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RRT-to-RPSGT: will you hire me?
Okay, here's the deal: I have been an CRTT since 1983, RRT since 1990. Long experienced in adult acute care, a bit of NICU, lots of home care, a bit of teaching. I'm in one of the BRPT Pathway #3 CAAHEP-Accredited Polysomnographic Technology programs, so next month, after only two semesters of part-time classes & 15 nights in the lab, I'll be eligible for the RPSGT exam. I'm not making any predictions but I have a good record with such exams, so for the sake of discussion, if I pass will you hire me?
Are you old guard RPSGTs who paid your dues for so long before being eligible for the exam a little pissed off about we RTs getting such a short path to eligibility? Will you hire us even though we have very little experience? Will it matter whether or not we have passed the RPSGT exam? Will you want to pay us differently? Will we be suspect until we prove ourselves?
Come on, let's hear it. Will I be back in the ICU by Christmas because no one will hire the RT retreads?
Are you old guard RPSGTs who paid your dues for so long before being eligible for the exam a little pissed off about we RTs getting such a short path to eligibility? Will you hire us even though we have very little experience? Will it matter whether or not we have passed the RPSGT exam? Will you want to pay us differently? Will we be suspect until we prove ourselves?
Come on, let's hear it. Will I be back in the ICU by Christmas because no one will hire the RT retreads?
Views: 441
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Duane McDade on
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What I have seen is this. 1.) The Males who want Female techs, are the ones who will make the sexual comments. 2.) It's all in the personality of the human/ technician the ones who think with a certain part of thier body have no buiness in the medical profession. 3.) Most Females feel safer when a Man is on" gaurd ",so to speak.4.) It all comes down to what kind of person YOU are, any opinions people have of you can be change by your actions. Good or Bad! Treat all patients as you would like to be treated.....ok,
These are just observations I have made during my 7-8 years of being sleep deprived, for pay. Do unto others as........and everyone will be just fine. You are how you act? Did I just make that up? I done over 7,000 sleep studies without 1 ill word, so I expect nothing less from a fine Gentlemen like our Rocks!!!!
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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on
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I really was not upset. I agree with Duane.
Duane McDade said:What I have seen is this. 1.) The Males who want Female techs, are the ones who will make the sexual comments. 2.) It's all in the personality of the human/ technician the ones who think with a certain part of thier body have no buiness in the medical profession. 3.) Most Females feel safer when a Man is on" gaurd ",so to speak.4.) It all comes down to what kind of person YOU are, any opinions people have of you can be change by your actions. Good or Bad!
These are just observations I have made during my 7-8 years of being sleep deprived, for pay. Do unto others as........and everyone will be just fine. You are how you act? Did I just make that up?
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Permalink Reply by Rock Conner RRT on
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Last October my wife & I visited Maine. The only bad part of the trip was leaving. We saw colors in Acadia National forest I had never imagined!
Cindy Brown said:Hey Rock,
I would hire you in a heart beat. But then I have a very similar background. I just happen to be in an environment that my credentials are held in high esteem. In our lab we are all RRT/RPSGT or working towards that goal. We don't hire anybody that's not RRT. Do I think that's right? Well, not exactly. I think the techs that took a different route to get to this point all have something to contribute. Do I think we need to have higher standards in our profession? Yes I do. I also think we need to be separated from the rest.
Do I think I'm coasting as a sleep tech? Not exactly. I think it's more mentally challanging then Respiratory was but I think Respiratory can be more exciting. I'm more into less excitement and more thinking.
Do I think we all need to be named Rock? hmmmmmmm
Are ya coming to Maine?
Cindy
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I was once turned down for a job at Victoria Secret because i was a man.
Cindy Brown said:Rock as you should be. I was once denied a position in a sleep lab because I was a "girl". The sleep doc dindn't want a female alone in the lab. Hmmmmm.
Cindy
P.S. I like your name.
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now thats not fair!
Rock Hinkle said:I was once turned down for a job at Victoria Secret because i was a man.
