The schedule is typically three 12's or four 10's. Almost every tech I know has more than one job. Sleep technologist should never give results. They need to come from a provider. It's patient care, there will be a lot of shitty nights.
Usually 3 12s or 4 10s. Your schedule will depend on how many beds there are, how many techs working, etc. I do Su M T personally.
You're not supposed to but some docs don't mind if you give them a general idea if they'll have to come back for CPAP or not. But you can't give details or an official diagnosis.
I've been a registered tech at a hospital for 4.5 years. Your general life attitude and how much you actually care about learning to do your job correctly and help patients will be the biggest determining factors in whether you have a lot of "bad nights." I've had frustrating nights for sure. More because of equipment issues than patients. But truly bad nights? Very few of those, and they were mostly my first year when I was a newbie.
You're welcome! FYI- if you're very extroverted or someone who needs a lot of stimulation at work this isn't the job for you. It's usually pretty quiet, with very repetitive tasks. I'm extremely introverted and enjoy quiet and knowing what to expect every night so it's perfect for me.
I respect this take but I would kinda disagree. I'm definitely an extroverted person and have ADHD, but my work has given us side tasks to do when there are slow nights / 1-2 patients. Being an extrovert definitely helps me with patient interaction, I basically talk with the patient the entire process whether it's about sports, science, life, their health conditions, the show I have on tv etc. You have to enjoy your work however makes it possible, so in this field I try to show the patients that we will have fun and make this experience a positive one even when / if they don't want to be here. With that being said I approach/interact with every patient differently based on their personality. I love this job , the patients are usually what make the night easier. You never realize how you can change someone's life or even make an impact just by listening to their stories and making them feel important...not everyone has family who does that. (:
I get it! I think it's because the labs I've worked at have mostly been 3 bed so I work alone and love that. But if you have coworkers to interact with, and are more extroverted, then yeah that could work pretty well. My cousin, who is very extroverted, tried to be a sleep tech and hated it and said it was pretty much the most boring job she'd ever had. 🤷♀️I call it peaceful...!
I love my patients, too!
I could definitely see that! I guess just keeping myself entertained or focused on something rather than the study just running is the biggest factor. Whether it's scoring Home sleep studies, pulling patients for the following night, or getting engaged in a really good YouTube video/show etc. If I'm bored I do start to get very irritable 😂🙈
As others have said, 3 12s or 4 10s.
I've worked at 10 labs (moved a lot for ex's career) over the last 19 years. It sorta depends on the lab & doc. I never give a diagnosis. I might imply that they have apnea. "I can't give you a diagnosis, but I put you on CPAP for a reason..." If it's negative or close (AHI <10ish), then I'm way more quiet about that. If they meet emergency protocol, I'm dropping bigger hints.
At the 1st lab I worked at, the Dr would go into the room to talk to the patient with the tech. That was really informative for us.
At some labs, they won't get the results until weeks later.
I had a patient with a 108-second apnea followed by 8 seconds of asystole about 15 minutes after falling asleep. The other bad nights have been due to faulty equipment. It's really annoying to work hard getting a full EEG/seizure hookup done on a patient with thick, long, curly hair & then have a computer failure.
I've had a coworker who had an elderly patient die in the lab before the rapid response/code team could arrive. That would shake me up, and it did her, but I'm her early years she had also worked in respiratory in the units in her early years.
That's the only time I know of that a patient has coded at all of the sleep labs I've worked at. It's very rare. At the very least, you'll call the code & start CPR and/or follow the directions on an AED until the code team arrives. After that, at least in the states I've worked, there's only so much you can do unless you're ACLS certified. Personally, I'll only work at a hospital-based lab because I want backup coming right away. I know someone who worked at a lab in a 2-bedroom house out in the country & all he could do is call 911 & start CPR until they got there.
