7 Key Patient Care Technician (PCT) Interview Questions to Ask

Patient care technicians (PCTs) are unlicensed clinicians who address basic patient needs. They play a key role in the care delivery process and are vital members of the healthcare multidisciplinary team. If your facility is looking to hire a patient care technician, you may be looking for ways to identify well-qualified candidates. Asking tailored PCT interview questions is one strategy you can use to ensure the candidate you hire is suited for your position.

In this article, we list seven important questions you should ask during your PCT interviews. We review what to listen out for and provide follow-up questions you can ask to gain additional insight into each individual’s responses.

Before recruiting candidates, you’ll want to ensure your patient care technician job description is written in a way that attracts top applicants. Browsing local job postings can ensure the salary and benefits you offer potential PCT candidates are fair and competitive.

Then, once you’re ready to proceed to the interview stage of the hiring process, you can solidify the questions you’ll be asking each candidate. The following downloadable assessment form can help you stay organized and keep track of candidate responses during your interviews.

PCT Interview Questions and Answers

Before crafting your interview questions, you’ll want to identify your team’s unique needs. Will your PCTs assist with vital sign collection, or will they serve more of an administrative role? Does your team require a PCT with years of experience, or are you interested in hiring an employee new to patient care? Asking the following questions will help you identify candidates with the skills and behavior traits you’re looking for.

1. What made you want to become a patient care technician?

Starting off with introductory PCT interview questions like this one can help you get a feel for each candidate’s professionalism, confidence, and communication skills. Is the clinician motivated to improve patient outcomes? Do they want to make a positive impact on the lives of the patients they serve? You’ll want to hire an employee who’s excited at the opportunity to work for your facility.

What to listen for:

• Demonstrates a genuine passion for patient care
• Communicates clearly in a warm and professional tone

Potential follow-up questions:

• Why are you looking to leave your current position?
• How will your skills align with our organizational mission, vision, and values?

2. How has your previous work experience prepared you for this position?

Once you understand why a candidate is interested in joining your team, you’ll want to find out more about their professional experience. Some PCTs have years of experience and are looking to work in a new specialty or patient care setting. Other candidates may be new to the healthcare field but have relevant volunteer or academic experience that would qualify them for the position.

While you may be tempted to hire a candidate with a high level of clinical experience, it can be more helpful to hire an employee with empathy, time management, and critical-thinking skills necessary for working in healthcare. Job duties and tasks can be taught on the job, but soft skills need to be developed over longer periods of time and are harder to teach.

What to listen for:

• Displays excitement at the opportunity to grow professionally within your organization
• Understands the challenges of working as a PCT and is prepared to help your team meet your clinical goals

Potential follow-up questions:

• What do you find most challenging about being a PCT?
• What skills can you bring to our multidisciplinary team?

3. What types of patient care tasks are you comfortable performing independently?

Most patient care technicians will know how to collect vital signs, assist with patient needs, and document findings in the patient’s electronic health record (EHR). In addition to the duties included in their standard scope of practice, PCTs may also be expected to carry out tasks like administering medications and assessing pain, depending on their state of practice. It’s important to ensure that the PCT you hire has the skills and abilities required for your position.

What to listen for:

• Shows confidence in providing high-quality care to patients and their family members
• Thoroughly understands the PCT scope of practice

Potential follow-up questions:

• Have you ever had a patient that refused care? How did you handle the situation?
• What would you do if a patient asked you to perform a task that was outside your legal scope of practice?

4. What would you do if you noticed a decline in a patient’s condition?

It’s important that PCTs are able to recognize patient deterioration and communicate concerns to their clinical chain of command. Asking critical thinking PCT interview questions like this one will ensure that your patients receive timely care when they need it most.

What to listen for:

• Knows how to utilize various methods of communication (pager, phone, instant messaging, face-to-face, etc.)
• Prioritizes patient safety in emergency situations

Potential follow-up questions:

• How would you communicate with a distraught patient who has just received bad news?
• Tell me about a time you made a mistake. How did you work to minimize patient harm?

5. How do you plan to provide culturally competent care to patients with diverse values, perspectives, and beliefs?

Navigating cultural differences in healthcare can be challenging. When outlining your patient care tech interview questions, you’ll want to ascertain whether each clinician has the skills necessary to provide fair and equitable care to all of your patients, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, or religion.

What to listen for:

• Understands the effects of unconscious bias and works to limit assumptions made about patients
• Demonstrates behaviors like active listening and curiosity when providing care to patients of different backgrounds

Potential follow-up questions:

• What techniques would you use to communicate with a confused or delirious patient?
• Do you have any experience working with healthcare translation services?

6. What strategies do you use to minimize the spread of infection?

PCTs play a vital role in keeping patient care environments safe and clean. These employees are responsible for reducing the incidence of healthcare-acquired infection by:

• Thoroughly washing their hands before and after patient contact.
• Sterilizing all surfaces and equipment.
• Disposing needles and sharp objects in the appropriate receptacle.
• Wearing personal protective equipment when necessary.
• Properly storing and heating patient meals and drinks.

What to listen for:

• Understands the importance of following facility-specific safety protocols
• Uses supplies like soap, hand sanitizer, and hospital-grade cleansing wipes to limit contamination

Potential follow-up questions:

• Have you ever helped to develop a quality improvement initiative? How did your efforts optimize care practices?
• How would you position a patient to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired pressure injury (HAPI)?

7. How do you plan to find work-life balance while working as a PCT?

Working as a patient care technician can be stressful. You’ll also want to ensure that the clinician you hire knows how to balance personal and professional priorities so that they can perform their best every day.

What to listen for:

• Demonstrates resilience and strength on difficult days
• Enjoys participating in hobbies, clubs or activities outside of work

Potential follow-up questions:

• How would you support a coworker who was having a challenging shift?
• What are your professional goals for the next five years?

Match With Qualified Professionals for Every Hiring Need

Once you’ve crafted a set of PCT interview questions, you’ll be ready to start recruiting applicants. The next challenge will be to advertise your position to qualified clinicians. By posting your vacancies to IntelyCare’s premier healthcare job board, you can connect with over 1 million industry-leading professionals actively searching for a job.