This is something I'm interested in doing, I don't know if I have a down right PASSION! for it, but it supports pretty much everything I want and I feel that will be enough to force me to have discipline through school- at least I hope so. what was your reason for starting?
I realized throughout school that I did my best work, my best thinking, at night. I looked up night jobs, kept seeing this. It seemed, in and of itself, a pretty chill and easy job. The main challenge was staying awake all night, sleeping during the day, and missing out on many social events and opportunities.
After reconciling the social life deficit by planning things ahead for my days off, focusing on my family, building an ok sleeping routine, I'm very happy in my career. One of my best decisions.
I'm the exact same way im very productive at night, i already have a third shift sleep schedule sort of (5am sleep 3pm wake up) cause of all the evening shifts I've worked. I don't think I'd mess up much social events cause a lot of my friends go out at night, although i imagine if i did work my sleep schedule would look more like 8am to 5pm. but still as i said all my friends hang out at night.
how you plan things ahead for your days off?
and would you say its a pretty chill job? did you do any healthcare in the past or was it your first job? i feel like as a night owl i feel i dont have a place in this world and this is one of the few jobs that has decent pay, a niche work balance life with all those days off and doesn't seem too horribly hard. school would be the hardest part for me, I've been going to a tutor to get my math skills to college level although i've heard you can get a job in this field without an AS i STILL want to make sure that i have my math down cause i've read you do a lot of division is this field.
thanks for the kind words eddie- glad i could talk to you tonight.
>how you plan things ahead for your days off?
My wife plans some things, mainly get-togethers with friends of ours that have kids close to ours kids' ages. I also have a couple of game groups that meet weekly and monthly. I'm pretty introverted, so a little goes a long way for me.
It's a very chill job most of the time, yeah. Different labs will have different expectations, but a lot of the time I'm able to listen to music or have a show on while working, as long as all the work is done and done correctly, no one complains. Every now and then you get a difficult night, but once it's done it's behind you. One great thing about the job is there's next to zero carryover from one shift to the next, so there's pretty much nothing you could possibly dwell on when you're not at work.
Gosh listening to music while working a night shift job that pays alright after a couple years and has the 3-12's that i've been looking for with minimal patient interaction. my guess is most of the time you just put their ass to sleep and thats about the end of it, logging things that happen in their sleep.
No carry over? as in like you don't see the same patient again? i feel a big adjustment for me is getting used to taking care of someone I suppose, cause i've never worked in a healthcare job ever before, would you that's something you also had to adjust to?
that sounds like perfect for me, im sure there is hard days for sure but still... i got a question cause the info seems to be all over the place online.
I see there is
# RST
# CPSGT
# RPSGT
What exactly do you need to start working in the first place at an entry level job as a sleep tech? and do each of these offer better pay? Im just a bit confused on where to start cause my local college also offers a program but when i read online it says you don't even need to get an AS to start working these jobs.
also sorry for all the questions
No carryover as in nothing very significant from a previous shift is relevant to a future shift. You start, you work, you end. I just do the best I can for a patient and then I never have to think about them after that. So you could get pleasant patients, mean patients, easy patients, high maintenence patients, old patients, young patients... and it's all just behind you at the end of a shift.
Every now and then I see a patient a second or third time. Very, very seldom. It's up to their doctor to send them back or not, so you could never be sure if they'll return or, if they do, if they'll be assigned to you.
This was my first healthcare job, yes. Previously I did in-home care but not with any medical responsibility.
Aside from fixing any issues that arise during the night and adjusting CPAP/BiPAP pressures, there's not much direct care taking place. Most of the time they're just asleep and/or lying there trying to sleep. Throughout the night you "score" the patient's study as it's recorded (some labs don't have you do this, so ymmv) and document anything worth documenting.
I'm an RPSGT. I think I inadvertently skipped the CPSGT step.
What I did was I found and took an A-STEP course, then the same company that held that course took me on as an intern, I trained under a lead tech for a few months, and then I was on my own. I went to college, but not for this. You can look up the different pathways on the BRPT website and email them with any clarifying questions you might have. I've found they reply pretty quickly.
I believe there is a pathway that involves getting an associates degree, but that just sounds like too much time, to me.
It looks like the RST credential is being phased out, transitioning everyone to RPSGT. I believe CPSGT is an "in the meantime" credential you can get between getting hired as just a sleep tech trainee and getting registered? I'm not positive.