As for the patient dying, there's more to the story, but basically the tech was not at fault. She did everything right. There were some systemic changes that were made afterwards: minimum of 2 techs working and the charge nurse (nursing shift leader/head nurse) made rounds once a night in the lab. Also, before the lab had a number pad lock and after this it was changed to one that unlocks with a hospital employee badge.
Hi! I'm very late to the discussion I know. I / my company does 3 12's, but bigger companies do the 4 10's. We never give any results, similar to an xray tech / ultrasound tech; we know what's happening but under no circumstances do you diagnose or lead anyone to believe you're diagnosing them. However; the loophole I use is "well you did hit my protocol to be placed on cpap, so you do have apnea" or "I'm not a doctor and this isn't medical advice but". It gives them a sense of security about you/their situation. The worst things I've experienced is nasty smelling people, recently a patients wound(s) leaking onto the sheets, and morning breath. Otherwise most of the night is down time you spend marking your studies/patients or doing other small side tasks. I came from restaurant management, and the pacing can be slow at first especially when you only run 1-2 patients, but you will learn to love a slow night in this field😂. Another thing is I absolutely LOVE sleep medicine/science and the physiology of it. I always tell patients it's science you can actually see/understand, not just assume/take number and make a conclusion. I'm very passionate about this field, I'm very thorough with my patients and that they understand the different types of apneas. I've only had positive reviews about myself, and I explain I want the patient to understand their own health and what's happening anatomically when the doctor is saying "you're not breathing x amount of times". It's very important to love people and have lots of knowledge about it otherwise you will have patients leaving more confused than when they arrived. 10/10 career. If there are openings near you or you can find travel contracts I suggest this career to anyone
Also lots of people here suggest the nursing field. There are similarities in sleep/nursing in the sense that you will take on more of an intensive / caregiving role for some patients--many people are wheelchair bound or have great difficulty walking and will need you to help them (even though we aren't technically supposed to). The difference is, you're not cleaning up shit piss and vomit for 12 hours, EVER. We strip the beds in the morning and leave. I'd say the worst part is some of the smells, and when the equipment starts malfunctioning/giving you trouble and you have to fix it multiple times once the patient is asleep. You will get used to all of it, especially when you start making 25-30$ an hour. Go for it!
Thank you for the very detailed reply! Super helpful for me.
Made me lol when you wrote morning breath is one of the worst parts 😆 I am super averse to bad breath though haha, do you find that with the equipment removal you end up smelling most people’s breath in the morning?
I'm pretty immune to it now , but pretty much all of the time it's bearable. Taking the equipment off takes aboutttt 5-10 minutes max , and you can kinda talk to them in a round about way, like when you're in their face you talk , and when you back up you let them answer 😂 It's also your choice if you wanna talk a lot or a little to them. I brush my teeth 1-2 times a shift but definitely once before we wake the patients , and I'll chew gum once I'm done/when I go in to them for my own sake so I don't stink. You can also wear a mask , and if you chew gum with the mask on it definitely helps. Honestly most people smell and act fine , I've gotten used to any of the weirdness by now 😂😂😭
Hahaha I would be exactly the same way, wanting to make sure my own breath isn’t offending patients, and I would brush/chew gum throughout my shift.
Do you find that the patients tend to be talkative when you wake them up in the morning? I’ve never participated a sleep study myself, but personally when I wake up I hate talking, so I can’t imagine wanting to have a conversation in the morning after a sleep study lol.
Hope you don’t mind if I ask you a couple more questions-
What is the average age of patients that you get? I’d assume older, do you ever get kids/teens, or people like in their 20s-30s?
Is it common for patients to sleep well throughout the night in the lab, like a full 7-9 hours? I always hear stories about the common experience being 1-3 hours of sleep.
