Nurse Tech Position

moonshadeau, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN, APN, NP, CNS · Feb 16, 2003

As you can see the role of Nurse techs vary from place to place.

I started as a nurse tech working in a nursing home on a medicare/long-term care floor. I worked weekends only. I was responsible for passing all the medications, doing all the treatments and even charting on some of the patients. I definately got my feet wet in that atmosphere, but as I progressed in my education, I realized that the actions that I was doing were 1. not legal and 2. my patients deserved better.

Due to the fact that an RN was on the floor, but never cosigned anything and "trusted" my judgement.

Suffice to say I don't work there anymore.

But the sad fact is that nurse techs are becoming highly popular in long term care to solve staffing solutions.

As for the hospital that I work in the nurse tech position is ever evolving. It started out by being a med-tech, IV starter,etc.

But now a nurse tech is assigned to a nurse and they do team nursing together.

So my advice, know what kind of program you are getting into.

Ortho_RN · Feb 16, 2003

Originally posted by Jay-Z
i dont like this idea of a Nurse tech. it should be included in a Nurses role already. nursing is not and should not be NUrses taking the routine 'boring' jobs and handing them to students. if you do that then you have wasted a Students training. IF that is all a student does then when they qualify then they wont have to do it anymore.
Nurses should always take this role on board. unless of course you work in day a clinic or somewhere where specimens are taken like every day routinely.

i don't think that any of the routine "boring" stuff is wasting a students training.... I jump at the chance when a nurse asks me if I want to do a dressing change... I mean heck, it takes like 5mins total... But I enjoy it... And its not just the dressing change, your assessment skills grow every dressing change that you do... And its like that with most things... I think anything and everything that a nurse tech gets to do is very valuable to the whole learning process... :cool:

MomNRN, BSN, RN · Feb 17, 2003

" I dont like this idea of a Nurse tech. it should be included in a Nurses role already. nursing is not and should not be NUrses taking the routine 'boring' jobs and handing them to students. if you do that then you have wasted a Students training. IF that is all a student does then when they qualify then they wont have to do it anymore. "

When I spoke of my tech experience, I was not there to replace the nurse, I was there to aid the nurse. They chose to train me on all the skills I mentioned. The tech hours were planned so they were there at the busiest hours in the ER, eg. Saturday night.

I also did clerical skills as well, putting in lab orders on the computer, answer phones, assist patient transfers, etc. None of the nurses I worked with ever resented my help. I also never intimated that I was a "nurse." I was there to help and learn at the same time!

I don't consider it a "waste" to my training at all. I learned valuable techniques and learned how to do a darn good IV stick!

neneRN, BSN, RN · Feb 17, 2003

We utilise techs in our ER- they are nursing students who have completed their first semester of Nursing. They can do blood draws, EKGs, caths, VS, hook up pt to monitor, put on splints, basic dressings, prime IVF tubing, put in orders for CTs, Xrays,etc. Thay also do a lot of running- bringing pts to the back from triage, to the blood bank, charts to the doc, etc. I love them, we only have a few, but things flow more smoothly when we have a good one around.

We also have techs who do the same job, but are essentially trained on the job with no schooling required.

From my experience, the students make much better techs. They are more interested in learning the whys of their tasks, and ask a lot of questions. They also seem to anticipate the needs of the pt much better, i.e. the students don't need to be told to do an EKG on a chest pain- they know to just do it.