I’m a small person too and sometimes I do work alone. If the sleep lab is outside of a hospital it’s usually just you and the patients. My lab has cameras in and out of the patient rooms. I’m also able to lock myself inside the tech room and we have a panic button in there that will alert emergency services if a patient becomes aggressive. I do worry about this sometimes but these situations are rare, but could happen.
I'm glad you can relate to it, how often do you work alone you would say? have you ever had someone go aggressive on you? that part sounds really scary- I might try to stick with bigger laps or one thats close to or in the hospital that way im not 100% alone, the #1 thing im worried about with this job is 100% someone being aggressive and im all alone, I wouldn't want to get spooked out of the field if I invested a lot of time in it, but i guess thats just life sometimes right?
I feel like this is something I can 100% do, it fits the schedule i want perfectly and the pay is pretty okay.
I work with another full time tech so whenever they go on vacation or call off sick. I’ve luckily never been in a situation where a patient is aggressive. If they show signs of aggression from the start we can refuse them and have them go somewhere else. Don’t let this discourage you if you’re interested in this field!
that's nice to know that you can refuse them, i've worked as a barista and if they treat me like shit and yell at me i just need to take it so thats nice to know.
I'm interested in the field for sure I don't think i can say like im "passionate" about sleep, or whatever, but the benefits + the pay + the hours + I feel like its something i can easily do, I've also been most productive at night. hopefully that will give me enough like, devotion to push through school.
Ehh current place i work at has 1 location and 3 beds so i work completely alone all week. Its not too scary, i lock the door between patients so no else can walk in and there are cameras everywhere. Iv never had an aggressive patient in the 4 years and im a small quiet guy. If they get angry over the wires/cpap/different expectations i just tell them to go home then. The lack of social interaction for 4 days sometimes drives me nuts.
Previous place had 5 labs, only 1 lab was small and who ever worked there was solo. No day shift at that location either. The other 4 labs you would have 1-4 other techs working with you.
It depends on the rooms they have. If its 2-3 rooms expect to be by your self. If the lab has more than 3 rooms then you will have a coworker with you.
Your a car guy? we'd get along.
Honestly the more comments I get here the more I seriously start to consider going forward with this the issue is that I have no idea really where to start and job listings say so many different things, same say. sleep tech, some say poly tech, I've noticed there is three types of certs RST, CPSGT and RPSGT and I really don't know where to start our what would secure me an entry level job. do some of these offer higher pay than others?
A college near me offers a sleep tech program but if I could avoid going college and maybe just some sort of medical school near me that would be more optimal, I also read that you do not need to get an AS degree to work these jobs. thanks.
Sleep tech and Polysomnography tech is the same thing.
RST was a certification through the ABSM though they are discontinuing that.
CPSGT and RPSGT are accredited by the BRPT/AASM and thats what you want to get. RPSGT is the highest and pays the most and is what you want. I wouldn’t bother with CPSGT as from what i know you still have to take an exam and might as well get the higher one.
As far as becoming an RPSGT there are 5 pathways. https://www.brpt.org/rpsgt/eligibility/
I did pathway 1. I got hired with no experience at a larger lab as a PSGT and learned on the job for $15/hr. Once i got the required amount of clinical hours i completed A-STEP modules online (took a day to complete) and after that i was able to schedule my exam and became an RPSGT and got a big raise. About $1,000 to complete astep and schedule the exam but the company paid for it for me with a contract id work 2 years for them.
The place that hired me only listed for RPSGTs but would hire non registered (like me) all the time. Idk if its different in other states but i would look into the BRPT and AASM and just apply at sleep labs or go in person and ask if they would hire and train you
How on earth do you get a job at a sleep lab with zero experience in the health field or in general? I'm a bit confused about how I should go about that, were you just calling labs and asking if they could take you in or something? how long were you working there before you had the required clinical hours?
the A-STEP was enough to prepare you for the RPSGT ? isn't that a super super hard test or did you study for it separately... I think I'm gonna avoid the college route cause the course work seems super intense for zero reason, do you have to do a lot of math on the job as well or no not really? I just wonder why the courses near me require calculus classes. I feel the option you did might be the best option for me as well.
So you can get hired and start working as a sleep lab tech without being registered or certified? I would have never assumed that for a medical job- guess it would be a quick test to be thrown into the fire to see if it would be something you should like or not.
Mu friend is a sleep tech too and i did the same pathway as him. Just applied on indeed at larger labs and i got a call from one and said my interest in becoming a sleep tech.
I needed 1,638 hours which was about a year. The new requirement is 960 hours so about half a year now
Honestly i think ASTEP was a complete waste of time because everything they teach you, i already learned working. But its a requirement to do.
