Ed Techs

Editorial Team / Admin · Aug 1, 2005

Just a ?, let me start by saying that I love having techs there to help, but there are 2 in particular that I work with that can't grasp the fact they are not RN's. They talk ot you like you are an idiot, I had one of them argue with me about colostomy's the other day she would not budge and said she new that all colostomys come off the small intestine, I wanted to scream but I shut up, because this tech is planning on going to nursing school and they will eat her alive!! Also they are going to train our techs to start IV's, ok well one of them told me that the RN's are going to have to start doing the usual tech stuff because they will be busy starting IV's!! I was a tech before I was a nurse and I would never have talked to a nurse the way they talk to me!! My favorite comment was the one who said well I am a certified phlebotomist and you are just a RN, call me crazy but I dont believe there is a comparison!! Sorry for the rant but I needed to say it here so I dont yell at them on the day that I have finally had enough og there crap!!!!!!!

You have come to the right place to rant!!

It's hard to soar like an eagle when you work with turkeys!!

DusktilDawn · Aug 1, 2005

Just a ?, let me start by saying that I love having techs there to help, but there are 2 in particular that I work with that can't grasp the fact they are not RN's. They talk ot you like you are an idiot, I had one of them argue with me about colostomy's the other day she would not budge and said she new that all colostomys come off the small intestine, I wanted to scream but I shut up, because this tech is planning on going to nursing school and they will eat her alive!! Also they are going to train our techs to start IV's, ok well one of them told me that the RN's are going to have to start doing the usual tech stuff because they will be busy starting IV's!! I was a tech before I was a nurse and I would never have talked to a nurse the way they talk to me!! My favorite comment was the one who said well I am a certified phlebotomist and you are just a RN, call me crazy but I dont believe there is a comparison!! Sorry for the rant but I needed to say it here so I dont yell at them on the day that I have finally had enough og there crap!!!!!!!

I would so make a point of praising the good, hard working Ed techs in front of these two.

You're right about Ms. Knowitall being eaten alive in school. Next time she feels the need to demonstrate her superior yet inaccurrate knowledge, ask her very calmly and politely, "What medical journal did you read this in? My thats interesting." and then walk away.

If Ms. FutureIVqueen makes any more remarks about RNs having to do "tech stuff since we'll be busy starting IV's", just remind her that despite the fact she will be aquiring an added skill, she did not aquire the ability nor the authority to delegate.

BabyRN2Be · Aug 2, 2005

Jennie,

I am so sorry that you are having trouble with these 2 techs. You anger and rant is definitely justifiable.

I can't believe that one of them said that she's a certified (whatever) phlebotomist and you are just an RN. If I was an RN, that would infuriate me as well. :angryfire I know that phlebotomists go through training and are not brought in off the street, but come on, comparing what an RN goes through to a phleb tech?? There's just NO comparison.

My problem with this scenario is that in your hospital techs can start IV's?? :eek:

I thought that I had read somewhere that starting IV's was the nurse's domain and was not within the realm of practice for an advanced unlicensed assistant (or techs). Maybe that was just in California.

My heart goes out to you, you deserve a good rant! :)

Jen2 · Aug 2, 2005

There are a few techs in our ED that act like this as well. I just passed my boards last week, so I haven't been correcting them because I was a GN, and if I failed my boards they would have made my time there a living he!!. I actually had one tell me that she couldn't believe a GN got paid more than a CNA, because she was "certified" and a GN hasn't even taken boards yet. I also had another one tell me, "remember a straight cath is a sterile procedure".

Well I have passed my boards now and it is time to start standing my ground and sticking up for myself. I always thank the techs for helping me and never tell them to do something, but ask them to help me do it. I will continue giving them the respect they deserve, but will no longer allow them to talk to me like I am stupid. I asked one of the techs the other day if she could please fill out a clothing sheet on a patient, while I was getting her packed up to go upstairs and she stated, "Here it is, since you are going to be in there pulling down the monitor you can get it didn't they teach you that in nursing school"?

Problem is it's always the same 2 people, they have been there for years, are in the union, and cannot be touched by just giving me a bad attitude. Oh well that's my rant for the day. Whew I feel better. Just wanted to let ya know I feel ya. Hope it gets better.

MejiaStudentRN · Aug 2, 2005

There are a few techs in our ED that act like this as well. I just passed my boards last week, so I haven't been correcting them because I was a GN, and if I failed my boards they would have made my time there a living he!!. I actually had one tell me that she couldn't believe a GN got paid more than a CNA, because she was "certified" and a GN hasn't even taken boards yet. I also had another one tell me, "remember a straight cath is a sterile procedure".
Well I have passed my boards now and it is time to start standing my ground and sticking up for myself. I always thank the techs for helping me and never tell them to do something, but ask them to help me do it. I will continue giving them the respect they deserve, but will no longer allow them to talk to me like I am stupid. I asked one of the techs the other day if she could please fill out a clothing sheet on a patient, while I was getting her packed up to go upstairs and she stated, "Here it is, since you are going to be in there pulling down the monitor you can get it didn't they teach you that in nursing school"?
Problem is it's always the same 2 people, they have been there for years, are in the union, and cannot be touched by just giving me a bad attitude. Oh well that's my rant for the day. Whew I feel better. Just wanted to let ya know I feel ya. Hope it gets better.

I am an ER Tech in NJ and also a nursing student, I think the amount of knowledge I am getting from working so directly with the pts and the nurses will help me be a better nurse. In my hospital we do Phlebotomy, ECG's, Splints, Wound care, ETc... pull IV's, but never start them. My role is to assist the nurses, md's and pt's. Its important to know your place. I'm in it to gain knowledge, which is something you cannot do if you already think you know it all.

