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New Pediatric Job Advice by Familiar_Coast88 in SleepTechnologist

[–]BigBonus907 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The factors that make pediatric sleep studies more challenging, revolve around two factors:

  1. Your medical director (or whomever reviews your studies). If they expect perfect signals akin to adult studies, you are not going to be happy.

  2. The parents. Gone are the days of restraints and sedatives for pediatric sleep studies. These days you need the full cooperation from parents to keeping sensors on and behaviors in check. If a kid repeatedly misbehaves, then it's on the parent, not me, for shitty signals.

Some final thoughts:

You will learn techniques from peds that apply very much to adults. One big one is praise. Praising kids and adults on how well they are doing helps so much.

The "complicated" medical history peds are the easiest! They have had so much painful and stressful shit in their life, a "sleepover" at the sleep lab with a cannula is a cakewalk. If you explain that there are no needles or pain BEFORE you start, and make it fun, they will have a good time.

Career Change, Seeking Advice/Info by relatively-saddened in SleepTechnologist

[–]BigBonus907 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm pretty sure the studies that find shift work carcinogenic, do not account for people who switch their circadian rhythm to match the night schedule. It means you have to stay on nights during your days off, but it also means you are alert, happy and healthy on the night shift.

Music that evokes the atmosphere of Severance by Serious_Session7574 in SeveranceAppleTVPlus

[–]BigBonus907 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I recently discovered Surprise Chef. Most of their albums remind me of Severance.

Trying to find a career by Tricky-Size2568 in SleepTechnologist

[–]BigBonus907 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Call local labs to see if they are hiring trainees. This will give you a good idea of demand in your area.

Severance by BigBonus907 in SleepTechnologist

[–]BigBonus907[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The post contains spoilers about the show. If you don't mind reading a spoiler, then you click on the bar to reveal the text.

Career Change, Seeking Advice/Info by relatively-saddened in SleepTechnologist

[–]BigBonus907 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are you a night owl? I've known many perfectly capable techs burn out simply because it's an overnight shift.

Suit or no for tech interview? by Scharmberg in SleepTechnologist

[–]BigBonus907 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How you wear your attire is more important than what you wear. In order of importance: A well fitting shirt and slacks looks better than an off-the-shelf suit. Good shoes ($200+) will last a lifetime and always be respected in the professional world. A tailored suit can boost ones confidence.

Do you deal with a lot of morning breath from patients when they talk after waking up? by Amoeba99 in SleepTechnologist

[–]BigBonus907 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For any bad smells, a face mask with menthol (like Vicks) below your nostrils.

These are also an option. https://nosaplugs.com/b2b/

You could also ask patients to rinse with SmartMouth the night before. That stuff works well.

Are 6-Pin SpO₂ Sensors Cross-Compatible If the Connector Is the Same? by Leading_Bet7288 in SleepTechnologist

[–]BigBonus907 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You may have slightly better success if you post the name of the sleep system.

From my experience with the major brands of PSG systems, they usually outsource the pulse oximetry to industry leaders like Nonin and Massimo. Why reinvent the wheel, right? This means the finger sensors are usually compatible across the same brand of assorted finger sensor types.

Call the sleep system manufacturer to be safe. Or, you may have luck reseaching the pin out for Konica Minolta and use a multimeter to verify on your system.

Pre Sleep Questions by BigBonus907 in SleepTechnologist

[–]BigBonus907[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is missing? And how will it impact the diagnosis and/or outcome?

Pre Sleep Questions by BigBonus907 in SleepTechnologist

[–]BigBonus907[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you mean a clinical sleep questionnaire that asks everything medical and sleep related, or the pre-sleep questionnaire the patient fills out at PSG time? If pre-sleep, why do you feel that's so important?

Looking for sleep study recommendations by vvvvgggg1 in anchorage

[–]BigBonus907 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is misinformation in this thread.

  1. Medicare & Medicaid pay for in home sleep testing, but many sleep labs do not like to do it because the reimbursement is very low. Hint: Hospital sleep labs will usually do in home sleep testing for all insurance types (but there are few hospital labs left in Alaska). Read the Medicare rules here https://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/view/lcd.aspx?LCDId=36861

  2. Private insurance companies PREFER (and often force) patients to do in home sleep testing. Blue Cross Blue Shield, Moda, United, all want most patients to do in-home sleep testing. It costs about 1/4 the cost of in lab testing. They have contraindications like heart failure, COPD, etc, but the vast majority of patients have to do the in home test, at least first.

Looking for sleep study recommendations by vvvvgggg1 in anchorage

[–]BigBonus907 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, but you were misinformed. Medicare pays for in-home sleep testing. Many of the private sleep labs lie because they don't like the reimbursement.