Questions

[ER_RN07]

Hello!

I am an RN with over 15 yrs ER experience and most recently was employed at a spine center as an ASC RN (for 2 years). I resigned from my ASC position as I decided I wanted to try being a full time housewife lol, I’ve been home for 2 months and want to get back to work! That being said, I have an interview with an outpatient Endoscopy Center tomorrow I’m very excited! I was just wondering if anyone here had any advice on how to “shine” during the interview lol! Also I was curious on typical pay rates for this type of specialty? I’m racking my brain expecting the “why do you want to work in endoscopy”? My only answer I can come up with is “it sounds interesting, and I have a few RN friends who work In Endoscopy and absolutely love it”. Any info you could pass on re:interview tips, pay rates, job environment would be very helpful! This would be a M-F position the center is open from 6am-4:30 every day except for Friday’s when they close at 4!

[beckyboo1, BSN, RN]

I learned from some of the best nurses!

[Endo.J]

It's great to read this as I was wondering what the differences to the UK were.

Most patients in the UK are done with conscious sedation, Colonoscopies with Midzolam and Fentanyl, one of our regulars opt for nothing or Nitrous oxide usually because they want to drive home later! We rarely use Propofol, they are booked on specific lists and this is the only time we have an anaesthetist. OGD's or EGD's are done either with Lidocaine throat spray alone or Lidocaine and Midazolam. Again Propofol only on specific lists.

In the room is the MD and either 2 RN's 1 for patient care and the other as the MD assistant (all equipment and samples and labelling etc is done by the nurse assisting). Another member of staff run decon but some units have external decon.

We also rotate into admissions (and some of us are trained to consent) and into recovery and discharge.

Our procedures are are classified by "units" specified by the Doctors when booking and do up to 22 units per room per day. We also have nurse endoscopists who do less numbers.

My unit also does diagnostic Cystoscopies and we have visiting urologists for those list.

Are all your patients "out" as the doses seem similar and ours are often awake and chatting to us?

[brownbook]

We used to run the GI room with just the gastroenterologist, a nurse for conscious sedation, and a tech. Suddenly it was decided that an anesthesiologist for propofol sedation, a nurse to help the anesthesiologist and note specimens, and a tech, was ???? better ??? less expensive ???? faster ???? because the patient was immediately "sedated" and the procedure could be done faster so more patients could be scheduled each day?

Adding up how many medical personnel are now in the room I can't imagine it saves any money.

But that's the wonderful health care system in the USA.

[Endo.J]

Have to admit I find these discussions really interesting as if my daughter becomes a citizen I might look into moving over, it seems the job is similar enough to not be scary!

Do you mind me asking if you have been in the field long?

I've been doing this 12 years now and couldn't imagine moving fields again.

[brownbook]

I hate to have you make a life changing move on my limited information/experiences ?.

I started working endo in 2000. It was part of an out patient surgery unit (but it was connected to an acute care hospital). We floated to endo for 4 weeks every two months. It wasn't big, only one procedure room, maybe 8-10 cases a day.

Then I moved to a free standing out patient surgery center in 2005. Around 2007 the GI services were "moved" from a next door acute care hospital to our free standing surgical center. (The hospital and our surgical center were somehow connected financially). But they brought all their own staff so it wasn't until about 2010 I started floating more often to do endo cases. There were two endo rooms and maybe 20-25 cases a day.

All of this was in California and only two different settings so I don't know how it relates to other areas of the USA.

Maybe you could start a new thread in the same specialty here or in the section for whatever state you might move to asking about nurses experiences in GI clinics.