u/rachlbee — reddlx

Gift ideas for a female traveler who has everything?

My sister(late 20s) has a birthday coming up, and I need to get her something! She's a nurse who globe trots and goes hiking in her spare time. My gifts have been well received in the past few years... but I'm running out of travel related gift ideas.

What I've gotten her in the past/semi recently: leather luggage tags, a personalized passport holder, the Beis weekender bag and a travel blanket from Gravel. She already has packing cubes, a travel jewelry box and makeup bag, all kinds of adapters for international travel, battery packs and a ton of different reusable water bottles. I think she already has a National Parks Pass as well.

Any thoughts on something I could possibly get her that she doesn't already have?

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u/rachlbee — 2 days ago

▲ 13 r/SleepTechnologist

A Guide to Becoming a Sleep Technologist

I figured I’d make a guide on getting into the field considering the amount of posts we get about this on a regular basis. Some of this is objective while other parts reflect my experience in the field. Other techs might have different opinions and experiences. I am based in the US, so this information will be most relevant for other American technologists. A list of international sleep societies can be found here if you'd like more information.

How do I get started?

There are a few different options. Eligibility pathways to sit for the RPSGT exam can be found here.

Option 1 is to become a trainee at a lab. This will allow you to accumulate clinical hours that will count towards future licensure through the BRPT(Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists). For education you will need to complete an ASTEP/STAR credentialed program.

Option 2 is getting formal education from a CAAHEP accredited program. These programs are typically between 8-20 months. The shorter ones will lead to a certificate and the longer ones will usually lead to an A.S. in Sleep Technology. If you go for an A.S., you will likely have to do additional prerequisite classes, which can usually be done in 6 months at your local community college. There are roughly 40 programs in the U.S., so not every state has a local program.

Option 3 is sitting for the RPSGT exam if you already have an eligible healthcare credential.

If you are a licensed Respiratory Therapist, you might be able to bypass these steps. Try to get your RRT-SDS if possible. A lot of labs will be happy to have you! Just keep in mind that you will likely be expected to get the RPSGT credential eventually if you want to work for a hospital. The learning curve is also going to be steep for the first few months at minimum.

Becoming an EEG tech is decent another option that also gives you an off ramp if you decide that nights are not for you. I personally have not met many techs who've taken this route, but I've met many RRTs who've made the switch. (added based on feedback from u/hungryj21)

Which of the three options is the best?

It depends on your area. Most hospitals near me list the degree as a preferred qualification. The job I currently have listed it as required. But I live in one of the most competitive markets for healthcare in the country. If you aren’t based in a large metro area, I don’t think the degree is entirely necessary.

Please double check with your state's medical board, department of education or local sleep society.

So I’ve done the program and gotten the hours. What’s next?

You’re eventually going to have to sit for a national board exam. The two big credentials are the CPSGT and the RPSGT. If you want to stay in the field long term, you’ll want to sit for the RPSGT eventually. Some states also want you to have state licensure. Requirements for this will vary.

How do I pass the exam? Is it really that hard?

It is doable, but it's not an easy exam. The average success rate has been 40% for the past few years. You have to actively study to understand the material. I was able to pass on my first attempt, but know other techs who had to take it multiple times.

Questions are formatted so that there can be multiple correct answers. Your goal is to choose the one that is the most correct. If you are unsure about a question, flag it and come back to it later. Go with your gut and don't second guess yourself.

For study materials, I know a lot of folks swear by Spriggs’ Essential of Polysomnography. I personally used the workbook and audio lectures from Kettering, as well as the exam blueprint and practice exams from the BRPT website. Each costs money, but will be cheaper than taking the $550 exam multiple times. A free practice exam is available on the NBRC website, but not all material is going to be directly related. There are also many flashcard sets on quizlet that can be helpful.

Can you give me pointers?

The Exam Blueprint is your friend. It’ll let you know which areas to double down on. Learn that and the scoring manual front to back. Also, take the damn thing as soon as you can after you graduate(within reason). It’s easier when the information is fresh in your brain.

I can try to answer additional questions about the exam, but I passed years ago. The current test is probably different.

What is the current job market like once I have all this alphabet soup after my name?

It varies depending on the time of year. The fiscal year for hospitals typically ends in summer. The budget resets and departments are more active when looking to hire people. It's the most active hiring period of the year. The rest of the year is much less predictable. Openings tend to be more sparse unless techs suddenly leave.

