Anyone have advice for someone new to a neuro team?
I have been a surgical tech for 9 years and have largely been successful in anything I try to specialize in. It had gotten to a point where I expected to catch on and perform well at anything given enough time, and when I volunteered to train for a neuro team earlier this year I felt optimistic and like it was such a great move for my career after almost a decade. I was feeling rather stir crazy and unchallenged. I went through a rigorous period of orientation (few weeks in each) not only in neuro but in ortho spine, ortho trauma and peds neuro/ortho.. I have been on my own about a month, though a lot of days I am elsewhere other than neuro.
They wanted me to take neuro call and I barely got any buddy call before I was "set free". Throughout all of this, I feel like I am being expected to be as sharp and intuitive (at every micro and macro aspect of every procedure) as the other techs who have 3, 5, 10 and 22 years of experience in neuro.. it's becoming exhausting. I'm trying and I'm aiming to be better by the case but the smart ass comments by PAs and the girl with 22 years of experience are wearing me down.. I'm considering quitting but I have never given up on mastering a service.
This department hemorrhages people (I wonder why) and needs people as dedicated as me.. and I don't want to let down the coworkers who I do like. I don't know what to do but the toxic environment for a learner is becoming too much. It's like they all forget what it's like to be new. And why am I expected to be an expert at call when I've barely gotten any? I've expressed this to my boss and it's basically like a whatever kind of response and just keep trying.. ironically, this kind of behavior seems to make me MORE prone to mental hiccups when I'm trying to scrub the whirlwind of a neuro case.. I have good days, then I have bad days that are so bad I wanna say eff it.
Any neuro techs out there with any advice? Does it get easier? Chat GPT says it takes about a year to feel fully competent.. so why am I being treated like an idiot a few months in?
Thanks 🫶