Endoscopy Nurse Salary And Job Description

Endoscopy nurses offer their services in the endoscopic unit of hospitals. They have a specialized area of a practice known as gastroenterology, which involved dealing with patients suffering from gastrointestinal problems. Due to their job specification, the endoscopy nurses are also commonly known as the GI or gastroenterology nurses. Their main duties in the workplace include making the necessary assessment of the patients and preparing them for the oncoming diagnostic processes and therapeutic treatments.

A nurse endoscopist should be well versed in the use of endoscopes, a medical equipment that is used in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal problems. They are tiny cameras attached to long, thin tubes and inserted directly into the digestive or the genitourinary system. It captures images and videos and feeds it back to the computer so that the doctors can clearly see if there has been any kind of infection or internal injuries in the concerned area. When these instruments are inserted into a patient, the endoscopy nurses are held responsible for the sedation and providing the patients with post-diagnosis care.

The responsibilities of Endoscopy Nurse are bound to vary significantly depending on their area of work. For example, some medical centers have greater responsibilities form them and allow them to work independently in their area. However, in other places, the superior health care provider may prefer to take care of a better part of the work by themselves and therefore the nurses have only limited tasks.

Endoscopy nurses can find employment in a number of different healthcare settings such as hospitals, doctors’ clinics, and a few other healthcare facilities. However, endoscopy is a very specialized unit within the health and is only administered by experts. Therefore, it may not be mandatory for all the healthcare facilities to necessarily have endoscopic units. Therefore, a large number of the nurses employed in this filed either work in larger hospitals or private clinics. The insertion of the endoscope into the system can be painful and even aggravate certain contagious infections and illnesses. Therefore, a gastroenterology nurse should work with extreme caution at all times and make sure the conditions are highly safe and hygienic.

Duties Of An Endoscopy Nurse

The main Endoscopy Nurse job role is to take care of the preparatory strategies before an endoscopic assessment of the patient and guide them back to normal health after the procedure has been completed. They may either directly administer the endoscope to the patients or help the physician during the procedure. They are also required to have Skills and Competency for working inside the operation theaters. They may be assigned the task of collecting, cleaning and sterilizing equipment prior to surgeries and act as apprentices, handing them out to the surgeons when required.  It is also their job to see if the equipment has any fault and make a report if a replacement is needed. Apart from that, they should have a good knowledge of the basic IT systems used in the hospitals and be proficient in using them for data collection, recording, and analysis.

The Main Duties Of An Endoscopy Nurse In Hospital

The endoscopy nurses working in hospitals are mainly assigned the 5 important tasks. These include

• Making an assessment of the patient when they are first brought in and get them ready for the endoscopic procedure.
• Administering the required medicines to the patients and preparing the ones that are going to be used during or after the treatment
• Keeping a watch on the patients while they are being diagnosed by the main health care provider
• Helping the patients after the procedure has been completed and offer assistance with the necessary post-procedure assessments.

Patient Care

The patients undergoing endoscopies may have a faint degree of anxiety or discomfort before the commencement of the procedure. Therefore, the nurses are required to be patient and compassionate while dealing with them. They should also work towards the sharpening of communication skills so as to effectively communicate with the patients and their families. The endoscopy nurses may also act as the patient’s advocate, answering all their concerns and briefing their families or guardians about their medical conditions.

They are also the ones who maintain accurate records of the patients throughout the diagnosis and treatment procedure. Sometimes, the patients may not be able to ingest food after the endoscopy. In such as case, they may have to be given the intravenous drips. Therefore, the endoscopy nurses should also be well versed in administering the IV drips. They should maintain that the safety and dignity of the patients are protected and they remain comfortable all throughout the treatment.

Variation

The duties and responsibilities of an endoscopy nurse may vary significantly depending on the amount of education, licensing and work experience. These are the main factors that determine the type of tasks assigned to the endoscopy nurses. It could be anywhere from cleaning and maintain the basic equipment to playing the roles of an advanced specialist. These nurses are required to have good coordination with the GI surgery teams and be familiar with the multiple care plans for the patients.

A Typical Resume For An Endoscopy Nurse Would Look Like

• Conducted a thorough assessment of the patient soon after admission and throughout the process of treatment.
• Documented the accurate records during the entire process of diagnosis and treatment
• Collected the reports in a timely manner in accordance with the required guidelines
• Prepared the patient for the procedure and organized the required equipment with enough full attention to the safety and hygiene
• Reported about the patient’s condition to their families and guardians
• Reported to the doctor about relevant data concerning the patient

Endoscopy Nurse Qualifications

Individuals who are interested in joining the nursing career as an endoscopy nurse should start with a basic nursing training program. To get licensed as a registered nurse, the candidates can choose from either of the following programs

• Nursing diploma. This takes two years for completion and is available in some hospitals schools of nursing
• Associate degree. This takes two years for completion and is mainly available in the community colleges, but it can also be taken from some nursing universities
• A baccalaureate degree. This takes four years for completion. It is much lengthier than the above two, but the course can be especially helpful for those who are seeking a higher education or a career in management.