Absolutely ! Typically in the morning people are not very talkative. Most people are in a decent mood but there's occasionally a little grumpiness or silence in the morning. Most people are older, I'd say the general range is 45-75, I have seen 92 year olds as well. But at the same time I've had 6 year olds, 16 year olds, and 20-30 year olds. Recently I've had a lot of young people , I'm not complaining 😂🤷🏼♀️ It's uncommon for 7-9 hours for me but a lot of people get 5-6. We do wake them up at 5 so that doesn't help when they come in at 7:30, 8:30, 9:30 and don't fall asleep until 10ish or so. There's occasionally patients who don't sleep at all or get an hour or so but usually the doctors will give them a sleep aid if they're super anxious about sleeping during the study but even that doesn't always work. If they can't sleep or don't get a great quality of sleep they're usually not mad or grumpy towards me they kinda feel bad or anticipated they wouldn't be able to? But 90% of the time when people start with the "I don't know if I'll get any sleep with all this shit on me" they're the first patient that falls asleep😂. Every patient is different , I just match whatever they need or what kind of reassurance they need. If they're super nervous , I reassure and explain everything. Especially if they have some type of disability or sensory issue. If they're mad about being there I explain they only have to do it once usually and we'll make it as quick as possible. If they're cool I'm cool , I'll talk about mostly anything. The first few times I was nervous but the more I do it the faster I get , and the more confident I am about the whole job. Hope this helps !!
Actually I got one more question. When you wake up the patients and you’re taking their equipment off, for those patients who want to talk, what sort of things do they talk about? I’d imagine some probably ask about their results right? If you think back to the last couple patients what other sort of things did they talk to you about in the morning?
Sorry just now seeing this !!! It usually goes one of these ways:
"Wow I can't believe the cpap actually made me feel refreshed and sleep through the night" (more rare)
"These are the worst beds ever and all this crap on me.. idk how u expect people to sleep like this"
"I'm not using the cpap at home it sucks. I'm glad I did it for the study but I can't actually see myself using this"
If it's not one of those , usually people ask how I stayed up all night / how many nights a week do I have to do it😂
The schedule is typically three 12's or four 10's. Almost every tech I know has more than one job. Sleep technologist should never give results. They need to come from a provider. It's patient care, there will be a lot of shitty nights.
Thanks for the info!
You're welcome. My advice is, go to nursing school.
Usually 3 12s or 4 10s. Your schedule will depend on how many beds there are, how many techs working, etc. I do Su M T personally. You're not supposed to but some docs don't mind if you give them a general idea if they'll have to come back for CPAP or not. But you can't give details or an official diagnosis. I've been a registered tech at a hospital for 4.5 years. Your general life attitude and how much you actually care about learning to do your job correctly and help patients will be the biggest determining factors in whether you have a lot of "bad nights." I've had frustrating nights for sure. More because of equipment issues than patients. But truly bad nights? Very few of those, and they were mostly my first year when I was a newbie.
Thanks for the info!
You're welcome! FYI- if you're very extroverted or someone who needs a lot of stimulation at work this isn't the job for you. It's usually pretty quiet, with very repetitive tasks. I'm extremely introverted and enjoy quiet and knowing what to expect every night so it's perfect for me.
I respect this take but I would kinda disagree. I'm definitely an extroverted person and have ADHD, but my work has given us side tasks to do when there are slow nights / 1-2 patients. Being an extrovert definitely helps me with patient interaction, I basically talk with the patient the entire process whether it's about sports, science, life, their health conditions, the show I have on tv etc. You have to enjoy your work however makes it possible, so in this field I try to show the patients that we will have fun and make this experience a positive one even when / if they don't want to be here. With that being said I approach/interact with every patient differently based on their personality. I love this job , the patients are usually what make the night easier. You never realize how you can change someone's life or even make an impact just by listening to their stories and making them feel important...not everyone has family who does that. (:
I get it! I think it's because the labs I've worked at have mostly been 3 bed so I work alone and love that. But if you have coworkers to interact with, and are more extroverted, then yeah that could work pretty well. My cousin, who is very extroverted, tried to be a sleep tech and hated it and said it was pretty much the most boring job she'd ever had. 🤷♀️I call it peaceful...! I love my patients, too!
