Patient Care and Activities of Daily Living
Know the boundaries first
Patient care technician practice is assistive, not independent: you perform the tasks the nurse has assigned and you report what you find. Assessment, care planning, teaching a patient about a new diagnosis, medication administration, and central-line care stay with licensed staff. Exam questions frequently present a situation where the safest answer is simply 'report it to the nurse.'
ADLs and the dignity rules
Bathing, oral and denture care, perineal care, back care, bed making, dressing, feeding, toileting, and ambulating are core ADLs. Principles: provide privacy, keep the patient covered, work clean to dirty (face before perineum; perineal care front to back), never leave a patient in a wet bed, and encourage independence rather than doing everything for them. Clean dentures over a basin lined with a washcloth, using a non-abrasive cleanser; hot water warps them.
Mobility, positioning, and skin
Range of motion may be active, active-assistive, or passive. Stop at resistance or pain and never force a joint. Reposition at least every two hours to prevent pressure injury; know Fowler, semi-Fowler, supine, lateral, Sims, and prone. Report non-blanchable redness and never massage a reddened area.
Nutrition, hydration, elimination
For dysphagia: upright at 90 degrees, chin tucked, food on the stronger side, thickened liquids per order, and stay with the patient. Measure intake and output accurately; ice chips count as roughly half their volume of water.
Worked example
While repositioning a patient you find a new 1-cm dark red area over the coccyx that does not blanch with pressure. Rule of thumb: do not massage it and do not chart only 'will continue to monitor.' Reposition off the area, keep it clean and dry, chart the objective description, and report to the nurse.