Cardiovascular technicians are members of the allied health professions. They help assess the patient’s heart for signs of arrhythmias or irregular heart beats, muscle damage from lack of oxygen such as when a heart attack occurs and general heart health. As you can see, cardiovascular technicians are an important part of the health care team. Here is an overview of the job and how to become a cardiovascular technician.
- Know the equipment. The cardiovascular technician is responsible for taking electrical tracings of the heart. This can be done as a small snapshot of time such as an electrocardiograph (EKG) or over a period of weeks with a Holter monitor. This is done by attaching electrodes at specific points on the chest, legs and arms to measure the electrical impulses that are generated in the heart. A tracing of these impulses are then made for the physician to interpret. The leads will be placed in a different position for the Holter monitor to allow for patient movement.
The patient will then be attached to a small monitor that will go with the patient for the duration of the test. This can be for a few days up to one month. Some of these monitors have a button that the patient can push if they are feeling faint, or they feel like they are having a cardiac event. Some of these monitors can be read only when the patient returns to have the monitor removed. Special personnel can read other, newer models almost instantaneously. Any adverse cardiac events can be relayed to the ordering physician rapidly so that the patient doesn’t need to wait a month to have any serious heart arrhythmias diagnosed.
Some cardiovascular technicians will also do cardiac stress testing. This involves applying the EKG electrodes to the patient and then having the patient walk on a treadmill. The patient will be carefully monitored as the difficulty of the exercise is increased, thus stressing the heart. An EKG technician job in this department will make you feel somewhat like a trainer in a gym, although your work is more critical within a hospital setting. These results will be read by the cardiologist, a physician who is specially trained in the functioning of the heart. - Educational requirements vary. Most training for cardiovascular technicians occurs on the job. This can take 6-12 weeks depending upon the size of the facility where you are working. Most facilities will require that applicants have a high school diploma. You must be able to read and write well as you will be reading orders from nurses and physicians. You will also be filing records or entering them into the electronic record. There are also online classes available that will make you more marketable. These classes usually require that you be able to do your clinical component on the job. Some facilities don’t use EKG technicians; rather the job duties are carried out by respiratory therapists (RT). This group of medical professionals has at minimum of an associate’s degree. Others decide to use a combination of the two, with the EKG technician doing the procedures during the day and the respiratory therapists doing EKGs only at nights and on the weekends. Cardiovascular technologists are required to have a four year bachelor’s degree and do more complex cardiac procedures including assisting with interventional cardiology.
- Get certified. Certification is not needed at the technician level, however there is a wide array of certifications available for those who go on to become cardiovascular technologists. These include credentials from the Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI) and American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS).
- Salary expectations. The salary range for cardiovascular technicians is $25,000 to $45,000. Some cardiovascular technicians in larger hospitals will earn more as well as those who are trained to do other tasks within the career. This is common in very small facilities.
- Job outlook. The outlook for this job should remain fairly stable, meaning there will be little job growth. This is a great entry level position, so if you see a job opening, jump on it.
If you want a job in the allied profession, this is a perfect starting position. It will allow you to have patient contact and work with a variety of other professionals. These jobs offer minimal contact with bodily fluids, although you will deal with patients with potentially infectious diseases. Additionally, the ability to go back to school to receive education to do more advanced procedures is also a possibility. Some employers will even help pay for portions of your additional education in this or other health care fields. A cardiovascular technician job is fun and exciting, and the potential for professional growth is enormous.