Linda Lemos via NJ PPP Palco

A Patient Care Assistant (PCA) provides basic support to patients under licensed nursing staff, helping with daily living activities like bathing, dressing, feeding, and grooming, while also monitoring vitals, offering emotional support, assisting nurses with procedures, and reporting changes in patient condition to the healthcare team, working in settings from hospitals to private homes. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]  

Key Responsibilities & Duties: 

• Personal Care: Assisting with bathing, grooming, dressing, toileting, and ensuring personal hygiene. 

• Mobility Assistance: Helping patients walk, transfer, and move around the facility or home. 

• Monitoring Vitals: Taking and recording temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and reporting any abnormalities. 

• Nutrition Support: Assisting with meal preparation, feeding, and ensuring dietary needs are met. 

• Emotional Support: Providing companionship, comfort, and reassurance to patients. 

• Support for Nurses: Transporting patients, sterilizing instruments, collecting specimens, and assisting with basic medical tasks. 

• Documentation & Reporting: Documenting observations and reporting any changes in a patient's physical or behavioral status to nurses. 

• Environmental Support: Maintaining cleanliness in patient rooms and common areas, and assisting with light household tasks. [1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]  

Work Environments: 

My apartment home 

2 patients 

Key Skills & Qualities: 

• Compassion and empathy 

• Strong observation skills 

• Good communication 

• Reliability and attention to detail 

• Must be fluent in Spanish or know basic High School Spanish / college Spanish