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I am so, so bad. This past September I received this question in my in-box.
"Which do you think is a better choice? Surgical Technology or LPN?
"Which do you think is a better choice? Surgical Technology or LPN?
I know that some LPN's are restricted from the hospitals, but there are other areas they can work. In your honest opinion, would it be wiser to stay in surgical technology for the few months of general educations classes I have had, or LPN?
I have been researching & it seems as if surgical technologists are a little more limited . LPN's can scrub also. My school has LPN (15 mos) + add'l 18 mos to become an RN. Which route do you think is wiser. I can not get many other opinions. I just don't want to continue with surgical tech if later I may possibly want to go to nursing school.
What state are you in? What is the difference in pay for LPN & Surgical Technologist?
Thanks again..."
Well, I have finally gotten around to answering. I apologize profusely for the delay and hope my opinion isn't arriving after the fact. Not that I believe my opinion should have a major influence. What is right for me may not be right for others. I can only inform you from my limited experience and knowledge of nursing.
I think the first question you might want to ask yourself is, do I enjoy interacting with people on a very personal level? For myself, I am a sociophobe, well o.k. not quite, but I am much more comfortable caring for someone that is asleep, or at least sedated, than I am caring for someone who is awake, alert, and oriented. Another question may be, do I want to stay in the O.R. and scrub all the time, or would I like to someday work in a doctors office, pain clinic, public health clinic, clinical trial, research facility, emergency room, etc., etc., etc. ? You are correct in your observation that techs are limited. While there are some opportunities to assist as a tech in a doctors clinic with some minor office procedures (vein disease treatments come to mind), surgical technologists are pretty much confined to the surgical setting. You may work at major trauma center where you are required to take call and work occasional holidays and weekends, or a small ambulatory surgery center with weekends off, holidays off, and you never have to be on call ( how boring is that?).
Wages for techs will vary with hospitals and duties. Trauma techs will make more than those who do not scrub trauma. Some hospitals offer techs monetary incentive, say an additional 10%, to be team leaders in the various specialties, such as ortho, neuro, etc. If you take call, you can expect to make anywhere between two (hopefully that has increased) to six dollars an hour just to carry the pager, and then bank time and half if you are called in. Many surgeons are willing to pay nicely for a private scrub. By knowing a surgeons routine and having everything needed for every case, every time, private scrubs can save a surgeon a lot of time and frustration. Given all of these factors, the salary range can be anywhere from $13.00 an hour starting, to as much as $30.00 an hour (so I've been told, but not seen) as a private scrub.
You are also correct in stating that an LPN can scrub. At least as far as I know. I used to work with one who did scrub. I don't know the exact going rate for LPN's but my guess is going to be ballpark range from $20.00 new grad to $30/35.00 an hour top out? Anybody? Wages will probably be higher on both coasts (ie. NYC or SF), in major cities, and through a nurses union perhaps. Again the question is how much do you want to scrub? Is that all you want to do? If you are an LPN, it has been my experience in the O.R. that nurses will be circulating, running the front desk, maybe even helping in pre and post-op when staff is short handed, and usually NOT scrubbing. In effect, nurses will be employed as nurses and not techs. There are some areas and hospitals that are of a mind to use only scrub nurses. However, as you have seen, technologists are generally cheaper.
Let me say this, I have not researched the different scopes of practice for LPN, APN, NP, or RN. I would say that if you are going to go to nursing school, get your RN. Do it all at once and you shouldn't regret it. Take it from me, it is a lot harder to go back and finish something after you've left school than it is to just "get 'er done!" and if you really want to be a nurse, I think RN is probably the way to go.
I don't know what your ST curriculum is, but if you are unsure about scrubbing, maybe you can stay in the program until you begin clinicals. I have mentored my share of students and clinical cases seem to be the make or break point for many. The notion of being in the O.R. may seem very romantic and thrilling until you smell poop from the inside out, or get a strangers blood tattooed across your eye protection or worse yet, soaked through your scrub pants. It is often nothing like they imagined. For others, it is exactly as they imagined and they can't get enough. You may never truly know unless you try it. If clinicals are definitive enough it will make your decision very clear. If you choose RN, hopefully the didactic portion of your tech program will transfer, A & P, microbiology, gen. ed. credits etc. Personally, for me, I have no inclination to become a nurse. I love being in the sterile field and I never want to leave the operating room. As an assist, I am doing exactly what I was meant to do.
If any one else has anything to add, please feel free. I can only speak from my own experience and I am not up on nursing privileges or restrictions and I am too lazy to research it!
Alright, I did look here and see that I was pretty generous with the LPN wage . According to this LPN ranges from $17-21.00 based on a fourty hour work week. I think you can make that as a Surgical Technologist. Seems an RN averages about 58% more in salary. Yeah, I say go for the RN if you don't love scrubbing.
Well, I have finally gotten around to answering. I apologize profusely for the delay and hope my opinion isn't arriving after the fact. Not that I believe my opinion should have a major influence. What is right for me may not be right for others. I can only inform you from my limited experience and knowledge of nursing.
