Recently at Douglass, a field trip for seniors in Ms.Holmans Patient Care Technician class that are learning to become Patient Care Tech’s in an acute care healthcare setting was set up. During this field trip, If participating students pass the certification test next month for patient tech, they will be certified as a Patient Care Technician upon graduation from high school which will enable them to start their career in healthcare while making decent money.
Holman says “We toured Saint Joseph Hospital as a way for students who have never been in a hospital setting to be able to see the environment and get a feel for how a hospital functions before they begin working in one. Our tour guide was Casey Littrell who is the educator at SJH for nursing assistants. She was fabulous and took the students to all the different units in the hospital where they may work as PCT’s.”
Students were educated in what type of patient would commonly be on each unit and what type of duties the PCT’s would perform on each unit. Students were also shown some of the different types of equipment that each unit used. Ms.Holman says “Employees in the hospital engaged with the students and expressed the need of nursing assistants in their hospital while encouraging them to come work at SJH. I would describe this field trip as both fun and educational.”
Ms. Holman said that many students expressed their enjoyment from the trip. She also said that a student stated “it brought everything they learned in PCT together.” Students were able to see how everything they are learning in the classroom is relevant to the real world of healthcare. She says that one student who was deciding between a career in healthcare and a career in another field felt stronger about going into a healthcare career after the trip.
This experience also gave the students an opportunity to experience empathy, and they saw the emotions from patients and family members in different situations. “During the trip, students were able to ask questions to our educator tour guide as well as other staff members who were willing to engage with them!” Holman exclaimed.
