Endoscopy RN...would you recommend it?

KimRN03 · Jan 9, 2006

Stephani~First of all, congrats on finishing school! When I graduated from Nursing school, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I knew more specialties that I didn't like that I was interested in. My first job was on an Orthopedic floor, simply because I had interned on that floor and thought it would be the easiest place for me to transition to being an RN. I was right. There is so much to learn as a new Grad, and I really feel I was a lot less stressed just by working with people I knew and being familiar with the layout of the hospital. After about a year in Ortho, I decided to try Circulating in the OR. I was fascinated by the technology. After four months, I realized I had missed having contact with conscious patients. I decided to try GI nursing. I can say I have never felt more at home with GI nursing. You get to have the technology and the patient contact. Basically, I assist the GI docs with Upper Endoscopies, Colonoscopies, and ERCP. I get to do the conscious sedation for the procedures and work prep and recovery. I get to start IVs and do lots of patient teaching, which I love. Best of all, I work in a hospital, but I really have almost clinic hours and work every 8th weekend on call and only one holiday per year. Good luck to you. If you have more questions, please feel free to ask!

Kim

LovePurple · Mar 26, 2009

Hey, I just applied for a job as an endoscopy RN and found this thread! I would love to hear more about the work in general, the amount of paperwork, and such as compared to floor nursing!? I'm very excited and think it would be a good fit as I do love the OR setting and especially the hours ?

dragonflyaltoids · Apr 24, 2009

After two years in the ER, I made the change to an endo clinic. I love it. We're just as busy. We see an average of 20 patients per day, and the hours are spectacular. In the ER, I worked three 12-hour days, weekends, and holidays. Now I work 4 10-hour days with either Friday or Monday off and no weekends or holidays!

It is a lot of charting; however, once you get it down, it's a breeze. Good Luck!

RedZeppelinRN · May 2, 2009

dragonflyaltoids said:

After two years in the ER, I made the change to an endo clinic. I love it. We're just as busy. We see an average of 20 patients per day, and the hours are spectacular. In the ER, I worked three 12-hour days, weekends, and holidays. Now I work 4 10-hour days with either Friday or Monday off and no weekends or holidays!

It is a lot of charting; however, once you get it down, it's a breeze. Good Luck!

Another endoscopy question: I hope my posting is appropriate to this thread. I have been treated for about two years for AVM, or GAVE (atrial ventral malformation, or gastric antral ventral ectasia), starting with 3-month interval cauteries of the blood vessels that come to the surface of my stomach, burst and bleed, causing severe anemia. It got to the point where I had a 6-month interval between the cautery endoscopies.

After a point in time, I began to awaken and feel pain during the procedure. To avoid having to give me more pain meds, the Dr added 50 mg IV Benadryl to the 50 Fentynal and 2 Versed. I felt a little twitch when I was given the Benydral, but the nurse never said anything, so I didn't think it was anything serious. However, on my last endoscopy, the doctor was on his way up the hall and called to whoever was giving medications, "50,2,50." It is hard to see what is going on when the staff are there, not visible to you, doing other things. I did not know momentarily that the medication injection started when I started having breathing problems and s.o.b. When I told someone what was happening to me, the response was, "You sats are 100%, and bingo, I was gone. Dr. told me everything was fine with the procedure. So still feeling sedated, I did not get a chance to tell the Dr. what had happened. Did he walk away uninformed of the breathing problems I was having?

The next day, I called the Dr.s nurse, and she said she would tell him about it. Next, I got a call from the Endoscopy manager, and I told her what had happened to me. It was my understanding that the sedation; the Dr. should have been there to supervise whoever gave me the con sedation. Obviously, nothing was charted, according to the manager. So she agreed with me that I should ask the Dr. to give me sedation the rest of the time.

On my very last endoscopy, I did not see my Dr. anywhere until he appeared at the foot of the bed. He was rude and angry with me. I asked something about what had happened with my reaction to the Benydral. He very coldly told me, "I don't know." Someone in the room said, "You won't get Benadryl." There was such a cold attitude in the room. When I recovered, I was still in the endo suite where a nurse that I had never seen was there and was giving me oxygen. I just had the feeling that something was going on, but no one would let me know what was happening.

And what makes you a criminal when you report what you experienced to the doctor? Of course, I didn't have a chance to do that. And with the "assembly line" medicine, you get little information. Just a few words and a photocopy of the endoscopy.

My concern is not only that I had such a reaction to the IV Benydral, I have to have these cautery endoscopies for the rest of my life, and he has done an excellent job of getting me to a 6-month interval.

I have tried to get another Dr., but in this hospital corporation, which is the largest hospital of the 3 in this city, I cannot get another GI Dr. in this hospital corporation to treat me. Many Drs. outside of GI don't even know what the condition is. So I am afraid to go to another hospital corporation, not knowing what I will get. I felt very frightened about it, uncertain about the secrecy and allowing me to talk about my experience, while several staff stood around like witnesses.

When I got the info that I didn't need another endoscopy for six months, I was very happy about that and sent him a thank you note. I felt that I could have made a big deal about this, but I was grateful that I even had health care and a GI physician that was handling it so well. So, I just counted my blessings and thought he had learned his lesson.

