Finally we were able to purchase new equipment for the lab that I have been dreaming about! I am expecting installation to begin next week and training the week after.  The prep work on our end -- checking the existing cabling and wiring connections for compatibility with the new system -- has been going on for a couple of weeks ...

NURSES BURN OUT ON LONG SHIFTS!! Well surprise, surprise, surprise, and to quote one of my favorite malcontent Disney characters, Diego, ''I am not surprised, I am so not surprised, I think I am going to die from not surprise!'' This article under this headline laments the long 12-hour shifts nurses must work and how dissatisfied they become ...

In the news this week, a pediatric sleep tech was accused of inappropriate contact with two underage children. The news channels jumped all over his role as a night-time tech who sets up children for studies, even though the alleged contact did not happen at work and he had no criminal record when he was hired five years ago. Whether ...

There is a huge failure rate for CPAP therapy; some would even say it is as high as 50 percent. That number is being used by insurance companies, home sleep testing companies, and people who do not believe in sleep apnea to prove that we are testing too many people and spending too much money. But we're not. The failure rate results from our ...

Once a year I try to do two things. I review and update our policy and procedure manual to meet the new needs of our facility and I do technician evaluations so if there is any new education that needs to be done I can plan for the education during our monthly meetings. Policies and procedures are essential for any good sleep lab. These are the ...

I had an experience getting some prescriptions filled: The technician was working with me to get a discount card to work that I could not use at another pharmacy. It turned out that the other pharmacy just did not know to make a phone call required to activate the card. It cost them a customer. The extra 10 minutes this person ...

The other day I had to work part of a night shift with two of my technicians. We had a patient that may have needed a little extra care, and I felt that another person might help to run the study better. When I got home, I posted on Facebook how impressed I was with the technicians I worked with. They really understand that they're on the ...

I believe one of the most important parts of management is to help to create future leaders. I don't think that nurturing new leaders puts your job in danger. It actually encourages people in my department to be better techs and to be more satisfied at their jobs. However, techs with low self-esteem can derail this goal. For whatever reason, they ...

Many sleep technicians don't know how insurance works. They don't understand what insurances cover and which insurances need authorizations before giving equipment or performing tests. To them, this is an issue just for the billing office and the scheduling desk. I have found that the more I understand about our field and the way we are paid, the ...

I've been involved in sleep for the past 10 years, and I can tell you that I still measure every patient's head when I do a setup. My setups take between 45 minutes and an hour. I have never really gotten much faster than that. I think it's because I really believe that if you take your time and measure and clean the sites well, you will get the ...