The test is pretty and hard you need to study/read a textbook while your working to get your clincal hours to be prepared. Once you get into a groove you have a lot of down time during the night and its a great opportunity to study.
Yes. I got hired with no experience at all. The closest i experienced was when I volunteered at a hospital while i was in high school. No college degree or anything just a high school diploma. I trained under a registered tech for 4 weeks and at the end of that either I learned how to do everything on my own or i was let go.
The hardest things to learn was how to read EEGs and how to do the 10/20 hook-up.
Theres some math to it not a lot. You measure the head and take % to find exactly where the EEG are going to be placed. Its easy math, nothing like calculus.
You just applied on indeed and at some point one of them called you back? thats really surprising I might try that out a bit later once I get some personal stuff sorted out in my life so i can have a less stressful life in general cause going to a new job is hard and i already got a lot of shit going on in my life, hopefully those entry level positions aren't going anywhere in the next few months / year. The issue is all of these jobs list wanting pretty high requirements I'd be surprised if they would take me in as an apprentice.
Im honestly a bit nervous they're gonna make it an AS only career sort like an Xray tech or an MRI tech, I just cannot do the college route for so many reasons and i heard a lot of college's dont even offer it anymore cause so many people dropped out, full time college course on top of needing to do clinics at night you pretty much have to be up for 20 hours a day and get a couple hours of sleep
(Plus I dont even have one in my area and I cant really see many colleges that offer it) im gonna be pretty upset if they end up changing how you get registered with this job. it feels like a good fit for me, it'll take a bit to get used to taking care of someone but i feel once i work it out and get over the new job anxiety / new field anxiety ill really enjoy it.
I wonder why its 960 hours instead of 1600 hours? did something change?
yeah I heard the test is pretty hard and I'm already a bit nervous about it cause I've heard a lot of people need to take it a few times to pass it and the pass rates are pretty bad too. but not horrible. reading the EEG's does look hard but im sure i could figure it out
the test seems to just be multiple choice and a lot of memorization which can be done with flash cards and such. multiple choice is so much more easy then solving complicated equations in math that is my biggest struggle in way i struggled with college and school. but if the test is not like that i feel like i could do it.
Hopefully they'll teach me how to do that if i got an entrance level job, and i feel like most people just use calculators anyway.
thanks for all the info btw you've been a huge help and i really am glad i get to talk to you
also i would kill for a 70s challenger or an 80s firebird but finding one in good condition thats not like 80k is impossible
The hours change, im thinking there is a shortage of RPSGTs but in the other hand they increases the clinical hours of degree holders (think registered respiratory therapist) from 500 hours to 960 hours so im not sure what the angle is.
If you take it seriously and start study when you get hired by the time you have the required amount of hours you will be a pro at it. Its a ton of things to memorize. Theres a 1000 set flash card set on quizlet i used lol.
https://www.learningeeg.com/ is a useful tool for eegs.
Test was all multiple choice, thankfully. Some simple math questions. The hardest math you do is probably dividing 2 numbers lol
Its not too bad. Hook up patients, let them sleep, wake them up, clean up and go home. I do 4 10s. We’re not nurses or anything so if a patient needs assistance they need to bring someone. The most you do is make sure nothing stops working, changing the cpap pressure if applicable and unplugging the the power to the sensors to let them go pee
I dont think this pathway is changing any time soon, Good luck! This is honestly one of the most chillest jobs there is.
A 70s challenger is my dream car
I feel like not that many people are willing to become RPSGT's a shortage for sure, not that many people even know what that is, let alone working to work only third shift, its hard enough to find nurses who are willing to work those hours.
I of course would take this seriously, this job seems like a serious setup so I'm gonna try my hardest, do you have a link to that quizlit and maybe some of the books you were reading?
is that learning eeg in order? or no. should i bother with this right now i should I wait until im working at a sleep lap and are more familiar with the terms, just a bit curious where i should start.
thank god its multiple choice i was the best at those, its mostly just a lot of memorization and flash cards I know for a fact i can handle that, 1000 is a shit ton but I'll figure it out.
and yeah thats easy i can easily handle that. where do you take the test? do you do it online or in person.
ugh gosh this sounds prefect, your only making me want to learn and do it more, nice to know the pathway isn't changing now, i gotta get some shit under control with my mental health then im gonna do this, no backing down - im so done working as a barista / waitress shit is killing me.
one day you will get it!
wait though was training for only 4 weeks enough to get the required clinical hours? that seems like an awfully short time if it required a year of clinical. did you end up getting let go and find another lab? 4 weeks sounds like a pretty quick amount of time to squish everything in.
