Nurses, Techs

[hurlock1]

As of late, at my center, they have had the nurses doing some sticking, as opposed to just hooking up catheters, doing Nursing assessments and pushing medications. It could be because of lack of personnel, or maybe they're just trying to get more bang for their buck. Before they started this practice, things seemed to run fairly smoothly.  I come in on the average, at 6am, these days with the nurses doing the techs jobs, I rarely get on until 6:30 - sometimes 6:45, as opposed to 6:10 - 6:15, at the latest making my leave time closer to noon; atotal of 6 hr. at the clinic. By the time about 10:30 am rolls around, I have to pee so bad and I'm insanely hungry.
There are rules, laws, that require an RN - LVN on the premises. Nurses are good at several jobs and techs are basically good at one job, but they're real good at that one job. As far as getting hooked up to the machine, I put my money on techs.
 I know we'd all like to believe that the best choice for anything, is the Nurse. Granted, Nurses have more training about a lot of things. The techs in my facility go through months of training before they ever stick anybody. They are usually younger and they move quicker and for the most part, for the job they do, they're just better. I realize though, the bottom line is the bottom line.
 I'm not complaining, but I'm noticing a marked difference in the care I've been receiving as of late.  I'm sure that a few pennies saved, looks good on paper, but the strain on the Nurses faces trying to keep up with the younger techs is obvious. There should be some advantage for having gone through Nurses Training and grueling Boards other than a few bucks.
When it comes to my being stuck by a nurse, (I'm a hard stick) rather than a tech that has been sticking me regularly for months, I choose the tech.
There are plenty of jobs that techs can't do that Nurses can. Techs are trained over and over on the procedures involved with hooking up dialysis patients before they become techs. I have observed the training on several of the best techs we have at our center. One day, a month or so ago, the nurses just started hooking people up. They can do the job. Just not as well or as quickly as the techs.

[MissyKew]

I would request the tech do it.  I refuse to be used as a pin cushion by someone who is not skilled.

[Pam]

 Hurlock I   I agree with you. I'm in mo #6 and 99% of the time have had the same tech. She's considered the expert. She established my buttonholes. I ve watched when one of our nurses has hooked people up and she's just soooooo slow. Seems like she has no pattern to her methods more like being scatter brained. where the tech is more in tune with her movements. If that makes sense to you. So I'll take my tech Any day and hope her day off doesn't fall on my time. And so far I haven't asked a question she couldn't answer

Pam

[hurlock1]

I would request the tech do it.  I refuse to be used as a pin cushion by someone who is not skilled.

The nurses are skilled. They are just used to doing other jobs and are not used to stringing the machine and getting all of the things needed to complete the job. I asked the director and she said that there was a unit in another part of town, where the techs all got sick and the only people to run the unit were the nurses. From what she told me, it was a nightmare. I think that rather than just sticking them out to sink or swim, nurses should be required to do the same training as the techs.