What is a Patient Care Technician?

So, you've decided to become a patient care technician. In addition to registered nurses, patients really look forward to having you by their side. You're an important piece of the puzzle. Speaking of RN's, as long as you get enough experience as a patient care technician, you may have the option to become an RN, eventually. It's definitely a nice little stepping stone.

Aside from knowing the opportunity you'll have in this career, becoming a patient care technician has a lot of great positives. Since you'll be working directly with patients, you'll be around a lot of people daily. Which makes this a very social job. If you're a social butterfly, you'll fit right in.

You have a lot of options of where you want to work when it comes to the patient care technician job. From hospitals and doctor's offices to nursing homes and long-term care facilities, you're needed in a lot of different places. It just depends on where you want to end up.

What Does a Patient Care Technician Do

There are certain skills that many patient care technicians have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed observational skills, patience and compassion.

Learn more about what a Patient Care Technician does

How To Become a Patient Care Technician

If you're interested in becoming a patient care technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 27.0% of patient care technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 2.7% of patient care technicians have master's degrees. Even though some patient care technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Patient Care Technician

Patient Care Technician Job Description

Patient care technicians are healthcare professionals supervised by doctors, nurses, or other healthcare professionals in the facility. They provide basic care services to patients and perform a variety of basic tasks such as monitoring patients' vitals, taking note of patient concerns, and assisting patients with mobility issues, and more.

Learn more about Patient Care Technician Job Description
Top Patient Care Technician Jobs Near You

Patient Care Technician Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of certified nursing assistant you might progress to a role such as licensed practical nurse eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title registered nurse supervisor.

Patient Care Technician

Average Salary for a Patient Care Technician

Patient Care Technicians in America make an average salary of $32,806 per year or $16 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $43,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $24,000 per year.
Average Patient Care Technician Salary
$32,806 Yearly
$15.77 hourly
See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

salary-calculator

Roles and Types of Patient Care Technician

The role of a patient care technician includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general patient care technician responsibilities:

  • Assists with treatments ordered by physician
  • Assists with treatments ordered by physician
  • Performs various duties assisting staff nurses in the treatment

There are several types of patient care technician, including:

Mental Health Technician

Role:

Mental health used to be a taboo; a topic that was rarely touched upon. However, more and more institutions are currently emphasizing the importance of speaking about mental health. According to the World Health Organization, around 264 million people suffer from some form of mental disorder, whether it be anxiety, bipolar disorder, or depression. Around 80 percent of people in low-income countries do not receive treatment, as medical resources and trained personnel are lacking. It is unequivocally true to say that the area of mental health requires more human resource coordination.

The primary role of a mental health technician is in providing operational assistance to doctors and patients. This includes tasks such as initiating treatment plans, administering medications, and conducting vital signs measurement. Besides that, they manage patient transportation and conduct nursing duties, such as bathing, feeding, and dressing.

Employers require mental health technicians to have a minimum high school diploma or G.E.D equivalent. Having a bachelor's degree relating to sociology, psychology, or human services would be preferred. This role earns, on average, $14 per hour and suits individuals who are passionate about mental health.

  • Average Salary: $32,118
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Nurse Technician

Role:

Nurse technicians are medical care providers who provide a wide range of patient care. The technician is responsible for the basic health and hygiene of a patient. He/she also helps immobile patients by lifting or moving them or pushing their wheelchair.

Also, they monitor patients' recovery or general well-being and report findings to the registered nurse. Nurse technicians prepare patients for medical examinations or procedures. Due to the job description, nurse technicians work under a registered nurse and are also known as nursing attendants or nursing aides.

The educational requirement for this position varies by state and employer. However, employers require a certified nursing technician program, a licensed practical nursing (LPN) or registered nursing (RN) diploma, an associate's degree, or a bachelor's degree program. Regardless, some employers may ask for more certification. Applicants must possess physical strength, compassion, communication skills, and emotional intelligence.

A nurse technician earns an average gross salary of $31,731. This ranges from $28,847 to $35,653.

  • Average Salary: $33,005
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Behavioral Health Technician

Role:

A behavioral health technician works with mental health professionals to provide care and assistance to patients with behavioral issues caused by mental health problems. They work directly with the patients, following guidelines set by doctors, and evaluate the progress of the patients. The duties of a behavioral health technician also involve a lot of paperwork. You are required to produce reports based on your assessment of the patient, answer queries, maintain correspondence with the healthcare professionals, and keep records of your patient's progress. You must also be able to provide basic nursing care for dependent patients under the supervision of a registered nurse.