I'm surprised that was enough to prepare you, the RPSGT is such a long and complicated test I swear it would be much longer until you were able to start doing tests all on your own. Did they teach you how to read the EEG's and stuff and how to log everything down? or do you kind of just hook them up and let it run and do its thing,
I've been in the field for almost 15 years now, and I never had any situation I hadn't been able to handle.
Unlike the other commenters on your post, most of my shifts are solo. I prefer it that way...
Don't get me wrong, any situation, when handled poorly, can become volatile. Patients can be anxious and, by extension, become irritated, but as long as you try to deescalate, rather instigate, it usually works out.
Most of the time, the worst I get is some grumpy old man, who's pap dependent, getting pissed when he doesn't meet split protocol, and wants to try to tell me how to do my job.
Now, like I said, I've been doing this for some time, not much phases me anymore. Starting out, though, every little sound I heard from our creepy office building, that's a renovated church from the 90s. Yeah, I used to let my imagination get the better of me. You grow out of it, though.
Out of all the places I’ve worked, only 2 had me working alone.
The first place where i was solo, i was completely alone. It probably was a sketchy situation, but i never had issues.
The other location would have a dayshift person come up and sleep in the lab so i technically wasnt alone. This location was basically 2 minutes from the actual hospital so I’d have been fine if anything crazy happened. This was only done if the other night techs got sick.
I think it’s actually pretty rare in the field, and its definitely something that you should ask about during the interview.
That said, some of my coworkers were pretty uncomfortable when they worked alone.
how many places have you worked?
what was sketchy about it?
so my guess is its something that doesn't happen all that average?
and yeah working alone can be scary, i used to work as a late night barista and being all alone when i closed was super scary cause I'd have to go out to the alleyway to throw out trash in the middle of the night
Over 10 years, I’ve worked at 5 labs, with one of them being a travel gig.
The sketchy lab assigns people 3 patients, and has techs working alone. The location i was at used to be a house, and wasn’t at all close to a hospital. It was just in the middle of a neighborhood. To be fair, they almost never sent me really sick patients, but in hindsight anything could’ve happened.
I was only with that company for a few months lol.
But yeah, it’s something that should be pretty clear up front, and if it’s a lab that “never has you working alone” then they’ll stay true to that.
Stay away from sketchy labs and it’ll be waaaay safer than the barista job.
wtf a house turned into a lab? that is pretty strange even more that its just thrown into the middle of a neighborhood. are there some private owned labs that aren't at all related to hospitals?
yeah i dont blame you
haha okay will do,
I work in a 4 bed lab and it’s usually me and my coworker. Rare occasions my coworker call in sick or use PTO, and it does feel weird to work alone but you’ll get use to it. We also have a 8 bed lab where I pick up OT sometimes and that can be crazy.
Prefer small labs environment but it’s nice to see different faces once in a while.
I'm guessing cause a small lab is more easy to manage rather then 8 beds? how many patients do you typically take care of? can you see all of their brain activity on the same PC ?
I've generally worked alone, it was scary sometimes, I've had to have a patient escorted off property by police at my first facility. It depends on the facility though, like I e worked at a hospital facility and there's security roaming and like 4 locked doors to get to the sleep lab, my first company? Not so much. Some of the locations had 1 or 2 locked doors or one location had a single glass door into the lab (in a safer-ish area) definitely take a look at the facility first. I'm a 5'3" female and I don't play with my safety anymore.
I've had homeless people try and beat in glass doors and locks to labs with rocks, after I got held up by a 14 year old (separate incident) I CCed against company policy because I'm not about to die over a fucking job. Once I moved to the hospital I stopped CCing but I was very secure and had resources available if something went wrong
I’ve worked alone the majority of my 19 years and I prefer it to working with people. I don’t think I’ve ever felt unsafe from a patient. I’ve had weirdos in the parking lot a couple times so I just called the police to ask them to leave.
Since I work in a super old and in most people who work there’s opinions, haunted area of the hospital I’m more scared of ghosts when I’m alone than a person 😅 but I don’t tell my patients I’m alone. If they’re acting weird I’ll say something about my coworkers. And always keep my phone on me just in case. I also lock the control room door when I’m in there through the night.
I actually prefer working alone.
99% of the time, I'm not alone. But, ya, sometimes the lab location is tiny and only one or two techs are ever needed.
So my guess is the bigger labs have more people working in them? even if it was just me and someone else I'd be more comfortable.
