their tech horrible.
#1 Help your PCT with patient care.
Patients feel more taken care of when they know they have a team taking care of there needs. The alert, oriented, and independent patient if they ask the nurse for something like ice or juice, and each time the item is delivered by the tech, the patient does take notice. Now not to say if you are called into another room with a patient that can’t breath, or some other more emergent situation, then delegate the ice or juice. The patients that need more hands on to clean, boost up into bed, or turn every two hours, the best-laid plans are merely that, proper coordination between the tech and nurse to meet at a particular room to clean, turn, and anything else that the patient might need. The patient and the patient’s family will feel taken care of when approached in a team manner.
#2 Go ahead without asking to help.
PCT will check in with your patients the best practice of techs is the second pair of eyes that check the status of the patient. The second pair of eyes and hands in assisting those to the bathroom, ice, or comforting the patient that might be upset. An excellent tech that does this throughout the shift allows for fewer calls from the patient. The patient’s needs are handled more proficiently. The techs checking in on the patient also anticipates the needs of the patient before even they need to call. Anticipating the needs of the patient with both the nurse and the tech checking in and asking their needs will reduce fall rates, call light times, and increase the overall satisfaction of the patients stay on the floor.
#3 Collection of needed data
An essential job of the techs in the hospital is the collection of vital signs, blood sugars, and even weights if required. On the floor I work on the vitals are collected every four hours, at 8, 12, and 4. This is the first line, the first indicator of a problem. The vitals show an increase in the pulse, blood pressure or respiratory rate could mean a world of difference to the patient and a possible call to the doctor or the on-call. Excellent communication keeps a fluid exchange of information.
#4 A “Code Brown” is not just a PCT thing.
While one aspect of the PCT is to assist patients to the bathroom or clean the patient. All aspects of patient care primarily fall under the responsibility of the nurse. As early as nursing school, I have overheard nurses make comments that the PCT can take care of cleaning the patient. I have even witnessed a nurse that walked out of a patient’s room who needed to be cleaned and call the tech to clean up. This particular nurse was not rushing to a more emergent patient but to gossip with another nurse elsewhere. I do not see a lot of this, but I am disturbed to watch a nurse leave a patient sitting in their own urine or feces and not do anything to help. At a time where skin breakdown and pressure ulcers are being carefully observed by individual hospitals and other healthcare entities, the nurse is necessary for keeping patients clean, dry and skin intact. The best way for a nurse to do an accurate skin assessment is to turn and look at the surface of the patent. When two people are helping in changing the patient, two people means two sets of eyes. This enables for better assessment and a chance to catch any changes in the skin before redness becomes an ulcer.
#5 Taking turns
Great technicians will help with severe patients. There have been several nights when a patient is uncomfortable and strives for some sort of relief. In the course of a night, this patient can call a multitude of times. In calling they might ask for medication, assistance to a chair or bed, assistance to the bathroom, or to be repositioned. A restless patient will produce higher trends in blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiration. This patient also takes times away from patients who are sicker. The best way to deal with this type of patient is to take turns. Teamwork and communication will make for a better night for both parties and better patient satisfaction.
A key point is to take care of your PCT, and they will take care of you. Communication and assisting one another, and the basics of treating people the way you want to be treated. The PCT will help make or break your shift. They are an imperative member of the healthcare team and patient care.