ADVANCE Reader Says Traveling Tech Series Hurts Profession

TO THE EDITOR:

I'm a certified nuclear medicine technologist and a former and future agency technologist. I've been concerned about the traveling technologist series since it was first published [ADVANCE, July-September 2002].

I do not have to tell anyone at ADVANCE that the technologist shortage is severe. Do you really think that glamorizing the money and sightseeing opportunities that traveling affords techs will ease this pain?

When a technologist, for whatever reason, decides to leave his local hospital to "make the big bucks," he leaves a hole in the schedule that must be covered by the already overworked staff. Not only that, more importantly he leaves a hole in his family that will not be filled until he returns from his assignment.

But they can go with him, you say. No, this is out of the question once the kids are in school. And even after he returns, he'll be going back out because now he's addicted to the money and can't be satisfied at the local hospital.

Meanwhile, back at the community hospital, they'll kill the other techs making up for his departure until someone new is hired. But because of the shortage, there are no applicants for three, seven, 10 months. Eventually, a truly desperate administrator OKs hiring an agency technologist–conceivably his own former tech! Talk about staffing problems–now you've got nine techs all doing the same job but all of them knowing that the agency guy is getting two or three times the money they are.

I'll be the first to admit that traveling provides some wonderful opportunities for certain types of techs: experienced, highly skilled, and quintessentially flexible, with no children and no spouse or significant other. But can you consider my concerns? They are: horrendous payroll costs for hospitals already struggling for their financial lives, terrific potential for even the strongest, kindest tech to be passionately resented by his peers and–by far the worst side-effect—almost unbearable stress on families and relationships.

Is that good for our profession? Is it good for our technologists? Is it good for our country?

No, I haven't suffered a bitter breakup due to traveling. In fact, I've met some wonderful people. But I have observed and experienced plenty of negatives with this type of work.

Before hoards of techs start jumping ship, could you step back a little and at least consider the possibility that these articles promoting agency work may result in unforeseen damage to the hospitals and individuals you want to help? Could you consider that balancing the series with a few horror stories might be more professional, even ethical?

Candis Stewart BS, CNMT
American Diagnostic Medicine
Via e-mail
ADVANCE for Imaging and Radiation Therapy Professionals, 12/2/2002
Vol. 15 • Issue 25 • Page 6