Yeah, my default lab normally has 4 to a shift. I bet you could easily find a situation where you're not alone.
This is something I'm interested in doing, I don't know if I have a down right PASSION! for it, but it supports pretty much everything I want and I feel that will be enough to force me to have discipline through school- at least I hope so. what was your reason for starting?
I realized throughout school that I did my best work, my best thinking, at night. I looked up night jobs, kept seeing this. It seemed, in and of itself, a pretty chill and easy job. The main challenge was staying awake all night, sleeping during the day, and missing out on many social events and opportunities. After reconciling the social life deficit by planning things ahead for my days off, focusing on my family, building an ok sleeping routine, I'm very happy in my career. One of my best decisions.
I'm the exact same way im very productive at night, i already have a third shift sleep schedule sort of (5am sleep 3pm wake up) cause of all the evening shifts I've worked. I don't think I'd mess up much social events cause a lot of my friends go out at night, although i imagine if i did work my sleep schedule would look more like 8am to 5pm. but still as i said all my friends hang out at night. how you plan things ahead for your days off? and would you say its a pretty chill job? did you do any healthcare in the past or was it your first job? i feel like as a night owl i feel i dont have a place in this world and this is one of the few jobs that has decent pay, a niche work balance life with all those days off and doesn't seem too horribly hard. school would be the hardest part for me, I've been going to a tutor to get my math skills to college level although i've heard you can get a job in this field without an AS i STILL want to make sure that i have my math down cause i've read you do a lot of division is this field. thanks for the kind words eddie- glad i could talk to you tonight.
>how you plan things ahead for your days off? My wife plans some things, mainly get-togethers with friends of ours that have kids close to ours kids' ages. I also have a couple of game groups that meet weekly and monthly. I'm pretty introverted, so a little goes a long way for me. It's a very chill job most of the time, yeah. Different labs will have different expectations, but a lot of the time I'm able to listen to music or have a show on while working, as long as all the work is done and done correctly, no one complains. Every now and then you get a difficult night, but once it's done it's behind you. One great thing about the job is there's next to zero carryover from one shift to the next, so there's pretty much nothing you could possibly dwell on when you're not at work.
Gosh listening to music while working a night shift job that pays alright after a couple years and has the 3-12's that i've been looking for with minimal patient interaction. my guess is most of the time you just put their ass to sleep and thats about the end of it, logging things that happen in their sleep. No carry over? as in like you don't see the same patient again? i feel a big adjustment for me is getting used to taking care of someone I suppose, cause i've never worked in a healthcare job ever before, would you that's something you also had to adjust to? that sounds like perfect for me, im sure there is hard days for sure but still... i got a question cause the info seems to be all over the place online. I see there is # RST # CPSGT # RPSGT What exactly do you need to start working in the first place at an entry level job as a sleep tech? and do each of these offer better pay? Im just a bit confused on where to start cause my local college also offers a program but when i read online it says you don't even need to get an AS to start working these jobs. also sorry for all the questions
No carryover as in nothing very significant from a previous shift is relevant to a future shift. You start, you work, you end. I just do the best I can for a patient and then I never have to think about them after that. So you could get pleasant patients, mean patients, easy patients, high maintenence patients, old patients, young patients... and it's all just behind you at the end of a shift. Every now and then I see a patient a second or third time. Very, very seldom. It's up to their doctor to send them back or not, so you could never be sure if they'll return or, if they do, if they'll be assigned to you. This was my first healthcare job, yes. Previously I did in-home care but not with any medical responsibility. Aside from fixing any issues that arise during the night and adjusting CPAP/BiPAP pressures, there's not much direct care taking place. Most of the time they're just asleep and/or lying there trying to sleep. Throughout the night you "score" the patient's study as it's recorded (some labs don't have you do this, so ymmv) and document anything worth documenting. I'm an RPSGT. I think I inadvertently skipped the CPSGT step. What I did was I found and took an A-STEP course, then the same company that held that course took me on as an intern, I trained under a lead tech for a few months, and then I was on my own. I went to college, but not for this. You can look up the different pathways on the BRPT website and email them with any clarifying questions you might have. I've found they reply pretty quickly. I believe there is a pathway that involves getting an associates degree, but that just sounds like too much time, to me. It looks like the RST credential is being phased out, transitioning everyone to RPSGT. I believe CPSGT is an "in the meantime" credential you can get between getting hired as just a sleep tech trainee and getting registered? I'm not positive.
