What are the responsibilities and job description for the IONM Technologist position at Neuro Pathway LLC?
About the job IONM Technologist
Dothan is an astounging 20.4% BELOW the national average cost of living (homeandmoney.com)! Dothan is also known for its quality healthcare institutions (that's where you will be working!) and access to the Gulf Coast beaches!
About the Position... As an IONM technologist (or neurophysiologist if you want to impress your friends!) you have an important position in surgery. You get to provide intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) care for patients during surgical procedures where there is risk of neurologic injury. We detect early signs of potential or evolving injury so that steps may be taken during surgery to reduce the risk of postoperative neurologic deficit. Provided services may include testing with evoked potentials (EPs), electromyography (EMG), electroencephalography (EEG), nerve conduction studies (NCV) and / or other modalities.
Job Responsibilities
- Explain test procedures so they are understandable to the patient and any family members who are present.
- Identify oneself appropriately and makes the patient and / or family relaxed and confident in understanding the role of the surgical neurophysiologist.
- Apply stimulation and recording electrodes in an accurate and timely manner.
- Perform initial clinical motor and sensory neurological assessment and incorporates results into expectations or changes in monitoring protocols.
- Consult with anesthesia team regarding management of anesthetic agents for successful recording of neurophysiological signals.
- Review the patient medical record, x-rays, MRI scans and clinical history to determine appropriateness of the monitoring.
- Prepare patient for neurophysiological monitoring by applying electrodes in the holding area and / or in the operating room.
- Calibrate, evaluate and adjust equipment, optimizing stimulation and recording parameters to acquire salient data.
- Set up neurophysiological equipment following any indicated biomedical electrical safety checks, with equipment properly located in operating room and assembled with respect to reduction of recording artifact.
- Establish and prepare medical record documentation in accordance with hospital and company policy.
- Implement appropriate troubleshooting methods, such as adjusting stimulation and recording parameters to collect accurate information.
- Keep equipment clean and in proper working order, reporting malfunctions to supervisor and / or biomedical engineering department and / or manufacturer.
- Communicate and document potential or real equipment problems to all relevant members of the clinical team.
- Establish and maintain timely communication with other members of the neuromonitoring team who may be providing professional oversight and / or consultation during surgery.
- Interact with surgeons and other members of the surgical team to provide interpretive data regarding the patients neurological status during the procedure.
- Identify and eliminate physiological and non-physiological artifacts in recordings.
- Recognize normal patterns, normal variants, and abnormal patterns in neurophysiological recordings.
- Understand the medical and pharmacological / anesthetic conditions that influence neurophysiological recordings.
- Understand the clinical correlations between abnormal evoked potentials and various pathological states.
- Record, troubleshoot, identify and interpret obligate neurophysiological signals, and report to the surgical team with options for specific interventions when necessary (e.g. stop surgery, wait and raise blood pressure, initiate methylprednisolone protocol, temporary break from surgery, remove instrumentation, etc.)
- Communicate neurophysiological changes to the surgical team, providing a technical description of the monitoring recordings as needed.
- Performs post-operative clinical follow-up, and provides follow-up recording as needed.
- Disconnect the electrodes from the patient following surgery and disassembles equipment.
- Follow company needle and safety practices.
- Display, label and print waveforms to electronic copy for interpretation and / or archiving.
- Calculate measures such as evoked potential latency and amplitude following established guidelines and protocols.
- Prepare accurate and timely IONM logs, files and work / technical sheets, including a technical description of the IONM modalities, with emphasis on clinical observations in order to assist with preparation of a professional report.
- Ensure that all required documentation is completed according to protocol established by the customer and management.
- Read, understand, and implement all policies and procedure guidelines.
- Inform appropriate individuals of inventory level, equipment condition, and general needs.
- Assist physician and other clinical staff members as requested.
- Ensure that supplies are ordered, stocked and available as needed.
- Travel locally to fill in coverage as needed.
- Live the company values Integrity, Teamwork, Care & Improvement.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
Bachelors degree or equivalent experience
Certification in one or more of the following :
One (1) year of experience in intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring.
Completion of at least one hundred fifty (150) cases.
Equivalent combination of education and experience, acceptable.
Knowledge and Skills :
PHYSICAL DEMANDS & WORK ENVIRONMENT
Compensation
Benefits
Salary : $60,000 - $90,000
