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EP. 95 What Confident CT Technologists Do Differently · Cat Scan Guru Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello, hello, wonderful technologist.
• 0:03
  Welcome back to the CAT Scan Group podcast.
• 0:06
  I am your host Karina Hogan. So welcome back everybody.
• 0:10
  Hope you guys are having a amazing week.
• 0:14
  So I know I say this on every episode, but I am so ready for
• 0:18
  summer. Because if you have no idea what
• 0:21
  it's like living in the Midwest, I am not from the Midwest.
• 0:24
  I am from the West Coast. So I grew up in the West Coast
• 0:26
  and I'm used to desert and 100° heat.
• 0:30
  So I know you guys should think I'm crazy, but this desert girl
• 0:33
  cannot handle snow, black ice and all that it entails here.
• 0:37
  But unfortunately, I am stuck in the Midwest, you know, due to
• 0:43
  joint custody and things like that.
• 0:45
  But I just want to personally thank everybody for continuing
• 0:49
  to purchase the CD core protocols guide and the
• 0:53
  pocketbook, the pocketbook that fits into your scrub pocket.
• 0:57
  These are some amazing resources.
• 0:58
  So of course, I've taken all the protocols that I have done over
• 1:01
  the years, taking them out of my little brain and put them into
• 1:04
  these resources for you. So you can get a digital copy or
• 1:09
  a hard of either one of them. Everything is LinkedIn, the show
• 1:14
  notes and when you purchase either the protocol guide or the
• 1:18
  pocketbook, doesn't matter if it's a hard copy or a digital
• 1:22
  copy, you will get access to two courses plus a audio series that
• 1:27
  I do teach absolutely for free when you purchase either the
• 1:31
  pocketbook or the guy. So make sure you guys get in on
• 1:34
  that action and make your CT training a success.
• 1:38
  Also make sure you follow along on TikTok because I do a lot of
• 1:40
  protocol videos and a lot of education and just, you know, I
• 1:45
  share some personal things sometimes on my TikTok channel.
• 1:49
  So make sure you guys check that out as well, OK?
• 1:52
  And check out the YouTube channel for all your educational
• 1:55
  needs in CT or the new CT technologies.
• 1:58
  And even you experienced technologists.
• 2:00
  I know I've gotten comments about having like a refresher
• 2:03
  course, which is something that I'm working on as we speak.
• 2:06
  So stay tuned. That will be available very
• 2:08
  soon. On to today's episode.
• 2:11
  We're going to be talking about what confident CT technologists
• 2:15
  do differently, OK? So we're going to be talking
• 2:19
  about you, the confidence CT tech, what you do differently
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  versus anyone else. So what I mean is, is that a new
• 2:27
  CT technologist, they may be lacking confidence, they're
• 2:31
  unsure or they're second guess themselves or they overthink
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  versus somebody who is confident in that role and how they do
• 2:39
  things differently. So confidence CT technologists
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  aren't guessing. They follow a system.
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  So when we are confident in our skills, we are we're confident
• 2:48
  in our job and we're confident to making sure that we take care
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  of our patients in the safest possible way.
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  We follow a system. OK, So one of the problems that
• 2:56
  I see when I see a technologist that doesn't seem very confident
• 3:01
  or they're a little fearful is sometimes people think that
• 3:05
  confidence equals their personality.
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  Like you can be an amazing person and have an awesome
• 3:11
  personality and absolutely just be unsure in your job because we
• 3:15
  see that too. OK, So what does that do?
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  It creates a lot of overthinking.
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  And you know, somebody who is not confident overthinks a lot
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  and overdoes. And sometimes when you do, when
• 3:28
  you overdo something, you can make a lot of mistakes.
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  There's a lot of hesitation like, oh, should I do this?
• 3:34
  I don't know if it's right. And you're second guessing
• 3:36
  yourself all the time and not being sure in just taking the
• 3:41
  time out to say, OK, if I do this, this is the result.
• 3:45
  But you're, you're hesitating and you're second guessing a
• 3:47
  lot. And then what that does is you
• 3:49
  add more stress to yourself and then you're stressing yourself
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  out because you don't know if you're making the right decision
• 3:55
  or not. And then there's fear behind
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  that. So those are the things that we
• 4:00
  don't want. And we want to make sure that
• 4:02
  when we train our new technologists that you are
• 4:06
  confident in your skill set and confident while you're in that
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  scan room with the patient and you're confident behind that
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  console, making sure that you execute the exam before you
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  press that button and that contrast button.
• 4:17
  So let me tell you where confidence comes.
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  It comes from a structured workflow.
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  It comes with repetition and understanding and with clear
• 4:27
  logics when it comes to protocols.
• 4:29
  So when we have a structured workflow as far as how you
• 4:33
  execute your day, how you train properly, what you should know
• 4:37
  first and then what you should know next, and then making sure
• 4:41
  you practice and repeat those exams.
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  Like there are some core exams that every technologist should
• 4:48
  know. You should know how to execute a
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  head without contrast, No problem.
• 4:52
  APE study an abdomen and pelvis with contrast because those 3
• 4:56
  exams are your bread and butter. Even ACT of the C spine because
• 4:59
  it goes right hand in hand with a head without contrast is
• 5:04
  usually for a fall. OK next one should be like a CTA
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  abdomen and pelvis. Another one is an entire stroke
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  protocol and when you repeat and use repetition and practice, you
• 5:15
  will understand more on the logic behind it and those
• 5:20
  protocols will be nice and clear for you when you have a
• 5:24
  structure workflow on. Okay, I'm starting my training.
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  This is what I need to know first.
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  This is what I need to know next.
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  This is what I need to know which I have an awesome eight
• 5:32
  week checklist that you can get in the show notes on how I think
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  you should structure your training.
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  So it's like a free checklist that you can go by that is
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  merely a guide for you to follow.
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  So when you have those things and you have those patterns as a
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  confident technologist, what happens is you're calmer under
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  pressure because CT is very stressful and we're very
• 5:53
  freaking busy. I can't tell you how many struct
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  protocols at my hospital we run and how many traumas because we
• 5:59
  are a level 1 trauma center. And then your workflow becomes a
• 6:02
  little bit more structured. It becomes a little bit more
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  quicker and you have that confidence as a professional to
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  execute your skill set. And that is where your
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  confidence comes in and you become more successful in that.
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  Repetition helps you grow, practice makes you grow.
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  And then you start executing those exams like hey, I know
• 6:24
  exactly what I'm doing, OK. And a lot of times when
• 6:27
  technologists are really good at what they do, a lot of other
• 6:31
  ones like if they aren't unsure, you will be the go to that they
• 6:35
  call when something goes wrong and says, hey, can I get your
• 6:38
  opinion on this or hey, can you help me with this?
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  Or hey, can you start an IV for me because I've tried.
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  So those are the things that you want to execute, but we have to
• 6:46
  make sure that the training process is set up correctly and
• 6:50
  set up for success. Start with the protocol bundle
• 6:55
  because that will be a good reference to add to your CT
• 7:00
  training and you can use that as a reference while you're doing
• 7:03
  your training. So that is it for today's
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  episode. I know it was a little short,
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  but I like bite sized episodes for you guys.
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  So you guys take the information I'm giving you and then just go
• 7:14
  ahead and execute and make the best out of your training.
• 7:18
  So make sure you get the protocol bundles, whether it's
• 7:21
  the pocketbook or the guide and make sure you follow along on
• 7:24
  TikTok and on YouTube for all your CT needs.
• 7:28
  So thank you so much for joining me in this episode and I will
• 7:31
  chat with you guys in the next episode.