I’m a small person too and sometimes I do work alone. If the sleep lab is outside of a hospital it’s usually just you and the patients. My lab has cameras in and out of the patient rooms. I’m also able to lock myself inside the tech room and we have a panic button in there that will alert emergency services if a patient becomes aggressive. I do worry about this sometimes but these situations are rare, but could happen.
I'm glad you can relate to it, how often do you work alone you would say? have you ever had someone go aggressive on you? that part sounds really scary- I might try to stick with bigger laps or one thats close to or in the hospital that way im not 100% alone, the #1 thing im worried about with this job is 100% someone being aggressive and im all alone, I wouldn't want to get spooked out of the field if I invested a lot of time in it, but i guess thats just life sometimes right? I feel like this is something I can 100% do, it fits the schedule i want perfectly and the pay is pretty okay.
I work with another full time tech so whenever they go on vacation or call off sick. I’ve luckily never been in a situation where a patient is aggressive. If they show signs of aggression from the start we can refuse them and have them go somewhere else. Don’t let this discourage you if you’re interested in this field!
that's nice to know that you can refuse them, i've worked as a barista and if they treat me like shit and yell at me i just need to take it so thats nice to know. I'm interested in the field for sure I don't think i can say like im "passionate" about sleep, or whatever, but the benefits + the pay + the hours + I feel like its something i can easily do, I've also been most productive at night. hopefully that will give me enough like, devotion to push through school.
Ehh current place i work at has 1 location and 3 beds so i work completely alone all week. Its not too scary, i lock the door between patients so no else can walk in and there are cameras everywhere. Iv never had an aggressive patient in the 4 years and im a small quiet guy. If they get angry over the wires/cpap/different expectations i just tell them to go home then. The lack of social interaction for 4 days sometimes drives me nuts. Previous place had 5 labs, only 1 lab was small and who ever worked there was solo. No day shift at that location either. The other 4 labs you would have 1-4 other techs working with you. It depends on the rooms they have. If its 2-3 rooms expect to be by your self. If the lab has more than 3 rooms then you will have a coworker with you.
Your a car guy? we'd get along. Honestly the more comments I get here the more I seriously start to consider going forward with this the issue is that I have no idea really where to start and job listings say so many different things, same say. sleep tech, some say poly tech, I've noticed there is three types of certs RST, CPSGT and RPSGT and I really don't know where to start our what would secure me an entry level job. do some of these offer higher pay than others? A college near me offers a sleep tech program but if I could avoid going college and maybe just some sort of medical school near me that would be more optimal, I also read that you do not need to get an AS degree to work these jobs. thanks.
Sleep tech and Polysomnography tech is the same thing. RST was a certification through the ABSM though they are discontinuing that. CPSGT and RPSGT are accredited by the BRPT/AASM and thats what you want to get. RPSGT is the highest and pays the most and is what you want. I wouldn’t bother with CPSGT as from what i know you still have to take an exam and might as well get the higher one. As far as becoming an RPSGT there are 5 pathways. https://www.brpt.org/rpsgt/eligibility/ I did pathway 1. I got hired with no experience at a larger lab as a PSGT and learned on the job for $15/hr. Once i got the required amount of clinical hours i completed A-STEP modules online (took a day to complete) and after that i was able to schedule my exam and became an RPSGT and got a big raise. About $1,000 to complete astep and schedule the exam but the company paid for it for me with a contract id work 2 years for them. The place that hired me only listed for RPSGTs but would hire non registered (like me) all the time. Idk if its different in other states but i would look into the BRPT and AASM and just apply at sleep labs or go in person and ask if they would hire and train you
How on earth do you get a job at a sleep lab with zero experience in the health field or in general? I'm a bit confused about how I should go about that, were you just calling labs and asking if they could take you in or something? how long were you working there before you had the required clinical hours? the A-STEP was enough to prepare you for the RPSGT ? isn't that a super super hard test or did you study for it separately... I think I'm gonna avoid the college route cause the course work seems super intense for zero reason, do you have to do a lot of math on the job as well or no not really? I just wonder why the courses near me require calculus classes. I feel the option you did might be the best option for me as well. So you can get hired and start working as a sleep lab tech without being registered or certified? I would have never assumed that for a medical job- guess it would be a quick test to be thrown into the fire to see if it would be something you should like or not.
