Transporter Hospitals

 

Patient transporters are critical when it comes to helping hospitals care for patients and operate efficiently. Because hospitals move many patients throughout their facility on a daily basis, transporting them quickly in and out of rooms helps avoid delays and overcrowding in emergency departments. Patient transportation isn’t just an essential part of a hospital’s operations — it’s also a strong career path for people with a caring spirit who enjoy serving others. Learn all about patient transportation and what it means to be a patient transporter at Crothall.

What Is Patient Transportation?

Patient transportation also called patient transport is the process of moving patients to and from different areas of a medical facility. Sometimes patients are not permitted or are physically unable to walk from their rooms to other areas of the hospital. In these cases, patient transporters use wheelchairs and stretchers to help move patients safely to other areas to receive treatment, take tests, recover from recent procedures, and more.
The role of a patient transporter includes the following:

Assisting patients in and out of cars, taxis, and other vehicles.

Carefully lifting patients from their beds and placing them into wheelchairs or moveable beds.
Moving patients to different areas of the hospital, such as operating rooms, treatment areas, and special service departments.
Transporting supplies, laboratory specimens, and equipment to designated areas of the medical facility.
Transporting deceased patients to the appropriate area, such as the mortuary.
Providing patients and their families with compassion and care. Demonstrating cultural and social tolerance and acceptance is crucial.
Following protocol to maintain a safe and healthy work environment for fellow associates and patients.
Having a willingness to expand their knowledge and training through continued education.

The Importance of a Quality Patient Transport System

Along with providing patients with quality transportation services, Crothall helps give hospital staff more time in their workday to do what they do best. For instance, nurses can center their focus on patient treatment plans rather than the logistics of moving their patients. As a patient transporter you play a role in making sure that patients get to their next location comfortably and safely.
The Qualities of a Good Patient Transporter

 

It’s critical that patient transporters provide quality care to every patient they serve. So what qualities make a good patient transporter? Beyond applying patient transportation best practices which we teach on the job, patient transporters should be high-energy, polite, and have a friendly demeanor. We know a patient’s experience is about so much more than the clinical care they receive. Patients need to feel like all hospital associates, both clinical and non-clinical care about their comfort.

Patient transporters should also pay strong attention to detail. For example, examining a patient’s equipment before moving them to another location to ensure the trip, regardless of distance is safe. Paying attention to detail can help prevent accidents or unpleasant situations in general.

Top Qualities Needed to Be a Patient Transporter

We put all patient transporters through an extensive training process to ensure that our associates feel empowered and our patients receive the best transportation services. If you’re interested in becoming a patient transporter, here’s what we look for in our candidates:

Acceptance: Our patient transporters understand that patients come from many unique backgrounds and cultures. We ensure that they treat everyone and their families with the respect they deserve.
Attention to detail: It’s important to pay attention to every detail as you move patients. Our staff completes many checks and balances before transporting a patient to a new location.
Customer service: Every patient should feel cared for and valued when they are with our team members. We train all of our associates in customer service, and love candidates that already have a strong sense of what customer service should look like.
Friendly personality: One reason patients love Crothall patient transporters is because of their fun and caring personalities. We look for people who can light up a room and bring joy into any situation. As Jeff Barnard, Patient Transportation Director at Crothall says, “We can teach the knowledge that people need for transport. [But we] can’t teach personality.”
Physical fitness: A patient transporter must have the physical strength to safely lift and set down patients. Our associates must use the proper form during their lifts.

Why Patient Transporters Love Working with Crothall

Working as patient transporters gives our associates the chance to connect with many different patients and types of people. They enjoy sharing life experiences and having meaningful conversations with people from all walks of life. Many of the patients our associates transport are so impressed by how our team treats them, that patents sometimes choose to keep in touch with our transporters. It’s not unheard of for our associates to build such strong relationships with patients that they are later invited to holiday gatherings.

Patient transportation is gratifying work. Knowing that what you do positively impacts someone else is rewarding. Healthcare can be a challenging field to work in, but positive feedback our associates receive from their peers, patients and supervisors re-connects them to their purpose of serving others.