Are you paid enough?

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

CVTs, RNs report higher wages in 2017

A national survey of cardiovascular professionals in Cath, EP and combo labs showed strong wage growth for Cardiovascular Technologists and Registered Nurses from 2015 to 2017.

National average hourly wages reported by CVTs and RNs grew significantly—from $30.81 to $33.16 and from $36.64 to $39.57, respectively—while average wages for Radiologic Technologists regressed from their 2015 highs—from $36.13 to $34.61—according to the 2017 CATH/IR/EP Wage Survey presented by SpringBoard Healthcare.

"While each licensure all had moderate wage growth between 2011 and 2013, in 2015 the trends of the different licensures diverged," reads the SpringBoard report. "RNs and CVTs actually decreased in 2015, while RTs had very strong growth (almost 6%); however, in 2017 that trend reversed as RNs and CVTs had extremely strong growth (almost 10%) while RT compensation decreased."

Take ACVP's 11 minute survey now for more complete data & detailed analysis.

Over the period SpringBoard has surveyed wage trends for Cath/IR/EP professionals—2011 to 2017—CVTs have shown the strongest wage growth "by a large margin" compared to RNs and RTs in the West, Northeast and South regions.

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Career ladders getting higher for nurses—what about allied health?

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

All cardiac care professionals could see more professional development, opportunity.

With the switch to value-based medicine, more nurses are becoming hospital CEOs reads an article published online today in Hospitals & Health Networks Magazine.

Three hospitals in the six-hospital Memorial Healthcare System in Florida are now run by nurses—for RNs, it seems, the career ladder has grown longer, with more nurses climbing higher in healthcare management.

Beyond Florida, an August 2016 article in Becker's Hospital Review listed 33 nurses who transitioned to hospital CEOs.

Why are more hospitals tapping nurses to run the organization? Management competencies are changing, says Lamont Yoder, RN, of the American Organization of Nurse Executives to H&HN Magazine's Maggie Van Dyke.

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AACC scientists identify new cardiac biomarker

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

Plus, get ready for high sensitivity cardiac Troponin assays in practice.

Laboratory medicine experts discovered a new lipid biomarker panel to detect heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) even before symptoms present, with "much greater certainty than standard tests for this condition," according to a January 5 press release from the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC).

The January issue of the AACC's journal, Clinical Chemistry focuses on cardiovascular disease and features research reflecting a "growing understanding of the molecular signatures of heart disease," according to the press release, and a trend towards developing "more precise tests for the early diagnosis, monitoring, and targeted treatment."

The study in question identified three new cardiac lipid biomarkers, a cardiac lipid panel (CLP), which "significantly improved diagnostic performance" when combined with the current standard biomarker approach for diagnosing heart failure, NT-proBNP.

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Answering questions about our education and membership

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

We've gotten a number of excellent and illuminating questions about the Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals recently—enough to put them together as a blog. We've got news, too—we're updating our online continuing education platform!

Does ACVP offer continuing education online?

"I am a registered cardiac sonography tech. I was wondering if your organization offers any continued education courses online. If so will you please direct me to the right location... I am having such a hard time navigating through these websites. Thanks for your help!"

Yes! ACVP does offer continuing education courses online through CVCEU.ORG.

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