Latest / Cat Scan Guru Podcast / EP. 92 Why New CT Technologists Struggle With Decision-Making (And How to Fix It)

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EP. 92 Why New CT Technologists Struggle With Decision-Making (And How to Fix It) · Cat Scan Guru Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello, welcome back to the Cat Scan Guru podcast.
• 0:03
  Hope you guys are having an amazing week.
• 0:05
  Can you guys kind of believe that it's April already?
• 0:09
  It is been wild. I think 2026 is kind of just
• 0:13
  skating on by and like summer will be here before you know it.
• 0:17
  I know I am getting summer ready and just upping my workouts and
• 0:22
  I'm doing pretty good as far as that.
• 0:24
  If you follow me on TikTok, you know, I do post some gym content
• 0:28
  even though I'm not a gym content creator.
• 0:30
  But gym and the fitness lifestyle is one of the things
• 0:34
  that is really big in my life. And I think I'm in better shape
• 0:37
  now at 48 years old than I was in my 20s.
• 0:41
  So pretty proud of the progress as far as that.
• 0:44
  So little housekeeping. I know if you follow me on
• 0:48
  TikTok, I have released a couple of very good resources for the
• 0:52
  new CT technologist. So there are two things that I
• 0:55
  do have. The first thing that I did
• 0:57
  release probably almost about a month ago is the core CT
• 1:02
  protocols guide. So it's an awesome guide.
• 1:05
  It's got about 10 different protocols.
• 1:07
  You can get a hard copy version or a digital copy that is
• 1:12
  available in my Etsy store. I've been trying different
• 1:15
  platforms and things like that and Etsy seems to be the one
• 1:17
  that sticks in is easier for me to manage.
• 1:20
  So because Shopify was just too freaking difficult.
• 1:23
  So it's easy to to follow. Plus, when you get set as a
• 1:27
  bundle where whether it's a hard copy, digital copy, you do get
• 1:32
  the two courses and the audio series that I do have.
• 1:36
  So the common CT exams and protocols course and the
• 1:41
  contrast media course. I'm in the process of making
• 1:44
  another course to add to that. So stay tuned for that.
• 1:47
  Also, I have just released a like it's a mini pocket guide.
• 1:52
  So I've incorporated a little bit more protocols into this
• 1:55
  one. This is a what we call a scan
• 1:58
  ready. It's ACT pockets protocol book.
• 2:01
  So it's something that you can put in your scrub pocket that
• 2:04
  you can take with you. It's got sixteen of the most
• 2:07
  common protocols. I took it as a little step
• 2:10
  further. It's something that you can just
• 2:11
  flip through while you're on the job, your training, whatever the
• 2:15
  case is. And also when you get that as a
• 2:18
  bundle, because it's a hard copy and a digital, because I know I
• 2:21
  have different types of technologists that like
• 2:24
  different types of things considering feel like more
• 2:27
  digital or hard copy, it doesn't really matter.
• 2:30
  You also get access to the two courses and the audio series
• 2:33
  with that as well. So if you want to get any of
• 2:37
  those resources, make sure you guys check out the show notes.
• 2:40
  Links will all be in the show notes.
• 2:42
  So you can go ahead and get your copy today.
• 2:44
  Also, I know I had one of the comments in one of my TikTok
• 2:47
  videos about making my courses CE courses for points.
• 2:51
  Well, you're in luck because I did create a kind of like a CT
• 2:56
  101 basic course. It's a part of RAD CEU
• 3:00
  providers. It gives you 4 CE credits that
• 3:02
  counts towards your biennium. So I will drop the link on that
• 3:07
  as well so you guys can get in on it is of course, I did
• 3:10
  probably back in, I want to say 2020-2021.
• 3:15
  It was around there. So it was one of the very first
• 3:18
  courses I started teaching. And yeah, it wasn't that great
• 3:21
  because now I've just improved my skills as far as teaching.
• 3:24
  Guys want in on all the action. Make sure you check out the show
• 3:27
  notes and make sure that you guys subscribe to the podcast.
• 3:32
  Can't tell you how grateful I am every single month that more and
• 3:37
  more of you are listening and sharing and just enjoying the
• 3:40
  content. And I want to say to thank you
• 3:42
  to everybody that has purchased the guides and the pocketbook
• 3:46
  and we'll be creating more stuff as we go along.
• 3:49
  So make sure you guys check that out and get your learn on.
• 3:52
  In today's episode we are going to talk about why new CT
• 3:56
  technologists struggle with decision making and how to fix
• 4:01
  it. Now there's a lot of hustle and
• 4:03
  bustle when it comes to CT, and departments are really super
• 4:07
  busy. Most new CT technologists don't
• 4:10
  lack skill, they lack decision making and decision making is a
• 4:15
  of what we do in our job because there's a lot of decisions that
• 4:18
  need to be made and sometimes like on the fly.
