Should rad techs make as much as RN's?

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Do you think that rad/sonographers/MRI tech should make as much as nurses? I know that they both require assoc. degrees but to me it seems like nurses responsibilities are greater. Am I wrong? Do I have a distorted view to job responsibilities and pay?:bugeyes:

Society has the distorted views regarding job responsibilities and pay.

For example, professional baseball players are paid tremendously well. Many of these men even earn incomes that fall into the millions per year. In my opinion, their only job responsibilities are to provide an entertaining season to the fans, meet or exceed the performance expectations of the team's owner, and play ball competently.

It's supply and demand again... professional athletes are performing a job that the vast majority of us could never do. Also consider the risk involved and the relatively short life of their career (even without injury). If a 21 year old rookie signs on for $5 million a year, then sustains a career-ending injury that first year... that's 44 years before a 'normal' person's retirement age at 65... 90,000 hours working 40 hour weeks... $55/hr (without benefits)...

I'm bored. Can ya tell? :lol2:

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in our area, the resp therapy program is associate degree. they qualify to take RRT / CRRT exam.

in 40 years of nursing, i have observed that resp get their lunch -- and even get their breaks. they can 'stop everything' to have a department meeting. etc. etc.

there just is no comparison -- but the pay is almost comparable.

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But lets not forget- in the military, RNs are OFFICERS, LPN/LVNs, X-Ray Techs (of all flavors and speciatlies), RTs, lab personnel, are all ENLISTED. Do you see the difference?

By virtue of the fact that RNs are all officers, they earn more than the above health care providers.

RNs need to start seeing themselves as officers.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

Your comparision is invalid. Many of the most professional and well respected individuals in the Army are NCO's. In addition, I can get a degree in history and take a MSC commission. So, we have a MSC O4 with a history degree making more than a O1 RN. The MSC officer must be more professional and deserving of the extra money he/she receives by the virtue of the fact that he/she is a higher ranking officer.

Again, it comes down to supply, demand, and a little capitalism.

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Specializes in CNA, Surgical, Pediatrics, SDS, ER.

I was just thinking that the responsibilities of nurses entail much more than rad techs. We work 12 hours straight, sometimes without BR or food breaks,taking care of multiple patients, passing meds, knowing med drug classes & side effects, taking dr orders and carring out the orders, charting, starting IV's, entering orders, monitoring patients often, not to mention putting up w/ difficult families. It seems to me that we have a greater load but I guess it's like you all have said it comes down to supply and demand.

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that rad tech don't have important jobs or that their jobs are easy. I'm just saying that their responsibilities do not seem as great as a nurses. Nurse deserve more compensation for all they do but that's a whole nother thread.

Thank you for all of your input.

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At least one year of post-graduate training is required for rad techs to get into nuclear medicine, CT scan or MRI. The education at school is as rigorous and probably more demanding than nursing school(physics anyone?) Why would nurses begrudge a coworker who makes pretty good money?

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Specializes in LTC/SNF, Psychiatric, Pharmaceutical.
It's supply and demand again... professional athletes are performing a job that the vast majority of us could never do. Also consider the risk involved and the relatively short life of their career (even without injury). If a 21 year old rookie signs on for $5 million a year, then sustains a career-ending injury that first year... that's 44 years before a 'normal' person's retirement age at 65... 90,000 hours working 40 hour weeks... $55/hr (without benefits)...

Professional athletes, as overpaid as they seem, do not **** me off as much as high-school or college athletes who are given "privileged" treatment by what are supposed to be impartial public employees (if they work for a public institution). With so many of us struggling to balance school and work while star athletes get a free lunch, there's something very wrong there. Also, there's the "look-the-other-way" attitude on the part of school officials, and even law enforcement, towards the misbehaviors of student athletes. All of which should be disturbing. I came from a football-crazy small town where the high-school football team were treated like little kings, and live in a college town where the college athletes are treated the same way.