Cindy Brown said:Rock as you should be. I was once denied a position in a sleep lab because I was a "girl". The sleep doc dindn't want a female alone in the lab. Hmmmmm.
Cindy
P.S. I like your name.
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What does upset me Rock is that the BRPT/AAST/AASM continues to make it easier for an RT to be eligible. The modules do not prepare you for the boards. They prepare to run a study. They test you on the basics. Everyone should take them. The goal should be more education not less.
Right now I am helping with the training of a few very good RTs. Out of the 3 i think 2 of them might make it in sleep. They do not understand titrations. I do. They have to sign off on my titration studies because I am not registered. that is the way the rules are set up right now. these are the things that really bug me about this issue. A registered polysomnograph technician could not oversee a respiratory procedure.
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Permalink Reply by Judy on
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and "I" am w/you, Rock Hinkle. If RRTs don't want to invent is proper, comprehensive PSG training then they should butt out! And take their organization w/them. Their respiratory expertise does NOT extend to PSGs.
By the way - my hubby is a Maine-iac! He's from about 40 miles N of Bangor. I so love inland Maine - and VT and NH! They're MY kind of country!
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Among the things I've learned (or to this point THINK I have learned) during my transition program (RRT-to-RPSGT):
-- PAP titration is not the simple respiratory procedure that some RTs have described. One must know much more about sleep staging, etc. than I ever encountered in RT school or in practice.
-- O2 titration is not as simple as some sleep techs think. There are reasons for all the things we RTs ask about pulmonary history, CO2 retention, etc. O2 administration is NOT always the optimal therapy for hypoxia secondary to sleep disordered breathing.
-- Sleep is not the place to go for an easy way to finish off a respiratory career.
-- I've seen enough of both worlds to respect those who demonstrate expertise in either.
-- Recipe for disaster: Eliminate respiratory therapists & replace them overnight with sleep techs.
-- Just as disastrous: Eliminate sleep techs & replace them overnight with respiratory therapists.
-- There's passing sleep exams & there's obtaining good sleep records, & they ain't the same.
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CPAP, titrations, and o2 are rspiratory functions. I have no problem with that. My problem is that most RTs know very little about the first 2. Sleep is not a lung function. I have been in sleep for just shy of 2 years now. You can't tell me that an Rt with no sleep experience is going to have more knowledge than me on the subject. An rts training has to be helpful for any medical job. After a year of training and added confidence that experience will help. Come on Cindy you have been doing this long enough to know that a sleep tech hired off the street and an RT new to sleep have the same chacne of succeeding. The Rt may be at a disadvantage because they have to be reprogrammed then re-trained.
Cindy Brown said:So what you're saying Judy is that I cannot possibly be as good a RPSGT as Rock Hinkle because I have an AA degree in Respiratory care and 20 years experience working with patients? I am not sure you realize what kind of training goes in to being an RRT nor what little education is available for sleep techs.
In addition it's not just RT's that benefit from the BRPT rules. END, EMT, MD and a host of other medical professionals also take the pathway that does not require an A-step program to be eligible to sit the registry exam. We medical professionals do not get a free ride we still have to pass the test which means we have to get more education.
So does a person who has no background in medicine at all and then goes to school (if one can be found) and gets some sort of certificate in sleep better than a person who has a degree in some medical field and then gets the education to become knowledgable enough to sit the registry? I'm very confused as to why there is so much animosity to respiratory therapists being in sleep. I don't hear folks complaining about EEG techs being sleep techs.
Rock, titrations of oxygen and CPAP are respiratory procedures.
Cindy
P.S. My husbands family is from the Bangor area.
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Cindy, i am sorry. I did not mean to lump RTs. I work with some great ones. i am honored to be involved with the training program at our lab. I feel like the BRPT and the AASM is giving RTs an unfair advantage. We have had to vent in our labs. i have had to assist the RTs with this process. i know more about venting than an RT knows about sleep out of the gate. I am OJT baby!
