Patient Care Technician

The Patient Care Assistant Program focuses on preparing students as advanced, cross trained nursing assistants, who provide hands-on care to patients and residents in hospitals, homes, Ambulatory Care and Long Term Care facilities. Its purpose is to develop a broad range of knowledge and skills that can be used in a variety of health care settings and age groups. The program is a blend of classroom, laboratory and clinical instruction. The content includes but is not limited to: interpersonal skills, medical terminology, legal and ethical responsibilities, basic anatomy and physiology, vital signs, performing basic EKG and Phlebotomy procedures, safe and efficient work, first aid, personal care, light housekeeping, gerontology, rehabilitation and restorative care, nutrition, pet-facilitated therapy, end-of-life care, effective time management , healthy home environments, and career readiness.

This program provides advanced preparation to be an advanced cross- trained nursing assistant, with additional emphasis on training in Phlebotomy, EKG and geriatric care for acute and long term care settings. Program content includes, but is not limited to, interpersonal skills; medical terminology; legal and ethical responsibilities; gerontology; nutrition; health and safety; basic nursing skills; and employability skills. Students will perform nursing skills in the clinical and/or simulated laboratory settings under the supervision of a qualified registered nurse instructor.

AREA OF FOCUS

• Role of the Patient Care Technician (Nursing Assistant/Home Health Aide/Allied Health Aide )
• Nursing Assistant Skills
• Basic Anatomy and Physiology
• Illness and disease, including Alzheimer’s disease
• Health Promotion and Wellness
• Basic Nutrition
• Care of the client in facilities and in the home
• Gerontology
• Performance of basic unlicensed Electrocardiograph (ECG/EKG) skills
• Performance of basic unlicensed Phlebotomy skills

PORTFOLIO AND COURSE PROJECTS

There are a variety of projects within the seven Occupational Completion Points. Students will need to complete all of the projects in order to satisfy the curriculum requirements for this course.

PROGRAM EXPERIENCES

Lab Activities
Lab activities are designed to provide safe practice with materials, equipment and procedures related to basic health care. In addition, students will learn by using simulated scenarios that challenge them to solve realistic client problems and situations that occur in the workplace.

*Clinical Practicum
For nursing assistant certification, a minimum of 40 hours of clinical learning experience is provided, with at least 20 of those occurring in a licensed nursing home. An additional 140+ hours of clinical learning experiences for this program are obtained in the hospital, home setting and other health care centers. It is important that students have reliable transportation to get themselves to their assigned clinical site(s). 

*Clinical times are based on clinical site availability

Continuing Education

Students who have successfully completed the PCT program have the opportunity for advance standing in the iTech Practical Nursing Program. If all other eligibilities have been met and the student is accepted to Practical Nursing, the student will be given credit for Basic Healthcare Worker (OCP A) and Articulated Nursing Assistant (OCP B) and will not be required to repeat them in the PN Program.

Graduate with Career- Ready Skills!

ENTRY & EXIT REQUIREMENTS

• Specific Admissions Requirements:
  • 18 years old and a high school diploma or GED
  • Proof of current Immunizations and tuberculosis screening
  • Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) – Level 2 Background Check and Drug Screen per iTECH policy. This policy is available upon request
  • Current American Heart Association or American Red Cross affiliated Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) card with Basic Life Support (BLS) for Health Care Providers. The course must be hands-on – no online courses accepted
  • TEAS (Nursing Entrance) Test
  • Students must maintain an 80% academic grade average and attend at least 90% of scheduled class.
     
• DOE Basic Skills Exit Requirements: Communications 10, Computation 10 (unless exempt)
  • *Basic Skills exempt students with Math scores below 9 will be required to complete the iTECH Medical Math Practice Packet and be tested.
     
• CASAS Exit Requirements: Communications 244+, Computation 230+ (unless exempt)

PREP FOR EMPLOYMENT

This program offers a sequence of courses that provides coherent and rigorous content aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant technical knowledge and skills needed to prepare for further education and cybersecurity related careers in the Information Technology career cluster. It also provides technical skill proficiency, and includes competency-based applied learning that contributes to the academic knowledge, higher-order reasoning and problem solving skills, work attitudes, general employability skills, technical skills, and occupation-specific skills, and knowledge of all aspects of cybersecurity.

• Internships
  Various professional organizations are partners with iTech, working to provide internship opportunities for our students.
   
• Workforce Education Internship Program
  Students participate in work-based learning experiences in their field of study outside of the classroom. ITECH has a Workforce Internship Program for those students who need work experience, but do not have an out-of-school job.
   
• Job Placement
  Our competent counseling staff provides job postings on a daily basis, with help in resume writing and the interviewing process.

CERTIFICATE

A certificate is awarded to students who successfully complete the program’s competencies. Successful completion of this program prepares students for certification for employment as a Nursing Assistant in a nursing home, in accordance with Chapter 464.203, Florida Statutes. Students who satisfactorily complete this program are eligible to apply to take the national nursing assistant examination being utilized in Florida, in accordance with Chapter 464.203, F.S. This program includes both Acute and Long Term Care.