NHA Patient Care Technician (CPCT)

A patient care technician counts a resting adult patient's radial pulse and gets 78 beats per minute. How should this finding be classified?

1. ABelow normal, indicating possible shock
2. BBradycardia requiring immediate provider notification
3. CTachycardia requiring immediate provider notification
4. DWithin the normal adult range of 60-100 beats per minuteCorrect

Why: The normal resting heart rate for an adult is 60 to 100 beats per minute, so 78 bpm is normal. Bradycardia is a rate below 60 bpm and tachycardia is a rate above 100 bpm. No urgent notification is needed for a normal reading.

A visitor asks a technician to confirm whether their neighbor is a patient and what condition they have. What is the correct response under HIPAA?

1. AGive general details but not the exact diagnosis
2. BConfirm the room number so the visitor can go up
3. CPolitely decline and refer the request to staffCorrect
4. DShare the diagnosis, since they are neighbors

Why: Under HIPAA a technician may not confirm that a person is a patient, let alone describe their condition, to someone who is not authorized. The technician politely declines and directs the request to the nurse or to whoever handles such requests under facility policy. Confirming a room number confirms that the person is here, which is protected information on its own, and giving general details still discloses health information.HIPAA