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Hospital Transporter job....
Requisition Number 10746
Post Date 9/7/2011
Title TRANSPORTER
Department Radiology
Position Type Non-Patient Care
Status FT
Days Mon-Fri
Shift Days
Description Transport patients to and from various areas providing safe and effective patient care as necessary.
Requirements Required Education: High School Diploma or GED
Preferred Education: Medical terminology or equivalent. Registered Emergency Medical Technician, Certified Surgical Tech, or Certified Nursing Assistant.
Required Licensure: None
Required Experience: Entry level or above.
Preferred Experience: One year experience as a CNA, EMT, or similar medical experience.
Required Skills, Knowledge, Abilities: None
Preferred Skills, Knowledge, Abilities: Ability to use personal computer
Well I was talking with someone about it and they asked a question that threw a monkey wrench in my thought about the job. The person who I was talking to said “Isn’t that what high school kids who needs a part-time job do?”. Well, now I am having second thought about it because of that. So I was wondering if anyone here knew anything about these type of jobs and if it would be a good was to get into the medical field.
Thanks for any advise. Stay safe out there.
Views: 385
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Neil White on -
Without knowing enough about how the US ambulance services operate, i would say
Preferred Experience: One year experience as a CNA, EMT, or similar medical experience.
rules out a high school kid wanting a part time job?
Having said that this role sounds familiar to a role we have here in the UK called hospital porter http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/details/Default.aspx?Id=149
No medical experience is needed in this role, I guess in the US the closest comparison would be an orderly?
It is certainly a way to get into communicating skills, understanding the layout of a hospital, picking up medical terminology and equipment names.
However i have to ask, why go to EMT school and become nationally registered now if you don't want to work on an ambulance, why not go when you were ready. its like going to school as a chef and then not wanting to work in a restaurant?? I would be worried about skill degradation when it came to getting an EMS job if i were in your shoes.
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Permalink Reply by dr-exmedic on -
You will literally spend your entire day pushing people on stretchers and wheelchairs from place to place. It's patient contact, certainly, but not really patient "care" per se (note the position type right below the department). If you don't mind being bored, it would at least get you into a hospital, but keep in mind that the "Required Skills, Knowledge, Abilities" are none.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin on -
It’s not that I don’t want to work on an ambulance. I do want to work on an ambulance eventually, but….
Not going to give any company names, but where I live there are two private ambulance companies. Both are large, nationally recognized EMS agencies. The one that I want to work for is not currently hiring EMT-Basic’s, but that can change any day. The other ambulance company just got through accepting applications for Basic’s, but the word on the streets is that one of the ambulance companies is trying VERY hard to take over the other companies territory in this area by the end of the year. So part of me is waiting to see what happens with there.
I thought about it today and maybe this job would be a “waste” of my skills as a Registered EMT. I am still looking at jobs at the hospitals and hoping that an ER Tech job comes open soon. When I was doing my clinicals during EMT school, I got partnered with an ER Tech at the hospital and it seemed like a pretty cool job.
My number one goal is to become a Paramedic. I am just really anxious to get into the medical profession, but at the same time I don’t really want to do something that is going to be a waste of my abilities.
So in a nutshell I guess I’ll cross that Transported job out and keep looking for something else.
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Permalink Reply by Geri Jacobson on -
You will have a better chance of transferring to an ER Tech job if you are an internal candidate. You can also pick up CNA, PCT and ECG certificates by working in a hospital. You could even see if they offer a phlebotomy course or will pay for it while you are employed. ECG and Phlebotomy may also be covered extensively in a PCT class. Very few hospitals will pay for an new ER Tech to take the course and it may be required for consideration as an applicant. Many hospitals will offer tuition assistance so you can take college courses to prepare you for whatever you would like to try.
Being a Transporter will not be a waste of your time because you will be moving patients with multiple IVs pumps, on ventilators and in various types of immobilization devices. Depending on the hospital you will be working at you may see many different ways to immobilize a neck and spinal column including some very invasive ones. You'll also learn how to move patients carefully instead of the sack of potatoes drop as we like to call some of the moves done by EMTs when bringing or taking patients from the hospital.
A transporter will also get to go into areas of the hospital and talk to other health care professionals which very few Paramedics even get the chance to see. This can include the ICUs and you might be amazed at what you can learn just as a causal observer. Our transporters know just about every RN and doctor in the hospital and are respected for their professionalism when it comes to dealing with patients and being concerned for their safety. You'll learn it is sometimes the little things in patient care can count the most. Being able to do those things is just as much of a skill as taking a blood pressure.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin on
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You are right. Maybe a “waste” of my skills was not a good term to use. Well an ER tech job is now open for the hospital I am looking at, so maybe I will apply for both and see what happens.
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Permalink Reply by Daved van Stralen on -
Don’t waste your time. By that, I mean, don’t take any job and simply do what the job description says. Even RNs, paramedics, and doctors waste their time by doing the same task over and over, 20 years of the same year repeated year after year. Don’t waste your time.
Having said that (I have always wanted to say that after hearing it on Seinfeld), take advantage of your position as a novice and ask questions. Geri is spot on. People will notice an inquisitive orderly or ER Tech or whatever position you work. More significantly, they will want to help you understand what they are doing in their job and for their patient. Ask about anything they are proud of and you will receive an education like no other and for what no one has enough money to pay for. And you get it for free. Take any of the jobs you mention and learn, then take what you learned to your next job and use it there. Rapidly, you will become a valued employee wherever you go.
You see, as a novice or someone outside the field you can ask almost anything and they will teach you as a matter of pride. Yes, you will meet jerks, for that I apologize. But you will meet people proud of what they do and who will notice you. They may even recognize you are misplaced.
It happened to me. I did what I advised you to do as a janitor-carpet cleaner, AMBULANCE DRIVER (there, I said it, no paramedic, no EMT, only a Red Cross First Aid Card which I didn’t show to anyone because I lost it in a mountain climbing accident). Then as an EMT, then as a fire department Rescue Ambulance Driver, then as a paramedic, I continued asking questions. Slowly people guided me back to college, then to medical school and for every career change I have made since. They will guide you and search for better positions for you because your success becomes their success.
You will still meet the same jerks along the way. But you will also continue to meet those who are proud of what they do and can explain it lucidly. You will continue to find gold. Even housekeeping and janitorial staff will share their insights. We are always novice somewhere. As a Sherpa told me, “For everybody there is a first time.” Keep doing things for the first time the rest of your life.
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