Should I be a PCT in Nursing School?

Great question!

I am in a TON of nursing student groups, as well as other groups for pre healthcare professionals and I see this question all the time. Like seriously... on a weekly basis.

So, lets talk about it!

I have worked in healthcare for many years now and in various positions, including: PCT, PCA, caregiver, healthcare admin, etc and there are many benefits to doing this work before starting your nursing program and during your nursing program.

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the pros and cons of working in these positions prior to becoming a nurse.

Pros:

• Experience: This is one of the biggest things people want out of their experience as a PCT. I personally did not feel I gained a ton of experience. At least night the experience I actually thought I wanted to get. (Whhaaatttt?! Crazy right?) Here is the thing. Yes, I learned to take vitals, give report, and it definitely taught me to communicate with patients on an excellent level. However, I did not participate in a lot of thing procedures that I wanted to and things of that nature. This is based on your unit (example: as an ER tech you would get a lot of hands on experience but not as much as a suicide sitter. Make sense?) My biggest take away was learning to communicate better, so that was a plus.

• Networking: Working at a hospital is 100% a great way to get your foot in the door for all types of things! You can learn about everything from study groups and scholarships to nursing positions after graduation and externships. For this reason alone, I believe it is worth it. It is also great if you are unsure if nursing is for you. I met pre-med students, undecided students working as scribes, pre-PA students, and many more. I even met a pre-law student!

• Covered Expenses: As you can assume, nursing school costs can add up very quickly due to vaccinations, background checks, and more. As a hospital employee, your employer will cover all these things... at NO cost to you! This was the main reason I decided to work in a hospital. Let us break it down: my nursing program has "fees" listed as $500+ and I literally only paid $40 out of pocket (for my CPR, which you will need to get employed at a hospital). You cannot say thats not a great discount.

• Flexibility: Healthcare can be extremely flexible, which is great while in school. If you are a full-time student that needs to only work on weekends, I bet you can work that schedule out, plus you would probably get a shift differential (extra pay). You can even work PRN and make your own schedule that allows you to pick up hours when you want/need to. It does not get much better than that.

Cons:

• Demanding: As we all know, healthcare work can be very demanding and often leave you exhausted. You may find yourself working an entire floor alone because someone called off on short notice or doing other things that have you question if this is really for you.

• More Insight: Being in the real world, seeing how things actually play out, you grow to realize what healthcare is and what it is not. You may start to learn or see things that you do not appreciate or see others violate regulations, which is never a fun experience. For example: you may see someone throw PHI in a hallway trashcan or realize your desired speciality is not that exciting after all. When I first got hired, I wanted nothing more than to be a NICU nurse, but I now know, that is not the place for me.

• Overwhelming: It may be a lot to handle when you see others at a different place in their journey, especially if you experience a setback - which can definitely happen in nursing school. You may even work with students from your cohort so it is even harder to face people in cases when hardships happen. The same goes for if you are not great at managing your time; it could be hard to balance work and school plus a social life. It may also be difficult to get acclimated to working 12 hour shifts.

• Experience: It may be anti-climatic if you are not sure what you want to get out of it. If you go in expecting a lot, you may be disappointed because your duties are more limited as a PCT (than they are as a nursing student on clinical rotations) so there are many things you cannot do.

All in all, it can be a very positive and rewarding experience if you know what to expect. It is also a great experience to add to your resume. However, it is not everything! You will not die if you do not work in a hospital or as a PCT while in school. A lot of the experience is based on the unit/ facility as well as your attitude while in the position. Remember tons of nurses get jobs right after graduation, without ever working in healthcare beforehand.