Looking down on hospital techs?

[Yadster101]

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During my time off between undergrad and med school I worked as a pct/cna at a hospital for a year and after a recent experience I remembered how one of the worst parts of the job was the way that nurses, PAs, NPs, residents, and physicians looked down one me. It was the first time in my life that people would either not acknowledge me or explicitly talk down to me. In all of my previous experiences in college, high school, etc. I was used to 50-60% of people smiling/saying hello as I walked past, making small talk, etc. As a pct people would literally look the other way when I walked by. One time I was just sitting near a computer that I didn't realize a PA wanted to use. Instead of asking me to use it, she just stared at me intensely till I realized the issue and left.

Most of the other PCTs were older people that would be considered to be of "low socioeconomic status". Is that the reason why everyone was so awkward around us? It's funny how many of us jump to answer any questions related to our experiences working with poor/undeserved populations during med school interviews, but in reality we aren't even capable of holding a genuine conversation with a poor person.

 

[RunawayGrape]

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[W19]

During my time off between undergrad and med school I worked as a pct/cna at a hospital for a year and after a recent experience I remembered how one of the worst parts of the job was the way that nurses, PAs, NPs, residents, and physicians looked down one me. It was the first time in my life that people would either not acknowledge me or explicitly talk down to me. In all of my previous experiences in college, high school, etc. I was used to 50-60% of people smiling/saying hello as I walked past, making small talk, etc. As a pct people would literally look the other way when I walked by. One time I was just sitting near a computer that I didn't realize a PA wanted to use. Instead of asking me to use it, she just stared at me intensely till I realized the issue and left.

Most of the other PCTs were older people that would be considered to be of "low socioeconomic status". Is that the reason why everyone was so awkward around us? It's funny how many of us jump to answer any questions related to our experiences working with poor/undeserved populations during med school interviews, but in reality we aren't even capable of holding a genuine conversation with a poor person.

It's unfortunate that happened to you, but you would think people who work in the healthcare industry would be better. But the fact is these people are more judgmental and more 'gossipee' than people in other industries based on my experience...

 

[caramelbear]

During my time off between undergrad and med school I worked as a pct/cna at a hospital for a year and after a recent experience I remembered how one of the worst parts of the job was the way that nurses, PAs, NPs, residents, and physicians looked down one me. It was the first time in my life that people would either not acknowledge me or explicitly talk down to me. In all of my previous experiences in college, high school, etc. I was used to 50-60% of people smiling/saying hello as I walked past, making small talk, etc. As a pct people would literally look the other way when I walked by. One time I was just sitting near a computer that I didn't realize a PA wanted to use. Instead of asking me to use it, she just stared at me intensely till I realized the issue and left.

Most of the other PCTs were older people that would be considered to be of "low socioeconomic status". Is that the reason why everyone was so awkward around us? It's funny how many of us jump to answer any questions related to our experiences working with poor/undeserved populations during med school interviews, but in reality we aren't even capable of holding a genuine conversation with a poor person.

I worked as a tech throughout undergrad. When I was at a major teaching hospital, the nursing staff on the floor was generally younger and knew I was planning on med school. I busted my butt because I truly loved my job. The residents, attendings, etc didn't really go out of their way to talk to me or anything, but they were always polite. I attributed it to them being super busy. The nurses were always nice to me and would joke (totally in jest) about me wanting to go to med school. They were all BSNs who had goals for NP school or ICU nursing.

Then I went and worked in an ICU in a small community hospital. I had my EMT license and wanted to be able to use it a little more/get a change in scenery. Most of the nurses treated me like absolute s***. These were either older nurses or young community college grads. I don't know if that had something to do with it, but a lot of them were either older and a little jaded or young and angry that they couldn't get a job at one of the teaching hospitals. I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but I feel like maybe my personality just didn't mesh with them. Randomly enough, I knew some of the fellows (from my old hospital) who moonlighted on night shift. I'd actually spend a decent amount of my downtime chatting with them. That also probably didn't help.

All in all, I think it varies from place to place. Sometimes I wonder if the whole "pre-med" label puts a target on your back. I was a new tech who was super eager to learn while at the teaching hospital, and I hadn't totally ruled out nursing at that point. I was interviewing and getting into med schools at the second hospital and having issues with scheduling. I'm sure my own personal stages in life had something to do with how my job was going, too.

