Nursing or X ray Tech?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello, I'm a student presently trying to decide between nursing and x ray tech, I got into both programs for this fall. I'm hoping to get the opinions of people who are already in the nursing profession.

Thanks guys!

Thanks very much! I would love to hear your pros and cons list if you have a minute , please and thanks!

My PROS of being a Radiology Tech ( CT / Nuclear Medicine included) :

The first go neck and neck with nursing..... I have a decent salary (i worked OT and per diem at another facility and made 100k+ the past 5 years), good work hours (3x12s a week for full time then i pick up per diem elsewhere), good benefits, 401k, etc. The reason i posted these pros are because i did not have to be a nurse to have these pros....

My Pros of doing what i do INSTEAD of nursing : My number ONE reason is IF i have a difficult patient, I do my exam and theres a pretty good chance i will NEVER see them again for a prolonged period of time. A CT scan can take 5 minutes or less many times. Thats a pretty good feeling to know i will not have to put up with someone, their family, their hangups, etc for an entire 12 hour shift. I know there are many many types of nurses that dont have to floor nurse a difficult patient for 12 hours at a time but this is huge in my book. Im good at what i do and treat all patients to the best of my ability but its a luxury knowing that if things get hairy, its almost over with them. Its not that im an insensitive prick, i just think i found my niche. I openly admit i cannot be a nurse.

Another PRO of xray/ct/ radiology in general is there is a broad scale of "thats not my job" as mentioned previously in this thread. I have the ability, the certification, and am actually pretty damn good at IVs but if i think the pt is a difficult stick, i will GLADLY send the patient back to their room for a more qualified IV nurse to do this for me..... i mean hey, wouldnt you want the best person possible poking you? In this same range of thats not my job is of course the pee/poop/puke/blood/etc. I work my shift in a busy ER so i see PLENTY of body secretions and they do not bother me BUT when an 80 year old tells me he cant go to the radiology department because he has to poop, i gladly hand them their nurse call button and re-check on them in 20 minutes.

I really enjoy my work environment. I work with a very small select few people that i feel is very different than some nursing environments that ive seen myself and heard about from nursing collegues at various facilities. These include the politics, backstabbing, drama, bickering, childish junior high behavior that gravitates. Im sure there are tons of radiology departments that have employees like these but i feel very fortunate that my shift is a tight knit hard working bunch that gets along very well.

Job satisfaction. I feel very accomplished in what i do. I havent felt like this is a monotonous thankless job. I feel respected by my superiors and collegues. I hear horror stories of nurse managers throwing their employees under the bus at the drop of a hat. I welcome the chance to teach those less experienced while learning from those more experienced.

Physical demands of the job. Ok so im gonna sound lazy here but this is just the truth. When i was in xray school, i shadowed a nuc med tech. I thought to myself dear god this must be the most boring job alive. He literally scanned 8 patients a day. Some exams took an hour or longer. He would inject the radioactive nucleotide and record the images on a screen over the course of an hour or longer. This seemed incredibly boring and i thought theres no way in hell this was for me. That was when i was 19 years old. Now that im 32, have a mortgage, family, golden retriever, car payments, etc i WELCOME this job. My point is it can pay VERY well (some nuc med techs make up to $45 an hour with about 8-12 years experience) while not sucking the life out of you. I will never forget this guy i shadowed. He was in this early 40s, kids in college, taking care of his elderly parents, etc. You could tell he was laid back at work, minimal stress, chill kinda guy. Think about a 45 year old woman with kids goin to college, mortgage, family etc AND a stressfull work environment / job. You gotta find a job that will last until you are ready to retire on YOUR terms.....not one that will send you to an early grave.

I hope what ive posted doesnt sound harsh or degrading to nurses. I have the utmost respect for them..... so much that i quickly acknowledge i cannot be one of them. I once pondered going to nursing school and i did not. Nurses were VERY quick to say harsh things like "i couldnt cut it" or something of this nature. To them i say i couldnt nor do i want to. If anything, go be an accountant LOL

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I just want to say thank you for your post ctnjason...I've been on the fence for a while now about whether to become a radiology tech. I wanted to be a nurse originally, and then I realized that, wait a second, I do NOT want to deal with pretty much everything you just mentioned...it really seems like the right fit for me, but then I had people telling me "ohh, that sounds boring, there's no room for growth, etc, etc." I have kinda been doubting myself. But I really think I will like it. I'm going to do some shadowing just to get an idea, but I appreciate all of the positive things you had to say about your career and I'm glad that you are still enjoying it. It's nice to hear something positive for once.

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I just want to say thank you for your post ctnjason...I've been on the fence for a while now about whether to become a radiology tech. I wanted to be a nurse originally, and then I realized that, wait a second, I do NOT want to deal with pretty much everything you just mentioned...it really seems like the right fit for me, but then I had people telling me "ohh, that sounds boring, there's no room for growth, etc, etc." I have kinda been doubting myself. But I really think I will like it. I'm going to do some shadowing just to get an idea, but I appreciate all of the positive things you had to say about your career and I'm glad that you are still enjoying it. It's nice to hear something positive for once.