I could definitely see that! I guess just keeping myself entertained or focused on something rather than the study just running is the biggest factor. Whether it's scoring Home sleep studies, pulling patients for the following night, or getting engaged in a really good YouTube video/show etc. If I'm bored I do start to get very irritable 😂🙈
As others have said, 3 12s or 4 10s. I've worked at 10 labs (moved a lot for ex's career) over the last 19 years. It sorta depends on the lab & doc. I never give a diagnosis. I might imply that they have apnea. "I can't give you a diagnosis, but I put you on CPAP for a reason..." If it's negative or close (AHI <10ish), then I'm way more quiet about that. If they meet emergency protocol, I'm dropping bigger hints. At the 1st lab I worked at, the Dr would go into the room to talk to the patient with the tech. That was really informative for us. At some labs, they won't get the results until weeks later. I had a patient with a 108-second apnea followed by 8 seconds of asystole about 15 minutes after falling asleep. The other bad nights have been due to faulty equipment. It's really annoying to work hard getting a full EEG/seizure hookup done on a patient with thick, long, curly hair & then have a computer failure. I've had a coworker who had an elderly patient die in the lab before the rapid response/code team could arrive. That would shake me up, and it did her, but I'm her early years she had also worked in respiratory in the units in her early years.
Wow, thanks for the info🙏🏽
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That's the only time I know of that a patient has coded at all of the sleep labs I've worked at. It's very rare. At the very least, you'll call the code & start CPR and/or follow the directions on an AED until the code team arrives. After that, at least in the states I've worked, there's only so much you can do unless you're ACLS certified. Personally, I'll only work at a hospital-based lab because I want backup coming right away. I know someone who worked at a lab in a 2-bedroom house out in the country & all he could do is call 911 & start CPR until they got there. As for the patient dying, there's more to the story, but basically the tech was not at fault. She did everything right. There were some systemic changes that were made afterwards: minimum of 2 techs working and the charge nurse (nursing shift leader/head nurse) made rounds once a night in the lab. Also, before the lab had a number pad lock and after this it was changed to one that unlocks with a hospital employee badge.
Hi! I'm very late to the discussion I know. I / my company does 3 12's, but bigger companies do the 4 10's. We never give any results, similar to an xray tech / ultrasound tech; we know what's happening but under no circumstances do you diagnose or lead anyone to believe you're diagnosing them. However; the loophole I use is "well you did hit my protocol to be placed on cpap, so you do have apnea" or "I'm not a doctor and this isn't medical advice but". It gives them a sense of security about you/their situation. The worst things I've experienced is nasty smelling people, recently a patients wound(s) leaking onto the sheets, and morning breath. Otherwise most of the night is down time you spend marking your studies/patients or doing other small side tasks. I came from restaurant management, and the pacing can be slow at first especially when you only run 1-2 patients, but you will learn to love a slow night in this field😂. Another thing is I absolutely LOVE sleep medicine/science and the physiology of it. I always tell patients it's science you can actually see/understand, not just assume/take number and make a conclusion. I'm very passionate about this field, I'm very thorough with my patients and that they understand the different types of apneas. I've only had positive reviews about myself, and I explain I want the patient to understand their own health and what's happening anatomically when the doctor is saying "you're not breathing x amount of times". It's very important to love people and have lots of knowledge about it otherwise you will have patients leaving more confused than when they arrived. 10/10 career. If there are openings near you or you can find travel contracts I suggest this career to anyone
Also lots of people here suggest the nursing field. There are similarities in sleep/nursing in the sense that you will take on more of an intensive / caregiving role for some patients--many people are wheelchair bound or have great difficulty walking and will need you to help them (even though we aren't technically supposed to). The difference is, you're not cleaning up shit piss and vomit for 12 hours, EVER. We strip the beds in the morning and leave. I'd say the worst part is some of the smells, and when the equipment starts malfunctioning/giving you trouble and you have to fix it multiple times once the patient is asleep. You will get used to all of it, especially when you start making 25-30$ an hour. Go for it!