Cindy Brown said:All I'm saying Rock is that I got the same training that you got or are getting when I switched to sleep. Did I come in the door knowing everything, heck now! I looked at my first sleep tracings and said, to myself of course, "Holy sh*t I'll never make head nor tails of this". I at least could figure out what was ekg, and sat monitoring. And felt pretty comfortable with the respiratory portion of the tracings.
I think perhaps with enough training and experience and the drive to succeed anybody can do the job that I do. Some people do a better job than others. My problem with most of this thread is to lump "most" respiratory therapists in the same ball. I've worked with quite a few RTs and some I would trust with my life and the lives of my children but there are others that I would run the other way as fast as I could even if I were in respiratory distress. I'm concerned about the generalizations. Am I a worse tech because I have an RT background, I don't think so. I think I should get a bit of a short cut to being credentialed because of my education and my experience. As I think anybody that has an education and experience in the field. I don't think that someone with medical experience and someone who is fresh off the street coming into sleep have the same footing. I was required to have 6 months experience in the lab to be eligible to sit the boards. Do I think Joe Plumber could do it in that amount of time? No. I at least know basic anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, breathing mechanics, and some knowledge of cpap and other positive pressure modalities. I do believe however that we can all end up in the same place. I think the ones with more education and experience will just get there a little faster.
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I'm an EX-Rock Musician in the witness protection program.....Will anybody hire me?
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This arguement is not going on between anyone else. The rules are not being changed for any other group of medical practitioners. the rules are being changed because of what is going on between the AASM and the AARC. I do not know what you went through to get your credentials, but we are not talking about how it was when you went through. We are talking about what is going on now. Right now what I see is a weakening of the rules to appease the AARC. you yourself have said that sleep needs more education to strengthen the field. In the last 6 months we have seen some of what little education was mandatory stripped away. How is going backwards better for the field of sleep? You stated that we got the same education. Now the people coming in behind us are not. I did not have the option to take my test at six months. if I had I would have done everything in my power to prepare.
As of right now I can't take my test until march of 2010 because my 18months is up on Nvember 9th. This is 10 days after the Oct 30 deadline for the Dec. test. Is it fair that I have to wait? I took my modules, and my introductory course. i have served my time in every capacity, yet I have to wait while Rts with half of the knowledge I have in sleep get a chance just because they got an associate degree in a completely different field. Come on Cindy! This does nothing to add strength to sleep.
I meant no disrespect to the efforts that you put into getting to your position. I am sure that with your 20 years of medical knowledge, regardless of credentials, that you are a far superior tech to me. This has been a great post. Should we ever meet first round is on me.
Cindy Brown said:Why is it an unfair advantage?
It's not just RT's that can take advantage of the 2nd pathway to credentialing.
Pathway #2 - for candidates with 6-months of PSG experience (credentialed health professionals)
Candidates must complete a minimum of 6 months of paid clinical experience where at least 21 hours per week per calendar year of on-the-job duties performed are Polysomnography direct patient recording and/or scoring. Duties must be within a 3-year period prior to the exam.
Candidates must hold one of the following credentials:
Nursing - (RN, LPN)
Respiratory Care - (RRT, CRT)
Electroneurodiagnostic - (R. EEG T., R. EP T., CNIM)
Physician's Assistant - (PA)
PhD.
Medical Doctor - (MD)
Doctor of Osteopathy - (DO)
Doctor of Chiropractic - (DC)
Paramedic - (EMT-P)
Doctor of Dental Surgery - (DDS)
Radiology - (RT, RT (R), RT (CT), RT (BD) )
Candidates DO NOT need to complete the A-STEP Self-Study (online) Modules.
Candidates DO NOT need to submit proof of secondary education.
It clearly states quite a few credentials but yet you're picking on the RTs. Are these other professionals also getting an unfair advantage? I'm not sure what advantage you percieve I've recieved. Were you able to pass the RPSGT after 6 months of training? I think I took 16 months before I took the exam. I guess I'm just unclear how I've gotten an unfair advantage.
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