Key Points
- PCTs and CNAs share the same hands-on care tasks, but PCTs add phlebotomy, EKGs, and glucose checks where state rules and employers allow.
- Federal rules set CNA training at 75 hours minimum, with a state exam and registry listing. The PCT programs we checked run 128 to 325 hours and end with a national exam from NHA, NCCT, or AMCA.
- Indeed lists $22.18 an hour for PCTs and $20.53 for nursing assistants (updated Oct 5, 2026). BLS reports a $42,260 median for nursing assistants and $38,290 for orderlies, the group that includes PCTs (May 2025).
- Hospitals employ 86% of orderlies, while nursing assistants split between nursing care facilities (36%) and hospitals (32%).
- Some PCT programs, such as Kingsborough Community College's, accept certified nurse aides only, so CNA often comes first.
Difference Between a PCT and a CNA
The difference between a PCT and a CNA comes down to task list, training length, and the exam at the end. The care itself overlaps almost completely.
What Are PCTs and CNAs?
What Is a CNA?
A certified nursing assistant is a trained caregiver who gives direct patient care under the supervision of a registered nurse (RN) or licensed practical nurse (LPN). CNAs help with activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, eating, and moving, and they measure vital signs and report changes to nurses.
The credential is state-issued: you finish a state-approved program, pass the state competency exam, and get listed on the state nurse aide registry. The guide What Is a CNA covers the role, the pay, and how to start.
What Is a PCT?
A patient care technician is a CNA-level caregiver with added clinical training, usually in phlebotomy and EKGs. There is no federal definition of the role, and BLS does not track it as its own occupation. Instead, O*NET lists "Patient Care Technician (PCT)" as a reported job title under orderlies (31-1132), which makes orderly figures the closest BLS match for PCTs.
Most PCTs work in hospitals and dialysis clinics. For the job itself, start with our overview of what a patient care technician is.
What Does a PCT or a CNA Do?
On a typical shift, the two roles look the same for most of the day. The PCT's extra tasks show up when a patient needs a blood draw, a heart tracing, or a glucose check.
Duties both roles share:
- Helping patients bathe, dress, groom, and eat
- Moving, turning, and repositioning patients, and helping them walk
- Measuring temperature, pulse, blood pressure, and breathing rate
- Recording intake and output, such as meals and fluids
- Reporting changes in a patient's condition to the nurse
- Keeping rooms, beds, and equipment clean and stocked
What PCTs add, where state rules and the employer allow:
- Drawing blood (phlebotomy)
- Running EKGs
- Fingerstick glucose checks
- Collecting specimens and monitoring oxygen and pulse oximetry
- Urinary catheter and peripheral IV catheter tasks in some states
- In dialysis clinics, setting up machines and monitoring patients during treatment
The shared list is the whole CNA job, and our breakdown of a CNA's daily tasks walks through it hour by hour.
What Can a PCT Do That a CNA Can't?
There is no national scope-of-practice law for PCTs, so the answer depends on the state and the employer. Washington, DC is the one jurisdiction we found with a PCT-specific regulation. Its patient care technician rules (17 DCMR chapter 97) require certification, a minimum age of 18, and, for trainees, a high school diploma and nursing assistant certification.
Section 9715.1 lists the tasks a certified PCT may perform under a nurse's supervision:
- Phlebotomy
- Fingerstick blood glucose testing
- EKGs
- Inserting and discontinuing peripheral IV catheters
- Urinary catheter care, insertion, and removal
- Specimen collection
- Oxygen monitoring, pulse oximetry, and incentive spirometry
Everywhere else, hospitals set the line through job descriptions and competency checks. A CNA who is trained and checked off on phlebotomy at work may draw blood in many hospitals, so the gap is about training, not the title. In both roles, nurses keep the tasks that need a license, such as giving medications and doing assessments.
What Do You Need to Start a PCT or CNA Program?
CNA programs set their own entry rules under state oversight, usually a minimum age, immunization records, and a background check. The federal training rule does not require a high school diploma, though some programs ask for one.