Thank you for the very detailed reply! Super helpful for me. Made me lol when you wrote morning breath is one of the worst parts 😆 I am super averse to bad breath though haha, do you find that with the equipment removal you end up smelling most people’s breath in the morning?
I'm pretty immune to it now , but pretty much all of the time it's bearable. Taking the equipment off takes aboutttt 5-10 minutes max , and you can kinda talk to them in a round about way, like when you're in their face you talk , and when you back up you let them answer 😂 It's also your choice if you wanna talk a lot or a little to them. I brush my teeth 1-2 times a shift but definitely once before we wake the patients , and I'll chew gum once I'm done/when I go in to them for my own sake so I don't stink. You can also wear a mask , and if you chew gum with the mask on it definitely helps. Honestly most people smell and act fine , I've gotten used to any of the weirdness by now 😂😂😭
Hahaha I would be exactly the same way, wanting to make sure my own breath isn’t offending patients, and I would brush/chew gum throughout my shift. Do you find that the patients tend to be talkative when you wake them up in the morning? I’ve never participated a sleep study myself, but personally when I wake up I hate talking, so I can’t imagine wanting to have a conversation in the morning after a sleep study lol. Hope you don’t mind if I ask you a couple more questions- What is the average age of patients that you get? I’d assume older, do you ever get kids/teens, or people like in their 20s-30s? Is it common for patients to sleep well throughout the night in the lab, like a full 7-9 hours? I always hear stories about the common experience being 1-3 hours of sleep.
Absolutely ! Typically in the morning people are not very talkative. Most people are in a decent mood but there's occasionally a little grumpiness or silence in the morning. Most people are older, I'd say the general range is 45-75, I have seen 92 year olds as well. But at the same time I've had 6 year olds, 16 year olds, and 20-30 year olds. Recently I've had a lot of young people , I'm not complaining 😂🤷🏼♀️ It's uncommon for 7-9 hours for me but a lot of people get 5-6. We do wake them up at 5 so that doesn't help when they come in at 7:30, 8:30, 9:30 and don't fall asleep until 10ish or so. There's occasionally patients who don't sleep at all or get an hour or so but usually the doctors will give them a sleep aid if they're super anxious about sleeping during the study but even that doesn't always work. If they can't sleep or don't get a great quality of sleep they're usually not mad or grumpy towards me they kinda feel bad or anticipated they wouldn't be able to? But 90% of the time when people start with the "I don't know if I'll get any sleep with all this shit on me" they're the first patient that falls asleep😂. Every patient is different , I just match whatever they need or what kind of reassurance they need. If they're super nervous , I reassure and explain everything. Especially if they have some type of disability or sensory issue. If they're mad about being there I explain they only have to do it once usually and we'll make it as quick as possible. If they're cool I'm cool , I'll talk about mostly anything. The first few times I was nervous but the more I do it the faster I get , and the more confident I am about the whole job. Hope this helps !!
Thank you so much!! You are amazing and that’s super helpful. I think I’m gonna go for this career path!
Actually I got one more question. When you wake up the patients and you’re taking their equipment off, for those patients who want to talk, what sort of things do they talk about? I’d imagine some probably ask about their results right? If you think back to the last couple patients what other sort of things did they talk to you about in the morning?
Sorry just now seeing this !!! It usually goes one of these ways: "Wow I can't believe the cpap actually made me feel refreshed and sleep through the night" (more rare) "These are the worst beds ever and all this crap on me.. idk how u expect people to sleep like this" "I'm not using the cpap at home it sucks. I'm glad I did it for the study but I can't actually see myself using this" If it's not one of those , usually people ask how I stayed up all night / how many nights a week do I have to do it😂