 

[Mad Jack]

Treatment of techs and aides varies widely by facility. They're treated pretty good everywhere I've been for the most part.

 

[caramelbear]

Yes it does... A lot nurses still think the road to become a doctor in the US is almost impossible. So they think a premed is just a doctor 'wannabe'. I am attending a US school and I have some old nurse colleagues who are still wondering if I am going to make it. In fact, two of them asked my spouse a few weeks ago if I already passed step 1. My spouse told me she could smell that it was not just out curiosity.

That annoys me a bit that they can be so spiteful. Techs work really hard for 12-16 hour shifts to make their lives easier. They wouldn't get anything done without techs answering the call lights and handling the minor issues. The majority of the nurses I worked with were thankful for the help and fun to work with, but there were always those nurses who thought you were annoying "wannabee" doctors. Funny enough, they seemed to be the ones calling me to do stuff for them the most...

 

[Stagg737]

I've worked at 2 places where I thought techs and volunteers were treated poorly. At one place most of the techs were genuinely lazy or incompetent and I really questioned how those people kept their jobs for more than a few months. I didn't work there very long but I can understand why the docs and nurses would be frustrated to work with a near useless staff for years. The other place was just a really malignant atmosphere overall and everyone was treated pretty poorly. Other than locations like that, I really haven't seen or heard of techs being treated really poorly unless they were terrible employees.

 

[NWwildcat2013]

I took a gap year and worked in a MA type of position in an outpatient clinic and the only time I was ever treated poorly was by physicians. If anyone doubted my ability to get into medical school or thought I was a "wannabe" it was the MDs. They had no interest in talking to me about it. You could tell they were sick of talking to every one about how they are "going to go to med school" or talking to their friends who tell them their kid is in undergrad to be a pediatric oncologist. Looking back I dont really blame them but it was a bad feeling. Since I was an anomaly with one foot on the MA world and one foot in the future MD world the doctors did use me as a sounding block about how dumb nurse X or MA Y was.

The nurses and other MAs had some infighting but overall they generally had each others backs and got along well. Some of them were terrifyingly incompetent though. I've told this story before but one of the nurses who had gone to community college for her nursing degree couldn't find the urethra on a peds female patient she was trying to cath and asked "how many holes are down here?!" She was taking online and night classes to get her NP. I see why the MDs complained about some of the people there.

 

[meurotic]

I had a similar experience as an ER technician (EMT-B) in Chicago. It was common for the nurses to be rude and downright insulting towards me and the other techs. I'm not sure what caused them to use us as punching bags, but even the nicest of the nurses did it during stressful moments.

 

[Neopolymath]

I could write a lengthy screed about this topic easily, but I'll keep it short.

I have worked in the OR for several years and my particular OR always has many college grad techs successfully pursing medicine, AA, CRNA, and other good careers after a year or two of work here. Our manager recruits these people instead of the usual "career techs" that you see on the floors. That said, there are always random nurses and scrub techs who treat these people like absolute idiots because they don't know what a ****ing Debakey is or something unrelated to the techs job. These are the same people who couldn't even tell you how to put an arm board on a bed, nevermind complete more than some joke tech school degree or cupcake BSN program haha. Most people in general are nice and respectful, especially the physicians and mid levels I work with because they aren't pathetically sad people holding on to what little authority they have.

Just ignore it or laugh, man. If you work hard and are thoughtful in your job, people will notice even if they don't say anything at the time.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

Our techs are great, and I couldn't do my job efficiently without them.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I could write a lengthy screed about this topic easily, but I'll keep it short.

I have worked in the OR for several years and my particular OR always has many college grad techs successfully pursing medicine, AA, CRNA, and other good careers after a year or two of work here. Our manager recruits these people instead of the usual "career techs" that you see on the floors. That said, there are always random nurses and scrub techs who treat these people like absolute idiots because they don't know what a ****ing Debakey is or something unrelated to the techs job. These are the same people who couldn't even tell you how to put an arm board on a bed, nevermind complete more than some joke tech school degree or cupcake BSN program haha. Most people in general are nice and respectful, especially the physicians and mid levels I work with because they aren't pathetically sad people holding on to what little authority they have.

Just ignore it or laugh, man. If you work hard and are thoughtful in your job, people will notice even if they don't say anything at the time.

