Chapter 5: Direct Patient Care
Overview
Melissa has been working part-time while taking care of her elderly father for the past 2 years. Throughout her time caring for her father, she realized that she enjoys hands-on care that caregiving provided her. She wants to work directly with elderly patients in the hospital setting. She is thinking about enrolling in a CNA program or possibly another health profession where direct patient care is at the forefront.
If you know you want to work directly with patients but are not sure where to start, this chapter is a good jumping off point. The focus of this chapter will be on careers that involve direct patient care, and while many think this is limited to hospital settings, we can assure you that many of these careers also take place in doctors’ offices, schools, assisted living facilities and even patient homes. In this chapter we will specifically discuss medical assistants, nurses, physical therapist assistants, surgical technicians, and respiratory therapists.
Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter, the learner will be able to:
- Identify characteristics an employee who works in direct patient care should demonstrate.
- Differentiate between certification, degree, and licensure requirements for direct patient care careers.
- Describe employment settings for various direct patient care careers.
- Describe the differences between CNA, LPN and RN education and scope of practice.
- Describe the role and job requirements of a respiratory therapist.
Key Terms
- Activities of daily living
- Ambulatory care centers
- Bloodborne pathogen
- Diagnostic testing
- Direct patient care
- Empathy
- Hand hygiene
- Personal protective equipment
- Phlebotomy
- Physical therapy
- Chief (Presenting) complaint
- Primary care provider
- Respiratory droplets
- Respiratory therapy
- Standard precautions
- Symptoms
- Telemedicine (Telehealth)
- Vital signs
Attributions
- Chapter opening image: Checking in with a Patient by myfuture.com is released under CC BY-ND 2.0