• 4:21
  So this episode's going to talk about why CT feels less
• 4:25
  stressful when you don't have like a structured framework,
• 4:30
  like structured training, just a structured process in your
• 4:34
  department. When you're training texts that
• 4:36
  are transitioning from X-ray to CT or even a new traveler that
• 4:40
  is coming into your department and helping you out for 13
• 4:43
  weeks, how you can make that process for them less stressful?
• 4:48
  OK, but let's think about what the issue is.
• 4:51
  The one issue that I can think of is, is that sometimes there's
• 4:55
  no thinking process behind before we scan anybody or
• 5:00
  there's no thinking process before scanning because we have
• 5:04
  to train quickly. We don't have time to train.
• 5:07
  There are some techs that unfortunately don't like to
• 5:10
  train new people or we expect travelers to already know what
• 5:14
  they're doing. And sometimes you do get a
• 5:16
  traveler that is brand new that really hasn't spent a lot of
• 5:20
  time in CT, which we've come across that in our department.
• 5:25
  So what does this do? There's a lot of hesitation when
• 5:28
  it comes to scanning. There is a lot of over checking
• 5:31
  everything, overthinking, overdoing everything.
• 5:34
  There's a lot of anxiety that comes when protocols aren't
• 5:38
  clear or there's no understanding behind that.
• 5:42
  And there's always a fear of making mistakes and the making
• 5:46
  the mistakes is really a big one because you want to set all the
• 5:51
  technologists up for success and not making sure that they repeat
• 5:55
  their mistakes. So what we have to look at is,
• 5:58
  is that CT is not just a technical thing, OK?
• 6:01
  There's a lot of decision based making that we do.
• 6:04
  Is this appropriate amount of contrast, OK, for this patient?
• 6:07
  Do we need to lower? Do we need to give more?
• 6:09
  Is this IV correct? Do I feel comfortable injecting
• 6:13
  at 5 CCS per second for this cardiac, You know, with this
• 6:17
  line that I have, that might be a little bit iffy.
• 6:19
  Is the patient going to be able to drink contrast because the
• 6:22
  physician wants him to drink contrast?
• 6:24
  You know, is it safe to pause this medication and call the
• 6:28
  nurse because they only have one IV line?
• 6:30
  We got to use the IV for IV contrast.
• 6:32
  So there's a lot of decisions that have to be made and a lot
• 6:35
  of times we have to make them on the fly, especially if patients
• 6:38
  allergic to contrast, you know, diabetic patients, patients who
• 6:41
  are pregnant and who are female. So there's a lot of decision
• 6:45
  space making that is done in CT that we have to prepare the new
• 6:49
  technologist for and make it a very simple, easy process for
• 6:53
  them to do. Now, most techs were never
• 6:56
  taught how to really think through like a protocol or an
• 7:01
  exam because we're rushing the training.
• 7:03
  You know, we're giving technologist 4 to six weeks
• 7:05
  training and then expect them to be on the ship to cover the
• 7:08
  shifts. Tell you why there is a huge
• 7:10
  shortage in a lot of CT departments around the country.
• 7:14
  I know that there are several hospitals in the city that I
• 7:18
  live in, that this is a common phenomenon.
• 7:22
  And I can tell you at my facility, we have taken on
• 7:26
  probably more travelers than I have seen in the amount of time
• 7:29
  that I've spent there. And I've worked at that hospital
• 7:31
  for a long time. So The thing is, is that because
• 7:34
  we're rushing the training, there's no real training
• 7:37
  structure. We don't have time to train.
• 7:39
  The ER is really, really busy. Our work lists are just longer
• 7:43
  and longer and it's just a shit show when it comes to the work
• 7:49
  and the high capacity and high demand that we have to meet as
• 7:53
  far as turn around times. So a lot of the new
• 7:55
  technologists are not taught how to think through, you know, a
• 8:00
  scan, a protocol or if something goes wrong.
• 8:03
  Now, what would really help is if we create some kind of simple
• 8:07
  decision framework. So that removes the hesitation
• 8:11
  from OK, is this safe? Is this that or we can give them
• 8:14
  some critical thinking skills and say, OK, this might be a
• 8:17
  little iffy. Let me get a second opinion
• 8:19
  before I say yes or no. Or let me check the labs before
• 8:23
  we even put the patient on the table, check their IV and making
• 8:27
  sure that the test matches up with what they're looking for.
• 8:29
  So if we have just a structured base, just program framework,
• 8:35
  you know, training process, whatever the case is, I think it
• 8:39
  would make the decision making and give these new technologists
• 8:43
  a really good framework and how to map out how to train
• 8:46
  properly. OK, so some examples of like the
• 8:50
  decisions, you know, does this exam that they've ordered rule
• 8:55
  out what the reasoning behind the exam is?