I worked in three ORs in two states for a total of 8 years and never saw that once. While I was in school to be an OR tech, I even worked as a central processing tech (the people who sterilize the instruments for the OR and clean pumps and **** for the floor). Everyone was always super nice to me. The residents would invite me to lunch, etc.

As an OR tech, I almost always ate with docs, nurses, and techs alike. Only a couple docs wouldn't eat with us, and that was because they ate after finishing their cases or while on rounds.

Sorry that happened to you OP. That certainly isn't how it is everywhere.

 

[Neopolymath]

I worked in three ORs in two states for a total of 8 years and never saw that once. While I was in school to be an OR tech, I even worked as a central processing tech (the people who sterilize the instruments for the OR and clean pumps and **** for the floor). Everyone was always super nice to me. The residents would invite me to lunch, etc.

As an OR tech, I almost always ate with docs, nurses, and techs alike. Only a couple docs wouldn't eat with us, and that was because they ate after finishing their cases or while on rounds.

Sorry that happened to you OP. That certainly isn't how it is everywhere.

Obviously the environments vary greatly (which is a good thing imo). These were big regional trauma centers with a noticeable amount of people who were too stupid to understand that intelligence isn't knowing were some small nondescript item was in the core. My coworkers would have been called an orderly 20 years ago, but they essentially keep the OR functioning these day and don't really stock shelves and clean up 99% of the time like they used to. I'm sure at smaller places where the techs and nurses have to do a lot more in the OR they don't feel this way. I think I wasn't clear that my coworkers weren't CST's and that was the whole issue.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Obviously the environments vary greatly (which is a good thing imo). These were big regional trauma centers with a noticeable amount of people who were too stupid to understand that intelligence isn't knowing were some small nondescript item was in the core. My coworkers would have been called an orderly 20 years ago, but they essentially keep the OR functioning these day and don't really stock shelves and clean up 99% of the time like they used to. I'm sure at smaller places where the techs and nurses have to do a lot more in the OR they don't feel this way. I think I wasn't clear that my coworkers weren't CST's and that was the whole issue.

Maybe. I worked at a university hospital as a CST, and we went to the floors to get pumps and other crap. The nurses and staff on the floors were always nice to me. When I went to the OR as an OR tech, all three hospitals I worked at had everyone coexisting peacefully. Two of them were community hospitals though.

I am positive that it happens. I've read about it too much for me to think it's rare. That's unfortunate, since we're all just trying to do a job. Some of the techs just need a paycheck, but that's not a reason to look down on someone as long as they pull their weight.

 

[Wordead]

You also might be reading into some situations a little too much. I dont make small talk with the xray techs either unless my service is light on work. I'm trying to get **** done so I can leave at a reasonable time.

 

[Rekt]

Treatment of techs and aides varies widely by facility. They're treated pretty good everywhere I've been for the most part.

Definitely this. At the hospitals I've worked at, they've been nothing like the above. Our physicians and techs got along really well (ED). Some really well. The nurses mostly got a long with the techs, but got annoyed with new ones. But whenever we had an NP fill in for a specialist consult, they were generally rude to all ancillary staff.

You also might be reading into some situations a little too much. I dont make small talk with the xray techs either unless my service is light on work. I'm trying to get **** done so I can leave at a reasonable time.

Also agree. A lot of the time they're not ignoring you on purpose. Physicians have tons of **** running through their mind and have a lot to do.

 

[Bancrofti]

I think techs will gain more respect when everyone doesn't universally chart the respiratory rate as 18.

 

[Tenk]

This could also be your personality . There are some CNAs I can talk to the entire shift and other ones I don't really enjoy chatting with. Just a personality thing, don't look into it too much and talk to whoever likes talking to you. Shrug.

 

[giantswing]

Not to brag, but as a resident I'm probably way, way poorer than you; student loans and all. The nurses think they're so hard up, working 3 12 hr shifts as full time and making more than residents working 80 hrs, two years out of high school. So, really, it may be we don't feel like we can talk to all you rich people with all your free time and hobbies. Also, not going to lie, when I'm post call you don't want to talk to me. The smell and all.

 

[Promethean]

That said, there are always random nurses and scrub techs who treat these people like absolute idiots because they don't know what a ****ing Debakey is or something unrelated to the techs job.