I think the first question you might want to ask yourself is, do I enjoy interacting with people on a very personal level? For myself, I am a sociophobe, well o.k. not quite, but I am much more comfortable caring for someone that is asleep, or at least sedated, than I am caring for someone who is awake, alert, and oriented. Another question may be, do I want to stay in the O.R. and scrub all the time, or would I like to someday work in a doctors office, pain clinic, public health clinic, clinical trial, research facility, emergency room, etc., etc., etc. ? You are correct in your observation that techs are limited. While there are some opportunities to assist as a tech in a doctors clinic with some minor office procedures (vein disease treatments come to mind), surgical technologists are pretty much confined to the surgical setting. You may work at major trauma center where you are required to take call and work occasional holidays and weekends, or a small ambulatory surgery center with weekends off, holidays off, and you never have to be on call ( how boring is that?).
Wages for techs will vary with hospitals and duties. Trauma techs will make more than those who do not scrub trauma. Some hospitals offer techs monetary incentive, say an additional 10%, to be team leaders in the various specialties, such as ortho, neuro, etc. If you take call, you can expect to make anywhere between two (hopefully that has increased) to six dollars an hour just to carry the pager, and then bank time and half if you are called in. Many surgeons are willing to pay nicely for a private scrub. By knowing a surgeons routine and having everything needed for every case, every time, private scrubs can save a surgeon a lot of time and frustration. Given all of these factors, the salary range can be anywhere from $13.00 an hour starting, to as much as $30.00 an hour (so I've been told, but not seen) as a private scrub.
You are also correct in stating that an LPN can scrub. At least as far as I know. I used to work with one who did scrub. I don't know the exact going rate for LPN's but my guess is going to be ballpark range from $20.00 new grad to $30/35.00 an hour top out? Anybody? Wages will probably be higher on both coasts (ie. NYC or SF), in major cities, and through a nurses union perhaps. Again the question is how much do you want to scrub? Is that all you want to do? If you are an LPN, it has been my experience in the O.R. that nurses will be circulating, running the front desk, maybe even helping in pre and post-op when staff is short handed, and usually NOT scrubbing. In effect, nurses will be employed as nurses and not techs. There are some areas and hospitals that are of a mind to use only scrub nurses. However, as you have seen, technologists are generally cheaper.
Let me say this, I have not researched the different scopes of practice for LPN, APN, NP, or RN. I would say that if you are going to go to nursing school, get your RN. Do it all at once and you shouldn't regret it. Take it from me, it is a lot harder to go back and finish something after you've left school than it is to just "get 'er done!" and if you really want to be a nurse, I think RN is probably the way to go.
I don't know what your ST curriculum is, but if you are unsure about scrubbing, maybe you can stay in the program until you begin clinicals. I have mentored my share of students and clinical cases seem to be the make or break point for many. The notion of being in the O.R. may seem very romantic and thrilling until you smell poop from the inside out, or get a strangers blood tattooed across your eye protection or worse yet, soaked through your scrub pants. It is often nothing like they imagined. For others, it is exactly as they imagined and they can't get enough. You may never truly know unless you try it. If clinicals are definitive enough it will make your decision very clear. If you choose RN, hopefully the didactic portion of your tech program will transfer, A & P, microbiology, gen. ed. credits etc. Personally, for me, I have no inclination to become a nurse. I love being in the sterile field and I never want to leave the operating room. As an assist, I am doing exactly what I was meant to do.
If any one else has anything to add, please feel free. I can only speak from my own experience and I am not up on nursing privileges or restrictions and I am too lazy to research it!
Alright, I did look here and see that I was pretty generous with the LPN wage . According to this LPN ranges from $17-21.00 based on a fourty hour work week. I think you can make that as a Surgical Technologist. Seems an RN averages about 58% more in salary. Yeah, I say go for the RN if you don't love scrubbing.
1 comment:
As a former nursing student, a current pre-med student, and owner of an orthopedic sales business, I would say that if scrubbing is your goal, nursing school is NOT the path. We work out of 7 hospitals, and not a single one utilizes scrub nurses. It's just not cost-effective. RN's in the OR function as circulators, which in my experience is a glorified gopher. They are charting, and grabbing things for people who are sterile, and can't get it themselves. Not my idea of a good time, but then again neither would be anesthesia. I want to be IN on the action, not watching from afar. I would say that if you love scrubbing, but you also want to have the personal interaction, and clinical interactions with your patients (plus a significant pay raise), without the fuss of med school, PA school would be your best option. You can round on patients, see patients in office, AND scrub in the OR, with an average salary of about $90,000 per year, here in Utah. Of course, it also means a bachelor's degree, and then a Master's degree, but it certainly gives you more options. Since I have a two year old who I actually want to raise, I'll be postponing medical school until my kids are a lot older (like 10 years from now at least), and am planning on getting my CST in the meantime for my "clinical experience," and to feed my inner surgical obsession.
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