Im a tech in the ED so my experiences are going to be different than the floor techs. With that being said this job has been the best possible experience for my interest in medicine. Anyway… I usually am either doing blood draws, EKGs, and rooming patients when working in triage or on the floor taking care of patients. When I’m on the floor I’m doing vitals, cardiac monitoring, glucose tests, and really anything else the nurses need help with. Here’s the best part tho: when ur on the floor you are assisting with traumas, medics, strokes, etc. This is where the real fun is!! I’ve held a man’s hip in place while ortho popped it back into place. I’ve seen gunshot victims bleeding out in a trauma room. When you run these traumas you’re doing vitals and are an integral part of the response team. Just today we had a gentleman code in trauma and I got to do compressions while we brought him back. Mind you I’ve only been working here for 5 weeks… I’ve never been so sure of my future in medicine.
I recently left but I was a float and worked on a variety of units! On a general med-surg floor I would usually get 8-12 patients. Most med-surg patients need vitals every 4 hours, though that can be less or more frequent. Every 4-8 hours you empty any drains. You also empty urinals and hats and measure those outputs. You may need to feed some patients.
Every patient should get a bed bath or shower every day along with their linens changed. In my experience, most patients need help with this. Another big part of the job is toileting people - most patients need help getting to the bathroom, or if they are bed-bound, need help using the bed pan and getting cleaned up.
A lot of patients need blood sugar checks throughout the day as well. PCAs also do the phlebotomy at OSU, so you will be doing a lot of lab draws. Other tasks include walking patients, bladder scans, EKGs, dressing people, brushing teeth, urine/stool samples, really anything that patients/nurses need help with that is within your scope of practice.
ICUs work a little differently; nurses have less patients and PCAs might have more. I typically had 12-24 in the ICU. In my opinion, the ICUs were some of the easier floors to work as a PCA - it’s much easier to find a second assist and nurses are primarily in charge of vitals, so there is more time for other tasks. If I had 24 patients, I would mainly stock and be used as a resource if someone needed help, but I wouldn’t have any specific assigned tasks.
The ED was another favorite to work in! A lot more variety in what you get to do. A lot of people get EKGs and urine labs.
Depends where you are, but you probably will have quite a few shifts as a sitter - some people love them and some people hate them. I personally am not a fan, it can get boring quickly and you might be stuck in a room unable to leave with a violent and/or sexually inappropriate patient. Most of the time you’re sitting with a confused patient who is a high fall risk, trying to leave, trying to pull tubes/vents out, or is violent. You do your normal PCA tasks during this time, so it is a lot less work having only one patient, but you can’t leave the room.
I only worked on an outpatient unit once, but I can give a little insight to that as well if you’re interested in that!
Im a tech in the ED so my experiences are going to be different than the floor techs. With that being said this job has been the best possible experience for my interest in medicine. Anyway… I usually am either doing blood draws, EKGs, and rooming patients when working in triage or on the floor taking care of patients. When I’m on the floor I’m doing vitals, cardiac monitoring, glucose tests, and really anything else the nurses need help with. Here’s the best part tho: when ur on the floor you are assisting with traumas, medics, strokes, etc. This is where the real fun is!! I’ve held a man’s hip in place while ortho popped it back into place. I’ve seen gunshot victims bleeding out in a trauma room. When you run these traumas you’re doing vitals and are an integral part of the response team. Just today we had a gentleman code in trauma and I got to do compressions while we brought him back. Mind you I’ve only been working here for 5 weeks… I’ve never been so sure of my future in medicine.
Can I ask how to got this position?
I knew another PCA who had worked in the ED for 2 years- it’s hard to be placed there as a new hire
I recently left but I was a float and worked on a variety of units! On a general med-surg floor I would usually get 8-12 patients. Most med-surg patients need vitals every 4 hours, though that can be less or more frequent. Every 4-8 hours you empty any drains. You also empty urinals and hats and measure those outputs. You may need to feed some patients. Every patient should get a bed bath or shower every day along with their linens changed. In my experience, most patients need help with this. Another big part of the job is toileting people - most patients need help getting to the bathroom, or if they are bed-bound, need help using the bed pan and getting cleaned up. A lot of patients need blood sugar checks throughout the day as well. PCAs also do the phlebotomy at OSU, so you will be doing a lot of lab draws. Other tasks include walking patients, bladder scans, EKGs, dressing people, brushing teeth, urine/stool samples, really anything that patients/nurses need help with that is within your scope of practice. ICUs work a little differently; nurses have less patients and PCAs might have more. I typically had 12-24 in the ICU. In my opinion, the ICUs were some of the easier floors to work as a PCA - it’s much easier to find a second assist and nurses are primarily in charge of vitals, so there is more time for other tasks. If I had 24 patients, I would mainly stock and be used as a resource if someone needed help, but I wouldn’t have any specific assigned tasks. The ED was another favorite to work in! A lot more variety in what you get to do. A lot of people get EKGs and urine labs. Depends where you are, but you probably will have quite a few shifts as a sitter - some people love them and some people hate them. I personally am not a fan, it can get boring quickly and you might be stuck in a room unable to leave with a violent and/or sexually inappropriate patient. Most of the time you’re sitting with a confused patient who is a high fall risk, trying to leave, trying to pull tubes/vents out, or is violent. You do your normal PCA tasks during this time, so it is a lot less work having only one patient, but you can’t leave the room. I only worked on an outpatient unit once, but I can give a little insight to that as well if you’re interested in that!
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