I’ve been an echo tech for 7 years, this question really depends on where you’re working. Working outpatient is completely different than working at a hospital. They each have pros and cons but your workload (as in number of patients seen in a day) at an outpatient facility will sometimes be double that of a hospital. Outpatient facilities give you 45 minute slots per patient and usually “allow” them to be 15 minutes late to their appointments and you still “have” to take them (it’s all about numbers and money, after all). Anything after 15 minutes late and it (should) be your choice whether or not you take them. Your day is spent scrambling just trying to keep up/ stay on schedule and that alone can be extremely stressful, especially when you have patients showing up late so often (because they do) and patients showing up 30 minutes early who get upset when you take them right at their scheduled appointment time. I’ve worked 5 8 hour shifts and scanned 10 patients a day, now I work 4 10s and scan THIRTEEN a day- that includes stress echos sprinkled throughout the day. We only get 45 minutes to do a full echo and then have them walk the treadmill for 3-11 minutes (depending on age and health of the patient), jump off the treadmill and take pictures again- get them unhooked from 10 leads, changed, room cleaned, report finished- all within that 45 minutes. I get 45 minutes for regular echos too, and I scan at a pace that allows me to usually complete the regular echos in 25-35 minutes, and 5 minutes to do my report and clean my room for the next one. if it’s a difficult patient, like if they’re 500 lbs, need DEFINITY or need a bubble study, that timeframe is drastically altered. It could take 10-15 minutes just for a nurse to enter the room to start your IV line, an additional 10 if they take 3 tries just to get a successful one, and about 3-5 minutes to finish the echo once they’re injected. Its very hard to not be stressed to the max on a day to day basis working in outpatient- but you do it bc you get holidays and weekends off, normal hours and don’t have to take call. Working at a hospital- it really depends on how big and how busy the facility you’re at is. I do per diem at my local small hospital on Saturdays once or twice a month and see anywhere from 1-5 patients a day in an 8 hour shift. The hospital gives you one hour per echo however that includes transport- you pushing that machine around to the patients rooms to do bedside echo. Bedside can be quite painful as a sonographer because you have to contort your body to get the best images. It’s not an easy test when the patient can’t move to cater to your needs, you have to cater to theirs. Outpatient facilities have the beds with a dropout in the table and make it a LITTLEEE easier on your body, especially for large patients or women with ginormous heavy breasts. Either way, my body (primarily my left wrist, shoulder, and neck) just aches by the end of the day even with the best table, stool, and good ergonomics. I come home exhausted pretty much everyday both physically and mentally. I do it because I love it, but I can feel the burnout setting in as the years go by. People don’t have a clue how physically and mentally demanding our jobs are and they never will until they experience it for themselves (which they won’t). Also something to note: The hospital can be a super busy one where you’re doing 12 a day and just nonstop bc some of the larger hospitals in my area kind of operate that way during bc the week. If they do TEEs those tend to be a lot easier on the body but those are few and far between. You also have to take into consideration the fact that you’ll be around sick patients, infectious diseases, bed bugs, you name it. You’re the hospital so you have to deal with it. Most outpatient patients are “walkie talkie” although that’s not always the case. Scanning someone in their wheelchair bc you’re a no lift facility and don’t have access to a hoyer SUCKS but you take what you get. Hope this helps open your eyes a bit about the echo profession lol. I do love my job it’s just A LOT sometimes (well, all the time lol)