If there are surgical techs that don't know what a debakey is, they are dangerous and shouldn't be scrubbing in on any serious cases. Knowing the instruments isn't unrelated to a tech's job.

And if there are nurses and surgical techs in that OR who don't know how the beds are assembled / the armboards go on, again, that is dangerous and and need inservices on how to use the equipment before they get turned loose with it.

To OP: There were a few doctors who I had worked with for years in the OR who basically treated me, as an RN, like I was too dumb to understand anything. (One told me that the reason he hadn't informed me that the patient had a risk of malignant hyperthermia was that he didn't realize that I, an experienced and fully trained OR nurse, would understand what that was... nevermind that if the patient did experience MH, I would be the one who would have to materialize the resources and help they would need to treat it, so that including me in the planning was probably prudent.)

Until they heard that I was applying to medical school. Just applying. Before I actually had done anything to prove myself, beyond that, they suddenly were interested in showing me things or pimping me on their cases and were surprised at how much I did already know. Yeah, just because you weren't talking to me, didn't mean I wasn't learning when you were teaching all those residents that I gowned and gloved over those few years. Once they saw me as someone who was likely to become a colleague, they could identify with me enough to treat me as a person.

I should be clear that this was just a handful of docs who had issues with all nurses. Most of the surgeons and anesthesiologists I worked with were awesome human beings who weren't too big for their breetches and didn't change how they treated me because they'd never been jerks.

But yeah, some people in health care are super status conscious. I find it bizarre, but it is a real phenomenon. I'm sorry that the culture where you were was so uniformly unpleasant. If you find that in another setting, step back and consider whether there is some reason for it... like maybe switch deodorant or whatever. But if it only happens at that one work place, then probably it is just a broken culture there. Observe it, learn from it and move on to a less toxic environment.

 

[Neopolymath]

If there are surgical techs that don't know what a debakey is, they are dangerous and shouldn't be scrubbing in on any serious cases. Knowing the instruments isn't unrelated to a tech's job.

And if there are nurses and surgical techs in that OR who don't know how the beds are assembled / the armboards go on, again, that is dangerous and and need inservices on how to use the equipment before they get turned loose with it.

To OP: There were a few doctors who I had worked with for years in the OR who basically treated me, as an RN, like I was too dumb to understand anything. (One told me that the reason he hadn't informed me that the patient had a risk of malignant hyperthermia was that he didn't realize that I, an experienced and fully trained OR nurse, would understand what that was... nevermind that if the patient did experience MH, I would be the one who would have to materialize the resources and help they would need to treat it, so that including me in the planning was probably prudent.)

Until they heard that I was applying to medical school. Just applying. Before I actually had done anything to prove myself, beyond that, they suddenly were interested in showing me things or pimping me on their cases and were surprised at how much I did already know. Yeah, just because you weren't talking to me, didn't mean I wasn't learning when you were teaching all those residents that I gowned and gloved over those few years. Once they saw me as someone who was likely to become a colleague, they could identify with me enough to treat me as a person.

I should be clear that this was just a handful of docs who had issues with all nurses. Most of the surgeons and anesthesiologists I worked with were awesome human beings who weren't too big for their breetches and didn't change how they treated me because they'd never been jerks.

But yeah, some people in health care are super status conscious. I find it bizarre, but it is a real phenomenon. I'm sorry that the culture where you were was so uniformly unpleasant. If you find that in another setting, step back and consider whether there is some reason for it... like maybe switch deodorant or whatever. But if it only happens at that one work place, then probably it is just a broken culture there. Observe it, learn from it and move on to a less toxic environment.

Not scrub techs, but patient care/equipment techs that work in the OR.

 

[njtrimed]

I worked as a tech throughout undergrad. When I was at a major teaching hospital, the nursing staff on the floor was generally younger and knew I was planning on med school. I busted my butt because I truly loved my job. The residents, attendings, etc didn't really go out of their way to talk to me or anything, but they were always polite. I attributed it to them being super busy. The nurses were always nice to me and would joke (totally in jest) about me wanting to go to med school. They were all BSNs who had goals for NP school or ICU nursing.

Then I went and worked in an ICU in a small community hospital. I had my EMT license and wanted to be able to use it a little more/get a change in scenery. Most of the nurses treated me like absolute s***. These were either older nurses or young community college grads. I don't know if that had something to do with it, but a lot of them were either older and a little jaded or young and angry that they couldn't get a job at one of the teaching hospitals. I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but I feel like maybe my personality just didn't mesh with them. Randomly enough, I knew some of the fellows (from my old hospital) who moonlighted on night shift. I'd actually spend a decent amount of my downtime chatting with them. That also probably didn't help.