I have my BSN and 30 years of nursing experience. Nursing has provided me with an incredible variety of opportunities. I loved bedside nursing but hated the five 8 hour shifts a week, weekends and holidays etc so eventually moved on to other areas. I absolutely adore my job that I have now; it suits me perfectly and I am respected and appreciated. Having said that, I would wholeheartedly agree with ctnjason's assessment and comments.

My first job out of acute care was an outpatient practice that, at the time, was cutting edge by having their own ultrasound machine and FT ultrasonographer. I had taken a significant pay cut to get the decent hours. The ultrasonographer had the same hours as me but pay was significantly better and she scanned one patient at a time. I also realized then that the field of imaging was starting to explode with increased opportunities. Shortly thereafter, I began suggesting that field as a consideration when someone asked me about nursing vs other healthcare careers.

Yes, in many aspects, comparing nursing and radiology is apples to oranges. However, even though I have loved nursing, in today's environment I would absolutely go for diagnostic imaging and would seriously consider working toward a career in fetal imaging. The capabilities and opportunities are increasing. It's remarkable.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Nursing Possibilities:

-Critical care nurse

-Labor & delivery nurse

-Travel nurse

-Pediatric nurse

-Trauma nurse

-School nurse

-Psych nurse

-Public Health nurse

-Nurse researcher

-Family nurse practitioner

-Women's Health practitioner

-Adult Health practitioner

(Possibilities are endless)

X-ray tech Possibilities:

-X-ray technician

Hope that helped!

There's more to do in XRT than just what you said. It's inappropriate to denigrate fellow health care workers. As a student, you're really not completely informed at this point of what all goes on in the day to day life of health care.

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There's more to do in XRT than just what you said. It's inappropriate to denigrate fellow health care workers. As a student, you're really not completely informed at this point of what all goes on in the day to day life of health care.

this is 1000000% true. Why on earth someone would want to degrade my job is beyond me. All modalities of radiology, especially CT Scan, has blown wide open with advances in technology. The machines are capable of taking the most amazing images ever. To this day i remember looking in the course catalog of the local junior college to decide what i wanted to do.....nursing or xray..... im glad i did what i do now.

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Specializes in LTC, Pediatrics, Renal Med/Surg.

OP I think shadowing an x-ray tech will be a good thing. Also make sure in your area you will have opportunity for advancement and different areas to go into in the field like ctnjason has been able to do if you are unable to move once you're done with school.

I should have become an x-ray tech.:sniff:

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OP I think shadowing an x-ray tech will be a good thing. Also make sure in your area you will have opportunity for advancement and different areas to go into in the field like ctnjason has been able to do if you are unable to move once you're done with school.

I should have become an x-ray tech.:sniff:

Xray is the starting line for what you can do. Definitely go further to CT, MRI, Ultrasound, Nuclear Med, etc.

As far as shouldve been an xray tech.... I work alot in a busy ER doing CT scan. SOOOOOO Many times we get these young, energetic EMT / Paramedic students who want to cut open cars and save the world come into the ER. They hit the CT scanner with their patients and you can see it in their eyes that MAYBE i should be doing this instead of Paramedic. Also, literally every week i have a nurse say to me "i shouldve done this" or "you guys seem more laid back that my floor" and things like this.

Im tellin ya, it was a no brainer to me. ONCE i thought about going back to do nursing so i could be a travel nurse, i did a job shadow and that killed that notion FAST.

Jason

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On 11/7/2011 at 8:40 PM, Livinstrong85 said:

I just want to say thank you for your post ctnjason...I've been on the fence for a while now about whether to become a radiology tech. I wanted to be a nurse originally, and then I realized that, wait a second, I do NOT want to deal with pretty much everything you just mentioned...it really seems like the right fit for me, but then I had people telling me "ohh, that sounds boring, there's no room for growth, etc, etc." I have kinda been doubting myself. But I really think I will like it. I'm going to do some shadowing just to get an idea, but I appreciate all of the positive things you had to say about your career and I'm glad that you are still enjoying it. It's nice to hear something positive for once.

OMG years have gone by and i find myself inthis same position. yesterday was my first day in Physics and i don't find myself enjoying the subject as i did with the prereqs of nursing . i will be on the nursing program waitlisted for 2 semesters(spring2020&Fall2020) i was thinking of using this time for taking bsn requirements or studying some to get a headstart, but i was already on the Radiologic Technology program waitlist and ready to start in Summer of 2020. Livinstrong85 please if you come across again with this post I'd love to know where you stand today and if you enjoy, regret, etc. anything is helpful from you

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