A lot of compassion, patience, and physical stamina are required to function effectively in this role. A bachelor's degree is the minimum qualification for this job, as well as prior work experience and knowledge of first aid and CPR. Behavioral technicians earn an average salary of $27,000 per year, which is about $13.19 an hour

  • Average Salary: $34,611
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
View More

States With The Most Patient Care Technician Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active patient care technician jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where patient care technicians earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Patient Care Technician Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California5,877$44,524
2Texas3,912$31,347
3Florida3,671$27,916
4Illinois3,359$33,558
5North Carolina2,656$26,732
6Michigan2,600$30,697
7Georgia2,516$28,679
8Ohio2,136$29,604
9New York2,071$34,240
10Arizona2,020$33,179
11Pennsylvania1,974$28,700
12Virginia1,934$27,658
13Washington1,758$40,686
14Massachusetts1,720$37,658
15Minnesota1,677$33,972
16Missouri1,627$28,146
17Indiana1,596$27,600
18New Jersey1,500$34,164
19Tennessee1,480$29,685
20Wisconsin1,420$33,664
21Colorado1,391$35,471
22Maryland1,328$24,413
23Iowa1,058$30,281
24South Carolina955$28,159
25Louisiana941$28,597
26Kentucky885$26,661
27Oregon884$40,705
28Alabama870$28,208
29Oklahoma681$28,612
30Connecticut662$35,454
31Kansas661$33,563
32Utah580$30,609
33Mississippi504$31,999
34Nebraska497$32,855
35New Mexico492$28,113
36Nevada491$37,053
37New Hampshire403$38,893
38Arkansas368$32,721
39Idaho346$28,059
40West Virginia340$32,646
41Maine326$35,206
42Montana320$44,127
43North Dakota274$36,582
44South Dakota252$29,530
45Alaska249$34,052
46Delaware227$28,715
47Rhode Island198$30,379
48Hawaii193$34,566
49Vermont153$48,079
50Wyoming98$32,442

Patient Care Technician Education

Patient Care Technician Majors

Nursing
35.9 %
Medical Assisting Services
11.7 %
Business
6.9 %

Patient Care Technician Degrees

Bachelors

27.0 %

Associate

25.2 %

Certificate

17.1 %

Top Colleges for Patient Care Technicians

1. Emory University

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,306

Enrollment

6,975

2. Case Western Reserve University

Cleveland, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$49,042

Enrollment

5,131

3. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

4. Inter American University of Puerto Rico Arecibo

Arecibo, PR • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,872

Enrollment

3,553

5. Ohio State University

Columbus, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,726

Enrollment

45,769

6. University of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$19,080

Enrollment

19,127

7. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

8. University of Colorado Denver

Denver, CO • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,283

Enrollment

11,892

9. Washington Adventist Hospital

Takoma Park, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$23,900

Enrollment

836

10. Rhode Island College

Providence, RI • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,929

Enrollment

6,480

Top Skills For a Patient Care Technician

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 23.8% of patient care technicians listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as observational skills and patience are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Patient Care Technician Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Patient Care Technician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Patient Care Technician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume
Patient Care Technician Resume

Patient Care Technician diversity

Patient Care Technician Gender Distribution

Female
Female
81%
Male
Male
19%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among patient care technicians, 81.0% of them are women, while 19.0% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among patient care technicians is White, which makes up 51.9% of all patient care technicians.

  • The most common foreign language among patient care technicians is Spanish at 70.4%.

Online Courses For Patient Care Technician That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure  

1. Essentials of Palliative Care

coursera

This course starts you on your journey of integrating primary palliative care into your daily lives. You will learn what palliative care is, how to communicate with patients, show empathy, and practice difficult conversations. You will learn how to screen for distress and provide psychosocial support. You will learn about goals of care and advance care planning and how to improve your success with having these conversations with patients. Finally, you will explore important cultural...