I feel like I am in a catch-22 position. But I became more concerned and angry about the way I was treated. If I tried to find out what was documented, all &^_* would break loose. I would probably never be able to get another doctor. What about my safety? Is that less important than any problem it causes him?

I have a desire to see what they documented, but I know that asking for my records would cause a lot of trouble, but I don't want to die to save a Dr.s reputation.

I hear all the time, "Find another doctor." This is not so simple with the all-powerful corporate hospitals.

I would appreciate any thoughts you may have about this.

Thank you all.

katherine100, LPN · Feb 2, 2010

dragonflyaltoids said:

After two years in the ER, I made the change to an endo clinic. I love it. We're just as busy. We see an average of 20 patients per day, and the hours are spectacular. In the ER, I worked three 12-hour days, weekends, and holidays. Now I work 4 10-hour days with either Friday or Monday off and no weekends or holidays!

It is a lot of charting; however, once you get it down, it's a breeze. Good Luck!

Endo clinic? Is your clinic within a hospital?

I was just wondering.

CFitzRN, ADN · Feb 24, 2010

I have worked as the lead PRN nurse at an Endo Unit in a free-standing GI practice for a year now. While in school, I always joked about how I hated poo. I mean, who would really like it? When I started working in the Endo unit, all my nursing school friends laughed and said, "YOU? In GI?" and I just laughed back because by the time they got to me (I am post-anesthesia care), pt's are as cleaned out as they could ever be! No poo whatsoever! Haha.

All joking aside, I really enjoy it. Our unit has everything a hospital OR would have, except we only specialize in endoscopy (whether it be flex sigs, colonoscopies, EGD, whatever). So we get very specific training in this. We have a pre-op area, three procedure rooms, and a post-op area. I mostly work in post-op but have floated to pre-op a few times. We call the pt back; they get checked in at pre-op, get an IV, get enemas if necessary, have their procedure, then they are brought to me while recovering from the anesthesia and procedure. I get them hooked up to the dynamic, do a quick assessment of their physical/mental status, bring their family back, get them something to drink, do assessments every 10 minutes (or more often if there are complications), do electronic charting to keep track of everything, give them meds if they are hurting and the doc orders it, d/c their IV, get them up and dressed, walk them out, then come back to the floor and start all over again. I normally have one pt at a time, sometimes 2. We keep them for about 30-40 mins before letting them go home (with a driver, of course). We predominantly use Propofol (Diprivan), but there's a shortage now, so we've been supplementing with ketamine and sometimes versed. We have surgical techs that are in the procedure rooms with the docs, so we don't do that. It is truly an easy job and almost stress-free, especially because I am PRN there, along with two family medical practices, so it's really nice to do something different all the time. If you have any more specific questions, please let me know.

CFitzRN, ADN · Feb 24, 2010

And "mental status" means "neurological status," Sheesh.

RN4S22 · Mar 10, 2010

I am actually going to do volunteer work at an endoscopy unit, and I hope I like it, I am a new graduate RN, but right now, I can't find a job, so I decided to volunteer and give back to the community and also I love nursing, and I don't want to forget all my training.

CFitzRN, ADN · Mar 10, 2010

rn4s22 said:

I am actually going to do volunteer work at an endoscopy unit, and I hope I like it; I am a new graduate RN, but right now I can't find a job, so I decided to volunteer and give back to the community also I love nursing, and I don't want to forget all my training.

That's really cool - and you may get your foot in the door and be asked to come on staff in the near future.

dreamingRN · Jun 14, 2010

Hello CFITZRN,

I am currently a medical-surgical nurse with six months of experience. I was wondering what experience you recommend having before becoming a GI nurse or what tips you have for increasing my chances of becoming hired. I am excited to become a GI nurse because there are many opportunities in my area. However, I am discouraged since I fear that I don't have enough experience compared to other candidates applying for the position. I appreciate your help and advice!

CFitzRN, ADN · Jun 15, 2010

Hi Dreaming,

With six months of medical-surgical, you are more than qualified to do Endo work. It will help a lot if you've done your fair share of IV starts and enemas (but any RN should be able to do enemas - easy peasy). Your assessment skills should be good, good instincts, and good attention to pt status. You are far more qualified than I was when I started, and I picked it up quickly. I went through ACLS within a few months of starting, but honestly, if any of our patients crash or show any signs of distress, the CRNAs or Anesthesiologists take over immediately. I have found that having a really positive attitude and excellent people skills are more important in this position than huge nursing experience. With your basic foundation in medical-surgical, you will learn quickly what you need to know. I highly encourage you to go for it if you feel called. I wish you the best! Post and let me know what you decide.

OH! I forgot one of the most important details. My Clinical Manager told me that one of the best parts of my cover letter - the one thing that really stood out and got his attention - was this line: "I am a team player and have no interest in intra-office drama or politics." He said he knew he could train me, but you can't really force a person to refuse to play the drama game, and he had enough of that. haha

dreamingRN said:

Hello CFITZRN,
I am currently a medical-surgical nurse with six months of experience. I was wondering what experience you recommend having before becoming a GI nurse or what tips you have for increasing my chances of becoming hired. I am excited to become a GI nurse because there are many opportunities in my area. However, I am discouraged since I fear that I don't have enough experience compared to other candidates applying for the position. I appreciate your help and advice!