EKG Technician Salary Stats And Information
Just like with any other career field the salary of an EKG Technician can greatly vary. Some EKG Technicians earn $30,000 whereas others can only earn $22,000 a year with the median average salary being somewhere around $25,000. There are a few factors that go into figuring out around how much the expected salary will be, such as location, experience, how much training you've had, and how in demand they are at the particular time.
EKG Technicians administer cardiovascular tests on patients by using electrical impulses given off by the patient's heart. EKG simply stands for electrocardiogram, the technician will place a electrical conductors all over the patient's body to measure the impulses. They are usually giving to see if a patient has an irregular heartbeat. The process of having an EKG is usually quick and painless. Although this particular job can become very stressful if a technician has to work on a patient that has serious life threatening problems.
To become a EKG Technician you absolutely have to have a high school diploma or an general education diploma and a training certificate. This is a particular field that you can get on the job training, you learn as you go along. Or you could enroll in a local community college or a vocational school to get your certification.
It all depends upon you and what you would prefer to do. If you get enrolled in a career specific school, the training classes will last 8 to 16 weeks. Although some people may feel as if that is not enough training and they take more courses to learn how to give stress tests and do Holter monitoring.
Seeing as becoming an EKG Technician is in the medical field, the competition will be tough. There are many nurses and aids being trained to do EKG's as well. So you must always think about that, and decide whether you should further your training. If you do decide to get further training and learn how to perform stress tests and do Holter monitoring you will have a greater chance of becoming employed at a hospital.
The Holter monitoring aspect of being an EKG Technician involves hooking a patient up to an portable EKG machine to measure the impulses of the heart. Some patients have to use portable machines at different times if they are experiencing chest pains or if they have been having irregular heartbeats for a while.
The work week of an EKG Technician can usually consists of a five day work week, 40 hours per week every week. Most of the time you will either be standing or walking around the hospital or doctors office while on duty when not performing an EKG or a stress test. The job can get stressful when having to deal with patients that suffer from severe health problems, and older patients.