2. Emergency Care: Pregnancy, Infants, and Children

coursera

Welcome to the final course of lectures in your quest to master EMT basics. In this course, we will cover some of the highest-stress patient populations: pregnant patients and kids, also known as pediatrics. To wrap up your EMT knowledge we will end this course with information about hazmat situations, extricating patients from tight spots and finally how you write a note about your patient care. You will learn to ensure it communicates what your assessment of the patient was, what...

3. Providing Trauma-Informed Care

udemy
4.6
(1,132)

Exploring psychological trauma and how to provide care and compassion to trauma survivors...

Show More Online Courses For Patient Care Technician
Job type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary

Best States For a Patient Care Technician

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a patient care technician. The best states for people in this position are Vermont, California, Montana, and Oregon. Patient care technicians make the most in Vermont with an average salary of $48,079. Whereas in California and Montana, they would average $44,524 and $44,127, respectively. While patient care technicians would only make an average of $40,705 in Oregon, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Montana

Total Patient Care Technician Jobs: 320
Highest 10% Earn:
$57,000
Location Quotient:
1.23

$44,127

Avg. Salary

View 320 Patient Care Technician Jobs In MT

2. North Dakota

Total Patient Care Technician Jobs: 274
Highest 10% Earn:
$47,000
Location Quotient:
1.31

$36,582

Avg. Salary

View 274 Patient Care Technician Jobs In ND

3. Washington

Total Patient Care Technician Jobs: 1,758
Highest 10% Earn:
$52,000
Location Quotient:
1.07

$40,686

Avg. Salary

View 1,758 Patient Care Technician Jobs In WA
Full List Of Best States For Patient Care Technicians

How Do Patient Care Technicians Rate Their Jobs?

5/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Patient Care Technician Reviews

5.0
Jul 2022
Pros

I like the Patient care part of the job. Seeing the patients get better and go home

Cons

Nothing

5.0
Feb 2022
Pros

taking care of people love it been doing it for 34 years and getting patient back home and be able to return to there daily activities

Cons

patient who are real sick and not able to return home it make me sad but i make sure there stay is the best care when they are in hospital this is the only hospital they want to come to and they tell other about the best care they got

Working as a Patient Care Technician? Share your experience anonymously.
Overall Rating*
Career Growth
Work/Life balance
Pay/Salary

Top Patient Care Technician Employers

Most Common Employers For Patient Care Technician

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1DaVita Kidney Care$37,731$18.141,387
2Dialysis Clinic$37,538$18.05163
3U.S. Renal Care$33,822$16.26144
4Anne Arundel Medical Center$33,111$15.92137
5Fresenius Kidney Care Dodge City$32,210$15.49167
6University of Maryland Medical System$32,015$15.39148
7Patient Care Inc$31,555$15.17134
8Roper St. Francis Healthcare$31,457$15.12128
9Baptist Health$30,443$14.64177
10Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital$30,440$14.63262
Show More

Patient Care Technician Videos

Hemodialysis Patient Care Technician":Pt 2 How to handle being new in dialysis as a technician?"

Becoming a Patient Care Technician FAQs

Does A Pct Make More Than A Cna?

Yes, a PCT earns more money than a CNA, in general. Patient care technicians earn slightly more money, making around $14 per hour than just under $13 an hour that certified nursing assistants make.

How Long Does It Take To Become A Patient Care Technician?

It takes a few months to become a patient care technician. Patient care technician programs vary in length depending on the state, but they usually take several months to complete.

However, most patient care technicians first become certified nursing assistants because many programs only allow those already trained as certified nursing assistants to enroll.

How Much Do Patient Care Techs Make?

Patient care techs make an average salary of $35,000 a year. However, this amount can vary depending on location and level of experience, typically ranging from $28,000 and $43,000 in annual salary.

Is Patient Care Technician The Same As A Cna?

No, a patient care technician is not the same as a CNA. While these roles are similar, they have subtle but significant differences, which are essential to understand what makes the positions distinct regarding job duties, educational requirements, salaries, and career outlook.

Patient Care Technician Vs. Cna

A patient care technician performs the duties of a CNA but is also trained to perform some basic medical duties such as EKG readings and phlebotomy, while a CNA performs basic patient-care duties.

Have more questions? See all answers to common healthcare practitioner and technical questions.

Search For Patient Care Technician Jobs

Patient Care Technician Related Careers

Patient Care Technician Related Jobs

Patient Care Technician Jobs By Location

Patient Care Technician Jobs By Company

Updated April 6, 2023