getting certified in echocardiography - could this open any doors??

[raindrop]

I am not a new nurse, but definitely new to cardiac nursing. I have an opportunity to become certified and sit for national examination as a echocardiograph technician. A nearby school has this program for people who are already RN's or Stenographers, so it's just certification, not a degree. And it will only take 1 year. I am fascinated by how well echo technicians understand the anatomy and physiology if the heart, vessels, valves, etc. I am thinking about going thru this program becuase I want to be the best cardiac nurse that I can be. And so far, many of the questions that I've had about cardiology cannot be answered by our nurse educator or other floor nurses. This is scary.

I wonder if some doors could open for me as a RN with Echo certification under my belt. What do you think - would this make me a more competitive candidate for entrance into a Master's program in a couple years as in Nurse education or NP? Do you think job opportunites as a echo tech are plentiful? They seem to pay just as much a nurses, which really blows my mind!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

In my organization, we only fully qualified ultrasound professionals with sub-specialty training/certification in cardiac sonography are employed as echocardiographers. So, at minimum this would be a 2 year degree plus specialty training & certification.

Maybe certification-only jobs are available in Dr offices?