I had a similar experience..........don't change "fields".....change your
position in the same field.........leave that facility if at all possible!
Once again!........I love scanning.........but only since I changed
facilities...........thx, res,rn,rvt
-----Original Message-----
From: Victoria A. Valentine
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 8/19/99 8:15 AM
Subject: Re: On-Call Issues
McAninch, Bridget wrote:
>
> Just wanting a procedure performed does not justify a technologist to
be
> called in. It makes me wonder where this profession is going. The
reason I
> am commenting in this manner is that the area which I am from appears
to be
> going through a very dramatic time. Techs are working 12-15 hours per
day
> which is creating total burnout.
Bridget,
I agree. I work in a very small hospital where we only have one full
time and one part time sonographer. Ours is a non-specialized
department, i.e. we do all types of exams, ob/gyn, abdomens,
aspirations, core biopsies, and vascular studies. We are scheduled for
12 hour days 7A-7P, but rarely leave before 9P. Frequently we start at
6:30A. Then we still have to do call and be back at 7 the next AM. We
only have one machine, and only one sonographer works at at time.
Saturdays and Sundays are our "easy" days, Saturday we are only
scheduled 8 hours, or 4 hours depending on who is the one working, then
call. Sunday is call only. On top of this, the hospital doesn't want
to pay overtime, they want you to take comp time. Unfortunately, they
only want the part time sonographer to work between 24-28 hours a week
so how can the full time person take comp time if there is no one to
cover her hours?? These are questions. Burnout is definately the
correct term. We schedule between 12-15 exams per day, but with addons
stuck in, and ED and inpatients, this can go up over 20. This may not
seem like much to those in large departments, but for one person on one
machine, it can be brutal. OK, I'm done venting...sorry. I love my
job, but I dislike what it is becoming. I never thought I would say
this, but I've been looking into other fields.
Victoria A. Valentine, BA, RDMS
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