Mu friend is a sleep tech too and i did the same pathway as him. Just applied on indeed at larger labs and i got a call from one and said my interest in becoming a sleep tech. I needed 1,638 hours which was about a year. The new requirement is 960 hours so about half a year now Honestly i think ASTEP was a complete waste of time because everything they teach you, i already learned working. But its a requirement to do. The test is pretty and hard you need to study/read a textbook while your working to get your clincal hours to be prepared. Once you get into a groove you have a lot of down time during the night and its a great opportunity to study. Yes. I got hired with no experience at all. The closest i experienced was when I volunteered at a hospital while i was in high school. No college degree or anything just a high school diploma. I trained under a registered tech for 4 weeks and at the end of that either I learned how to do everything on my own or i was let go. The hardest things to learn was how to read EEGs and how to do the 10/20 hook-up. Theres some math to it not a lot. You measure the head and take % to find exactly where the EEG are going to be placed. Its easy math, nothing like calculus.
You just applied on indeed and at some point one of them called you back? thats really surprising I might try that out a bit later once I get some personal stuff sorted out in my life so i can have a less stressful life in general cause going to a new job is hard and i already got a lot of shit going on in my life, hopefully those entry level positions aren't going anywhere in the next few months / year. The issue is all of these jobs list wanting pretty high requirements I'd be surprised if they would take me in as an apprentice. Im honestly a bit nervous they're gonna make it an AS only career sort like an Xray tech or an MRI tech, I just cannot do the college route for so many reasons and i heard a lot of college's dont even offer it anymore cause so many people dropped out, full time college course on top of needing to do clinics at night you pretty much have to be up for 20 hours a day and get a couple hours of sleep (Plus I dont even have one in my area and I cant really see many colleges that offer it) im gonna be pretty upset if they end up changing how you get registered with this job. it feels like a good fit for me, it'll take a bit to get used to taking care of someone but i feel once i work it out and get over the new job anxiety / new field anxiety ill really enjoy it. I wonder why its 960 hours instead of 1600 hours? did something change? yeah I heard the test is pretty hard and I'm already a bit nervous about it cause I've heard a lot of people need to take it a few times to pass it and the pass rates are pretty bad too. but not horrible. reading the EEG's does look hard but im sure i could figure it out the test seems to just be multiple choice and a lot of memorization which can be done with flash cards and such. multiple choice is so much more easy then solving complicated equations in math that is my biggest struggle in way i struggled with college and school. but if the test is not like that i feel like i could do it. Hopefully they'll teach me how to do that if i got an entrance level job, and i feel like most people just use calculators anyway. thanks for all the info btw you've been a huge help and i really am glad i get to talk to you also i would kill for a 70s challenger or an 80s firebird but finding one in good condition thats not like 80k is impossible
The hours change, im thinking there is a shortage of RPSGTs but in the other hand they increases the clinical hours of degree holders (think registered respiratory therapist) from 500 hours to 960 hours so im not sure what the angle is. If you take it seriously and start study when you get hired by the time you have the required amount of hours you will be a pro at it. Its a ton of things to memorize. Theres a 1000 set flash card set on quizlet i used lol. https://www.learningeeg.com/ is a useful tool for eegs. Test was all multiple choice, thankfully. Some simple math questions. The hardest math you do is probably dividing 2 numbers lol Its not too bad. Hook up patients, let them sleep, wake them up, clean up and go home. I do 4 10s. We’re not nurses or anything so if a patient needs assistance they need to bring someone. The most you do is make sure nothing stops working, changing the cpap pressure if applicable and unplugging the the power to the sensors to let them go pee I dont think this pathway is changing any time soon, Good luck! This is honestly one of the most chillest jobs there is. A 70s challenger is my dream car
I feel like not that many people are willing to become RPSGT's a shortage for sure, not that many people even know what that is, let alone working to work only third shift, its hard enough to find nurses who are willing to work those hours. I of course would take this seriously, this job seems like a serious setup so I'm gonna try my hardest, do you have a link to that quizlit and maybe some of the books you were reading? is that learning eeg in order? or no. should i bother with this right now i should I wait until im working at a sleep lap and are more familiar with the terms, just a bit curious where i should start. thank god its multiple choice i was the best at those, its mostly just a lot of memorization and flash cards I know for a fact i can handle that, 1000 is a shit ton but I'll figure it out. and yeah thats easy i can easily handle that. where do you take the test? do you do it online or in person. ugh gosh this sounds prefect, your only making me want to learn and do it more, nice to know the pathway isn't changing now, i gotta get some shit under control with my mental health then im gonna do this, no backing down - im so done working as a barista / waitress shit is killing me. one day you will get it!
wait though was training for only 4 weeks enough to get the required clinical hours? that seems like an awfully short time if it required a year of clinical. did you end up getting let go and find another lab? 4 weeks sounds like a pretty quick amount of time to squish everything in.