I recently had an issue where I knew a nurse (GN) had inflated the baloon on a Foley Cath without it being in all the way, but knowing my place I would never say anything to her in front of the pt. I simply got the attention of her preceptor and asked them to check the foley. sure enough, it needed to be in another 7 or so inches. The pt had blood in his urine for about an hour. Apparently, something about an enlarged prostate, the GN felt resistance and assumed it was in place.

MrsWampthang, BSN, RN · Aug 2, 2005

Also they are going to train our techs to start IV's, ok well one of them told me that the RN's are going to have to start doing the usual tech stuff because they will be busy starting IV's!!

Yeah, well that's what she thinks. Anything to get out doing work huh? Just hang in there and don't let them intimidate you or push you around. YOU are the RN and THEY are the tech and don't let them forget it, you didn't go to school to be an RN so you could do tech work while they sit around and eat, talk, and play on the computer. Oh sorry, now I'm ranting! :angryfire

Pam

P.S. In Indiana if the hospital policy allows, techs can be trained to start saline locks, but just if they are going to draw blood, not just to have something to do. It does help decrease the nurse's work load, but it irritates me when I have started the IV and have drawn the blood, and no tech comes in to take it. I have other things to do like giving meds so I can't just take the blood out and send it right then. I usually ring the call lite and ask the secretary to send the tech in to get the blood, but more than once, no one has shown up and I finish giving the med and go out to find the techs just sitting around doing nothing while the patient's blood is laying in the patient's room waiting for me to get done so it can be sent. The techs have a card that indicates what labs need drawn and if the patient has an IV ordered. You would think that the tech would at least poke their head in the patient's room to see if the blood has been drawn yet, but they don't. Oh sorry. I'm ranting again. :angryfire I have real issues with some of the techs that I work with and I imagine they don't like working with me cause I ask them (nicely) to do things, especially if I see them sitting around doing nothing and the nurses are running their butts off.

As a side note, I don't mind cleaning rooms, emptying trash or linen, but when the techs are sitting doing nothing, that's when I get really mad. I didn't go to school for as long as I did to do tech work so the techs can sit around and do nothing. :angryfire As I said, I have issues. Sorry.

Pam

CrazyPremed, MSN, RN, NP · Aug 2, 2005

My favorite comment was the one who said well I am a certified phlebotomist and you are just a RN, call me crazy but I dont believe there is a comparison!!

I'm a certified phlebotomist and I would never say anything like that. Although I've never worked as an ER Tech (hopefully will within the next 3 months), I think that they forget that they are ER Nursing assistants. It's a little inappropriate for them to talk to you like that. You are right to be angry!!!!

Just remember, they could just be jealous!! :chuckle

Stewie · Aug 2, 2005

First, I want to say that you have every right to be angry at these two techs, but have you ever stopped to think how much easier the good ones make your job? I know the ED that I work in without techs the nurses would never be able to get their jobs done. I am in no way defending the actions of these two techs because they should respect your position as well as you respecting theirs.

I'm sure it's different in every state and every facility, but at least the ED that I work in I never see a tech sitting, unless they are entering orders (which most nurses refuse to do). We get the patient in the bed, hook them up to the monitor, get an inital set of vitals, draw blood, EKG, foley cath, etc and some of this is before the RN has even made it to the bedside.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Aug 2, 2005

I wanted to scream but I shut up, because this tech is planning on going to nursing school and they will eat her alive!

Then let them. It sounds like the tech could use a reality check.

nursejennie76 · Aug 2, 2005

Yeah, well that's what she thinks. Anything to get out doing work huh? Just hang in there and don't let them intimidate you or push you around. YOU are the RN and THEY are the tech and don't let them forget it, you didn't go to school to be an RN so you could do tech work while they sit around and eat, talk, and play on the computer. Oh sorry, now I'm ranting! :angryfire
Pam
P.S. In Indiana if the hospital policy allows, techs can be trained to start saline locks, but just if they are going to draw blood, not just to have something to do. It does help decrease the nurse's work load, but it irritates me when I have started the IV and have drawn the blood, and no tech comes in to take it. I have other things to do like giving meds so I can't just take the blood out and send it right then. I usually ring the call lite and ask the secretary to send the tech in to get the blood, but more than once, no one has shown up and I finish giving the med and go out to find the techs just sitting around doing nothing while the patient's blood is laying in the patient's room waiting for me to get done so it can be sent. The techs have a card that indicates what labs need drawn and if the patient has an IV ordered. You would think that the tech would at least poke their head in the patient's room to see if the blood has been drawn yet, but they don't. Oh sorry. I'm ranting again. :angryfire I have real issues with some of the techs that I work with and I imagine they don't like working with me cause I ask them (nicely) to do things, especially if I see them sitting around doing nothing and the nurses are running their butts off.
As a side note, I don't mind cleaning rooms, emptying trash or linen, but when the techs are sitting doing nothing, that's when I get really mad. I didn't go to school for as long as I did to do tech work so the techs can sit around and do nothing. :angryfire As I said, I have issues. Sorry.
Pam

Well it sounds like we work in the same ER!! We also have cards posted with the labs, and IV needs on them, and the techs like to play on the computer and hide in there little room!! We also have paramedics in our ER and they are awsome and the techs also treat them like crap, I had one tech even call one of the paramedics "stupid" the other day.

Brotherbob, BSN, RN · Aug 2, 2005

Just remember, they could just be jealous!! :chuckle

This is often the case, they get bitter because they want to be a RN but for some reason not go to school.