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  That's one or does this protocol match what they are looking for
• 9:02
  on this exam? Or do I need to make any
• 9:05
  adjustments as far as, let's say for example, you have a patient
• 9:09
  who is like 98 lbs versus, you know, another patient that is
• 9:13
  490 lbs? Like where do I need to adjust
• 9:16
  contrast or do I need to use a bariatric protocol, you know,
• 9:20
  for the larger patient to make sure that I get an optimal exam?
• 9:24
  So how does this help us? So your decision making becomes
• 9:28
  a little bit quicker because a lot of critical thinking in CT,
• 9:32
  we have to think outside the box a lot.
• 9:34
  And because all the patients are different and we see a lot of
• 9:39
  acuity, especially there's sicker and sicker patients
• 9:42
  nowadays because you know, people are afraid to come to the
• 9:44
  hospital. They come to the hospital when
• 9:46
  you know, it's really, really critical and they should have
• 9:49
  been there a long time ago. You know, we start to see a lot
• 9:51
  of scenarios on, you know, the patient population and, you
• 9:55
  know, the patient population. You know, there's older patients
• 9:57
  that are getting sicker and sicker, a lot of them return,
• 10:00
  things like that. So we have faster decision
• 10:04
  making where we know exactly, OK, this may not be a good idea.
• 10:08
  OK, maybe let me ask the doctor to clarify this order.
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  OK, this is how much contrast I'm going to give on this
• 10:14
  patient. What that does is it also
• 10:15
  creates less anxiety where you know how to think and to make
• 10:20
  sure that you execute the right thing and do the correct
• 10:24
  protocol and the correct test the first time.
• 10:26
  It lessens your anxiety, makes CTA little bit easier, right?
• 10:29
  So and then you have more, not only the scans that you're
• 10:32
  performing, but just the job itself.
• 10:35
  You have more control. You're able to just execute
• 10:38
  those optimal exams and making sure that you're scanning
• 10:41
  correctly and making sure that you're doing the exams properly.
• 10:45
  OK, So a lot of this that we go through as far as struggle with
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  decision making, I think it's just because we're throwing in
• 10:53
  texts that are brand new and that we expect them to do the
• 10:58
  job in a month, in a month and 1/2, which is unreasonable and
• 11:03
  unrealistic if you ask me. I think that at least if
• 11:07
  technologists have at least 12 weeks of training, I think that
• 11:10
  is sufficient to know the basic exams like the bread and butter
• 11:15
  of CT and how to execute them correctly.
• 11:18
  Because if you give them that 12 weeks, I'm pretty sure that they
• 11:22
  can execute a simple head without contrast, a simple PE
• 11:25
  study a simple abdomen and pelvis with contrast, run a
• 11:28
  stroke protocol. I think as far as those core
• 11:31
  basics, you can do that because the rest of it, you know, as
• 11:35
  they continue working, they will pick up along the way because
• 11:38
  everybody's piece is different. Some texts learn quicker, some
• 11:41
  need a little bit more time. And that is OK because if you
• 11:45
  need any more time to grasp the technology, the terminology and
• 11:48
  just how we do things, repetition and practice is going
• 11:52
  to be your best friend. So if you want to have a
• 11:56
  structured way to think through CT protocols, my protocol guide
• 12:01
  bundle and the Mini pocketbook is your go to.
• 12:06
  And it is a reference to help you in your CT training.
• 12:10
  Now I want to give you a little disclaimer.
• 12:13
  This does not replace your site specific protocols or any
• 12:16
  radiologist recommended protocols.
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  This is simply a reference to help you.
• 12:21
  So want to make that clear. So if that is what you need,
• 12:25
  everything is LinkedIn the show notes.
• 12:27
  So that is it for today's episode.
• 12:30
  Hopefully these talking points really hit home because decision
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  making and thinking outside the box is one of the main things in
• 12:35
  CT. It's probably why we're called
• 12:37
  rebels. So I think I saw that on the
• 12:40
  TikTok with one of the mutuals that I follow.
• 12:42
  She's she's freaking awesome. Also, make sure you follow me on
• 12:45
  TikTok because I do a lot of protocol videos and I break down
• 12:49
  a lot of simple things that we should know in CT and I'm going
• 12:53
  to start making some more educational content on YouTube.
• 12:56
  So what I'm going to start doing is taking one CT protocol.
• 13:00
  We're going to break it down and hopefully you learn how to
• 13:03
  execute that protocol correctly. So as always, thank you so much
• 13:08
  for all of you that continue to listen.
• 13:10
  Thank you to all of you that have purchased the protocol
• 13:13
  guides and the Pocketbook and go and just continue to support me
• 13:18
  in this endeavor because I am truly grateful and I appreciate
• 13:22
  you also. Thank you.
• 13:23
  So thank you so much for listening to this episode and I
• 13:26
  will chat with you guys in the next episode.