PCT programs almost always require a high school diploma or GED, because the national exams do. NHA accepts candidates with a diploma or GED who finished a PCT program within the last 5 years or have 1 year of supervised PCT work in the last 3 years. NCCT's eligibility routes all require a U.S. high school diploma or equivalent, and AMCA requires candidates to be at least 18 with a diploma or equivalent.
Some PCT programs also require CNA certification first. Kingsborough Community College's CPCT course is "for Certified Nurse Aides only," while SUNY Jefferson's online PCT program has "no prerequisites." Check the entry rules before you compare prices.
Differences Between CNA and PCT Training
CNA Training
Nurse aide training programs must include at least 75 clock hours, with at least 16 hours of supervised practical training and at least 16 hours of instruction before any resident contact. Many states require more. After training, you take the state competency exam and get listed on the registry.
Cost and length vary by school. Dreambound's three Texas CNA partner programs, for example, run $920 to $1,450.
PCT Training
PCT programs are longer because they add phlebotomy, EKG, and other clinical skills on top of nurse aide content. Two published examples show the range:
Our guide to how long PCT training takes compares program lengths, and if you need a flexible schedule, online patient care technician classes explains what can be done at home and what has to happen on site.
How Do I Get Certified as a PCT or CNA?
CNAs take a state exam. In Pennsylvania, for example, the Credentia nurse aide exam has 70 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours, plus a skills evaluation of five randomly selected skills in 30 minutes. Passing both parts puts you on the state registry.
PCTs take a national exam from one of three bodies. Each has its own format, fee, and renewal cycle:
Sources: Credentia Pennsylvania exam overview, NHA CPCT/A test plan and NHA renewal page, NCCT candidate handbook (January 2026) and recertification guide (2026), and AMCA candidate handbook (2020).
PCT vs CNA Salary and Job Outlook
BLS does not report a separate wage for PCTs, so the closest government figure is the orderlies group, which O*NET uses for the PCT title. In May 2025, BLS reported a $38,290 median for orderlies, with the lowest 10% under $32,240 and the highest 10% over $50,600. Nursing assistants earned a $42,260 median, from under $33,940 to over $51,980.
Job-board data tells a different story, because it tracks the PCT title directly. Indeed lists an average of $22.18 an hour for patient care technicians, based on 15.9k salaries, and $20.53 an hour for nursing assistants, based on 240.4k salaries, both updated Oct 5, 2026. That is about $1.65 an hour more for PCTs, or roughly $3,400 a year at full time.
Setting moves pay more than the title does. Nursing assistants earned the highest medians in government ($47,050), nursing care facilities ($43,000), and hospitals ($42,310). Orderlies earned the most in ambulatory healthcare services ($38,550) and hospitals ($38,370).
Growth is steady for both. BLS projects 3% growth for nursing assistants and orderlies from 2025 to 2035, with about 203,300 openings a year, most of them from workers leaving the field. For state-by-state figures, our certified nursing assistant salary breakdown lists every state, and the patient care technician salary guide covers PCT pay by setting.
Work Setting
The setting is the clearest difference. Hospitals employ 86% of orderlies, the BLS group that includes PCTs, with ambulatory healthcare services (5%) and nursing and residential care facilities (4%) next. Hospital PCTs usually work on a unit, where blood draws and EKGs are part of the routine. Dialysis PCTs work in outpatient clinics, setting up dialysis machines and monitoring patients during treatment.
Nursing assistants work in nursing care facilities (36%), hospitals (32%), continuing care retirement communities and assisted living (11%), home healthcare services (5%), and government (3%). A hospital CNA does much of what a PCT does, while a nursing home CNA spends more of the day on daily living support for long-term residents.
Career Advancement
CNA to PCT is the most common step, since the PCT role is CNA care plus phlebotomy and EKGs. Some employers train CNAs in those skills on the job and change the title, while others require a PCT certificate first.
Dialysis has its own rule. Under 42 CFR 494.140, patient care dialysis technicians must be certified under a state program or a national commercially available program within 18 months of being hired, and must complete an employer training program run under an RN. That makes dialysis a clear next step for a CNA who wants a technical specialty.
Both roles lead to nursing. Many CNAs and PCTs go on to LPN or RN programs, and the hands-on hours make clinicals easier. Our guide to what comes after CNA lays out the next steps in order.