Upon the completion of these courses, the nurses are held eligible to appear for the NCLEX-RN exam. Upon clearing the exam, they receive the licensing as a registered nurse.

However, the job of an endoscopy nurse is quite challenging and sensitive. Therefore, the nurses are required to hold high credentials to practice in this field. Although the general expertise as a registered nurse is also highly valuable, the employers prefer to have nurses who have specialized in the field and hold enough experience working in the critical care. Some of the endoscopy nurses receive their training on the job and learn about the use of different types of equipment used in the endoscopy and other aspects related to the procedure. There are also a number of self-study modules on gastroenterology available for the nurses to study. Otherwise, they may also take a one and a half day course on GI and endoscopy.

Endoscopy Nurse Salary

Endoscopy is one of the most competitive fields of nursing. The nurses are required to go through a lot of training and hold enough credentials before joining duty. Therefore, the pay also tends to be significantly higher than other areas of nursing. This Endoscopy Nurse salary guide will discuss the wages of endoscopy nurses across all of the states as well as the important factors that tend to have an influence on the salary range. If you have been considering endoscopy nursing as a career option, the salary guide might help you come to a decision and see if you are going to be satisfied with the pay scale.

How Much Do Endoscopy Nurses Make?

According to survey reports, the weekly average salary for an endoscopy nurse is estimated to be $2,021.² These are the pay scales of the registered nurses offering their services in the endoscopy unit. Overall, the salary for endoscopy nurses can be 2.5 times higher when compared to the median wage in the country for people working in all the different fields of service. Although it is definitely not one of the highest paying jobs, at the least, it can allow the nurses to have quite a decent living.

Endoscopy Nurse Hourly Rate

According to the latest statistics, the average hourly salary for the endoscopy nurses is $29.48.¹ This rate is bound to vary depending on several different factors such as the area of employment, state legislation, size of the employer, credentials, and more. Experience can be another one of the important deciding factors when it comes to the salary of endoscopy nurses. Since their job mostly requires them to offer assistance with the procedures related to endoscopy, they are required to hold a high level of expertise.

While some healthcare facilities train their nurses on site, before offering them the designation of an endoscopy nurse, others prefer to hire endoscopy nurses with at least a year of experience. The average starting salary for an endoscopy nurse is $45,502. With seniority, this can gradually increase. Currently, the most experienced of the endoscopy nurses earn an average annual salary of as high as $91,361.  These calculations have been made from the data collected across hundreds of health care facilities and other employment units for the endoscopy nurses. However, a few factors such as short-term fluctuations in the economy, availability of the nurses and such things have been largely ignored during the calculation.

Variation In Salary Depending On The Job Title

It should be noted that there are different disciplines even within the field of endoscopy nursing. These nurses hold different job titles as well as different education levels. They are also assigned different duties and responsibilities, which could vary slightly from one state to the other depending on the legislation.

1. Endoscopy nurses have a median annual wage of $62,337³
2. Endoscopy nurse managers earn $82,633 on an average annual basis
3. Gastroenterology Nurse Practitioner earn an average annual salary of $89,713 ⁷
4. RN hospital endoscopy personnel earn an average salary of $28.76 per hour ⁸
5. Gastrointestinal nurses earn an average of $29.80 per hour. ⁶
6. Clinical Nurse Manager with Endoscopy skills have a salary of $94,600 per year ⁵

While the average salary for an endoscopy nurse is $68,703, it is apt to vary between the range of $45,502 and $91,361.⁴ Apart from this, there are also other things such as compensation and benefits that have an influence on the total earnings. For example, most employers offer their employees monetary compensations in the form of compensation which could include life, health and dental insurances, pensions, healthy overtime hourly wage, bonus and more. The average bonus for the endoscopy nurses employed within the United States is expected to be $1,020.⁹

Salary By Experience

The entry-level endoscopy nurses with an RN degree and less than 3 years of experience have an average annual salary of $49,205 while the senior nurses with more than 8 years of experience have an average annual salary of $84,781.

Salary: Source

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has estimated that the registered nurses will have a job growth of 19 percent by the year 2022. However, the growth can be even higher than that for endoscopy nurses. During the same period, the job prospects for endoscopy nurses are expected to grow by 26%. The endoscopy nurses already have 9% more job vacancies than the other disciplines. Therefore, there is a high amount of job security for the endoscopy nurses for a long time to come.

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