All in all, I think it varies from place to place. Sometimes I wonder if the whole "pre-med" label puts a target on your back. I was a new tech who was super eager to learn while at the teaching hospital, and I hadn't totally ruled out nursing at that point. I was interviewing and getting into med schools at the second hospital and having issues with scheduling. I'm sure my own personal stages in life had something to do with how my job was going, too.

The "pre-med" label shouldn't place a target on your back. I just spent a wonderful evening with nurses and physicians who shaped my career as a medical student. But I have spent the the better part of this year dealing with one specific nurse manager who hoped I would fail. Ideally, we are all helping one another to advance and help patients.

 

[caramelbear]

The "pre-med" label shouldn't place a target on your back. I just spent a wonderful evening with nurses and physicians who shaped my career as a medical student. But I have spent the the better part of this year dealing with one specific nurse manager who hoped I would fail. Ideally, we are all helping one another to advance and help patients.

Ideally, yes. We're all supposed to be one big team, but there is still an us and them mindset at my school/hospital. This may be due to having separate nursing and med buildings and only a few poorly planned out interprofessional events. People on all sides get worried about their egos. The idea that pre-med sticks the target on your back is ludicrous since these are generally students who are working very hard with a lot of goals. You would think that they would be commended for working as CNAs/techs, because they are getting a feel for how medicine works and the realities of it. They also learn how difficult nursing is. I developed a very healthy respect for floor and unit nurses.

P.S. The nurse managers at both places I worked were universally disliked by most of the staff and messed with everyone's schedules equally.

 

[Neopolymath]

Ideally, yes. We're all supposed to be one big team, but there is still an us and them mindset at my school/hospital. This may be due to having separate nursing and med buildings and only a few poorly planned out interprofessional events. People on all sides get worried about their egos. The idea that pre-med sticks the target on your back is ludicrous since these are generally students who are working very hard with a lot of goals. You would think that they would be commended for working as CNAs/techs, because they are getting a feel for how medicine works and the realities of it. They also learn how difficult nursing is. I developed a very healthy respect for floor and unit nurses.

P.S. The nurse managers at both places I worked were universally disliked by most of the staff and messed with everyone's schedules equally.

I have found that a lot of people feel "used" when people take positions and then leave a year or two later for bigger things. I have experienced it and my wife has as well. My wife's ICU job before CRNA school had a few people that just couldn't get past the fact that she was trying to better her life and not spend 10 years doing that job. It's probably just frustration because all I ever hear is that the good ones always leave.

 

[caramelbear]

I have found that a lot of people feel "used" when people take positions and then leave a year or two later for bigger things. I have experienced it and my wife has as well. My wife's ICU job before CRNA school had a few people that just couldn't get past the fact that she was trying to better her life and not spend 10 years doing that job. It's probably just frustration because all I ever hear is that the good ones always leave.

That's a good point. The first place I worked at preferred students. Actually, nursing students who were good CNAs would be offered a job on the floor straight out of nursing school. Upper management kept asking when I was graduating so they could plan on having a job ready, and I had to keep reminding them that I wasn't a nursing student. This was a busy floor that handled a lot of GI post-ops. Those new grads were pretty good straight out of the gate, and it was a great floor to learn from. The acuity level of those patients was often comparable to patients in the ICU at the community hospital I worked at.

I worked at another place that definitely didn't like students and tried to stop hiring them because of the schedules. In addition to feeling used, it's probably a bit of an ego bruise for the people who have been there for ten years. This is the best it is going to get for them, not that it's a bad thing. Seasoned ICU nurses are awesome.

 

[raiderette]

At our community hospital, techs were treated well because they were neighbors, coaches, etc. From what I see at my school hospital, there is a divide but not actual rudeness. Everyone is normally too busy to gossip.

Sent from my XT1254 using SDN mobile

 

[failedatlife]

As long as an individual is doing the best of their ability and hard working, they should not be looked down open. It is only people like myself, who do not live up to expectations and can't complete a simple triad of objectives to get to where they want to be in life, who should be looked down upon.

 

[tennischamp822]

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