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Specializes in LTC/SNF, Psychiatric, Pharmaceutical.
"]in addition, new nurses are being churned out into the job market every few months from the assortment of community colleges, universities, trade schools, and hospital-based nursing programs. this constant supply of nurses cannot be doing anything to help increase our pay rates."

can i borrow some of these numerous new nurses??

we are in a critical shortage here in virginia!:scrm:

they're there. they just don't want to work in hospitals or nursing homes because of the absolute staff abuse - underpaid, low benefits, ugly conditions. i count myself as one of them. i still practice as a nurse, but not in in-patient care. nor will i ever return to in-patient care.

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At least one year of post-graduate training is required for rad techs to get into nuclear medicine, CT scan or MRI. The education at school is as rigorous and probably more demanding than nursing school(physics anyone?) Why would nurses begrudge a coworker who makes pretty good money?

I don't think these folks have a masters degree, do they? Because "post-graduate" signifies work beyond an MS/MA.

I've taken physics at the college level - and unless what they're taking is calculus-based, it's really not that impressive. I took it several years ago thinking I wanted to go to pharmacy school.

I would never say "more demanding" - I would say "different". I took grad-level pathophysiology in nursing school (because it was a program requirement) and I would never say that a rad tech course is more demanding than RN school - for that matter, it's not "more demanding" than ANY RN program.

The point is - anyone who holds the lives and well-being of patients in their very hands, every day (and yes, I mean all of us - NAs, PAs, NPs, RNs, and even physicians!) are underpaid when you compare them to what baseball players and the rest of that cohort make.

I find it disgusting that the pitcher for the NY Yankees makes more than a brain surgeon.

For that matter - teachers, cops, firemen, you name it - PUBLIC SERVANTS are grossly underpaid.

ETA - I think the point of the OP was that these people don't interpret the films, they take them. While I know they need to know basic information about stuff like changes in vital signs, LOC, etc...it's completely different.

I don't begrudge anyone who makes more money than me. I just wonder about the equity. And yes, I could have chosen such a job - and would have been bored out of my mind.

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It seems some of us have a very myopic view of health care. Sometimes it is difficult to look beyond our own situation and see that other people play a very important role in the health care system. I do not remember learning how to do X-rays, set for CT scans, learning about ionizing radiation (other than time, distance, shielding), machine settings, and the various other modalities required for performing the job of an X-ray tech. They are liable for their job as well. An incorrectly performed C-spine xray could be met with serious consequences for example.

While I agree, many nurses are not paid as well as they should be, I see no benefit from dragging other health care professionals into a debate about our problems.

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Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.
Do you think that rad/sonographers/MRI tech should make as much as nurses? I know that they both require assoc. degrees but to me it seems like nurses responsibilities are greater. Am I wrong? Do I have a distorted view to job responsibilities and pay?:bugeyes:

I graduated nursing school with some dental hygienists that I did prereqs with....they started out making about $10/hour more than me. Fair?? Hmmmm, I'm responsible for cardiac patients on a telemetry floor. They clean teeth (well, I'm sure they do more but I just don't know what). Thing is....I couldn't clean teeth for 10 times more than I make. Fair?? I guess so :)

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Society has the distorted views regarding job responsibilities and pay.

For example, professional baseball players are paid tremendously well. Many of these men even earn incomes that fall into the millions per year. In my opinion, their only job responsibilities are to provide an entertaining season to the fans, meet or exceed the performance expectations of the team's owner, and play ball competently...

Part of the reason professional athletes earn so much money is that they are subsidized by the government (our tax dollars at work). The basic city services (water, sewer, streets, police, EMS, and fire) may be sub par, but they have a fine stadium paid for by the taxpayers.

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what amazes me is that resp techs make nearly as musch as the RN. they have a very narrow focus in terms of their area of expertise and territory of responsibility -- and they do it one person at a time.

I have yet to work anyplace where a RT had only one patient at a time. Now if you mean they only do one treatment at a time that is not true either. I see them doing multiple treatments at one time.

Sometimes our perception of what other people actually do in their respective fields is colored by our own dissatisfaction in our field.

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