ED Tech at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center
Pros
-Self scheduling allows for great flexibiliy -Very good experience due to high patient volume -Roughest area in northern virginia so you get shootings and stabbings if you like that -Allowed ED Techs to do more than some other hospitals -Sentara is a great company with alot of resources
Cons
-Horribly understaffed -Frustrating for paramedics working as techs due to extremely narrow scope of practice vs what we are trained to do/do in other settings routinely -Lack of respect from RN's. Not all but definitely there. Paramedics have a larger scope of practice, more knowledge and are better trained for emergency medicine than RN's do. Some nurses were great and some just treated you like you were unskilled labor -Lots of people in the area don't have insurance so the ED become their primary care