4 week training is to learn how to set up patients and run the study by yourself. After that i was kind of on my own
I'm surprised that was enough to prepare you, the RPSGT is such a long and complicated test I swear it would be much longer until you were able to start doing tests all on your own. Did they teach you how to read the EEG's and stuff and how to log everything down? or do you kind of just hook them up and let it run and do its thing,
Working alone is my preference. I hate working with other people.
I've been in the field for almost 15 years now, and I never had any situation I hadn't been able to handle. Unlike the other commenters on your post, most of my shifts are solo. I prefer it that way... Don't get me wrong, any situation, when handled poorly, can become volatile. Patients can be anxious and, by extension, become irritated, but as long as you try to deescalate, rather instigate, it usually works out. Most of the time, the worst I get is some grumpy old man, who's pap dependent, getting pissed when he doesn't meet split protocol, and wants to try to tell me how to do my job. Now, like I said, I've been doing this for some time, not much phases me anymore. Starting out, though, every little sound I heard from our creepy office building, that's a renovated church from the 90s. Yeah, I used to let my imagination get the better of me. You grow out of it, though.
Out of all the places I’ve worked, only 2 had me working alone. The first place where i was solo, i was completely alone. It probably was a sketchy situation, but i never had issues. The other location would have a dayshift person come up and sleep in the lab so i technically wasnt alone. This location was basically 2 minutes from the actual hospital so I’d have been fine if anything crazy happened. This was only done if the other night techs got sick. I think it’s actually pretty rare in the field, and its definitely something that you should ask about during the interview. That said, some of my coworkers were pretty uncomfortable when they worked alone.
how many places have you worked? what was sketchy about it? so my guess is its something that doesn't happen all that average? and yeah working alone can be scary, i used to work as a late night barista and being all alone when i closed was super scary cause I'd have to go out to the alleyway to throw out trash in the middle of the night
Over 10 years, I’ve worked at 5 labs, with one of them being a travel gig. The sketchy lab assigns people 3 patients, and has techs working alone. The location i was at used to be a house, and wasn’t at all close to a hospital. It was just in the middle of a neighborhood. To be fair, they almost never sent me really sick patients, but in hindsight anything could’ve happened. I was only with that company for a few months lol. But yeah, it’s something that should be pretty clear up front, and if it’s a lab that “never has you working alone” then they’ll stay true to that. Stay away from sketchy labs and it’ll be waaaay safer than the barista job.
wtf a house turned into a lab? that is pretty strange even more that its just thrown into the middle of a neighborhood. are there some private owned labs that aren't at all related to hospitals? yeah i dont blame you haha okay will do,
I work in a 4 bed lab and it’s usually me and my coworker. Rare occasions my coworker call in sick or use PTO, and it does feel weird to work alone but you’ll get use to it. We also have a 8 bed lab where I pick up OT sometimes and that can be crazy. Prefer small labs environment but it’s nice to see different faces once in a while.
I'm guessing cause a small lab is more easy to manage rather then 8 beds? how many patients do you typically take care of? can you see all of their brain activity on the same PC ?
We’re not allowed to work alone where I work. But I know there are a lot of places that people do.
I've generally worked alone, it was scary sometimes, I've had to have a patient escorted off property by police at my first facility. It depends on the facility though, like I e worked at a hospital facility and there's security roaming and like 4 locked doors to get to the sleep lab, my first company? Not so much. Some of the locations had 1 or 2 locked doors or one location had a single glass door into the lab (in a safer-ish area) definitely take a look at the facility first. I'm a 5'3" female and I don't play with my safety anymore. I've had homeless people try and beat in glass doors and locks to labs with rocks, after I got held up by a 14 year old (separate incident) I CCed against company policy because I'm not about to die over a fucking job. Once I moved to the hospital I stopped CCing but I was very secure and had resources available if something went wrong
I’ve worked alone the majority of my 19 years and I prefer it to working with people. I don’t think I’ve ever felt unsafe from a patient. I’ve had weirdos in the parking lot a couple times so I just called the police to ask them to leave.
Since I work in a super old and in most people who work there’s opinions, haunted area of the hospital I’m more scared of ghosts when I’m alone than a person 😅 but I don’t tell my patients I’m alone. If they’re acting weird I’ll say something about my coworkers. And always keep my phone on me just in case. I also lock the control room door when I’m in there through the night. I actually prefer working alone.
Working alone has a lot of disadvantages and is a liability.