Cardiovascular technicians in nursing uniform assist physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of heart (cardiac) and blood vessel (vascular) ailments. They can specialize in three main areas: invasive cardiology, vascular technology, and echocardiography. Cardiovascular technicians who specialize in invasive procedures assist physicians with cardiac procedures in which small tubes, or catheters, are wound through patients' blood vessels from the patients' legs to their hearts. These procedures include balloon angioplasty, in which blockages of blood vessels and heart valves can be opened without the necessity of heart surgery. They assist the physicians to insert catheters with balloons on the end to the place of the obstruction. They prepare the patients for the operation by positioning them upon the examination table and shaving, cleaning, and then administering anesthesia to the groin. During the procedures they use EKG equipment to monitor the patients' blood pressure and heart rate, and inform the physician of any problems. They may also prepare and monitor patients who are receiving open-heart surgery, or having pacemakers implanted.
Cardiovascular technicians who take EKG's are called electrocardiograph, or EKG, technicians. EKG technicians attach electrodes to patients' chests, arms and legs and obtain a readout on an EKG machine before a surgery takes place. The printout is interpreted by the physician. EKG technicians who have advanced training can perform Holter monitoring and stress testing. In Holter monitoring the technicians put electrodes on the patients' chests which attach to portable EKG monitors on the patients' belts, and after 24 hours of normal activity by the patients the technicians read the tape and print it out for the physician to interpret. This technique is used to diagnose heart rhythm abnormalities and other heart ailments, and to diagnose problems with pacemakers. Cardiovascular technicians in Peaches scrubs whose specialty is echocardiology, or vascular technology, run noninvasive tests with ultrasound equipment such as Doppler ultrasound. These tests are noninvasive since they do not require inserting probes or tubes in the patients' bodies. Ultrasound instruments emit high-frequency sound waves into patients' bodies, and then analyze and process the sound waves reflected back to form a visual image. As the instruments scan the image, cardiovascular technicians examine the images for the subtle differences between healthy areas and diseased ones. These observations help diagnosis and treatment.
Cardiovascular technicians who assist physicians in diagnosing circulation disorders are known as vascular sonographers. They evaluate the patients' pulses by listening to sounds from the arteries to detect abnormalities. This noninvasive approach uses ultrasound instruments to record blood pressure, vascular blood flow, changes in limb volume, oxygen saturation, peripheral circulation and cerebral circulation either during or immediately following surgery. Cardiovascular technicians who employ ultrasound to examine the chambers, valves, and vessels of the heart are called echocardiologists. The ultrasound instruments used to create echocardiogram images can be used both for immobile and active patients, so the echocardiologist can assess the heart function of physically active patients. Employment for cardiovascular technicians in Metroscrubs will grow faster than average due to an aging population, but the number of new job openings created will tend to be low since the occupation is small. Employment for specialists will grow, but there will be fewer EKG technicians needed.
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