Demand is different for new techs vs experienced techs. A lot of people have difficulty working nights long term, so experienced night techs can be in short supply. Labs will tend to prioritize them as a result. It's generally going to be harder to get a job as a new grad unless a lab is specifically looking for trainees. If you make it past the first year or two and have your RPSGT, you're going to be very marketable. Getting the initial experience is the hard part.

And again, it depends on your area. There’s a nationwide healthcare shortage… in less desirable locations. Also if you're near a school, you're likely in a big metro area, which means more jobs. It also means more competition.

What’s the pay like?

It doesn't pay as much as nursing, x-ray or even respiratory therapy. The tradeoff is that it's nowhere near as stressful unless you're dealing with severe patients every shift. The nationwide average is about $50k, but that can also be skewed by level of experience.

California and New York pay the most, which is why those markets are competitive. But it also depends on what kind of facility you work at. Hospitals tend to pay more than private labs.

How’s the actual job?

Generally? Pretty chill. You get the patient set up with paperwork, explain the procedure, let them get settled and then do a 35ish minute hookup. After some equipment calibrations, you get them off to bed. Then you monitor them, score the data and document anything that happens throughout the night. If all goes well, you might not see them until morning. That will happen sometimes. Reality is usually different. Between bathroom breaks, putting patients on PAP therapy and reattaching leads(usually the legs), you’ll go in a couple of times during the night.

Beyond that it varies based on your patient population and ratios. You will usually get more steps in if you work in pediatrics or have a high percentage of geriatric patients. A 2:1 patient ratio is recommended by the AASM, but some labs have a 3:1 ratio. The latter is going to be a lot more work.

Working as a day tech is different and will vary by lab. It's mostly scoring studies that were performed previously and scoring HSATs, generating reports and making sure that the lab stays up and running. Occasionally there will be daytime testing in the form of MSLTs and MWTs. Other duties depend on the size of your department/lab. There are more politics, and the day vs night tech war can be real depending on lab culture.

Should I get into the field?

That depends on you as a person. Are you a night owl that has actually done night shift? I’m talking full time, at least 3 days a week. The idea of night shift and the actual reality are two very different things. It is a completely different lifestyle, and a lot of people don't understand that going in.

Also, how are you with people? It's true that this is a less interaction heavy area of healthcare, but there is still patient care. Most patients will be asleep, but you can’t be scared of interacting with them. You’ll have to talk to them during intake and explain the procedure in a way that they can understand. If a lead comes off in the middle of the night, you’re the one who has to go in to fix it. If they’re having a panic attack or a medical emergency, it’s up to you to do something about it. That can mean getting EMS, social work or law enforcement involved if necessary. It's not something that happens often, but you need to be prepared to deal with it if it does. I've had to do all three.

Although I do like my job, I wouldn’t tell people to get into the field right now. The industry is changing quickly in a lot of different ways. Insurance reimbursements are not great at the moment due to recent legislation, and some hospitals are closing their labs because of it. There is a growing push towards wearables, as shown by Resmed partnering with Oura. Also, an algorithm to score sleep studies already exists(thanks EnsoData/s).

One thing I wish I'd understood before going into this is that there aren’t many opportunities for career growth beyond becoming a lead tech. You could possibly run a lab or teach at one of the few schools in the country. Alternatively you could become a sales rep, but a lot of companies prefer Respiratory Therapists. There’s patient education/sleep navigator jobs, but those positions are also few and few between.

General advice: if you are determined to give this a shot, I'd recommend becoming a Respiratory Therapist then cross training into sleep. This will give you leverage when negotiating pay and provide an exit route if you decide that sleep is not for you.

Additional Resources: the BRPT and AASM have more information about career resources and education available.

If anyone has additional questions, feel free to shoot.

u/rachlbee — 13 days ago

▲ 25 r/AITAH

AITAH for telling my mother that I'm not her friend?

I'm sorry if this comes across as long winded or too much like a rant. That's not my intention. I'm neurodivergent and have a tendency to overexplain things so that I'm not misunderstood.

I(28F) live at home with my mother. We live in a VHCOL area, so it's smarter financial move for me to live with her for reduced rent(I pay $800) instead of spending 2k on an apartment(not including utilities). Meds are expensive so I wouldn't be able to afford it anyway. I'm on the autism spectrum and have ADHD along with some other mental health issues, so it's taken a while to get myself together as an adult.

My mother has been supportive of me... post diagnosis. She was physically and emotionally abusive when I was a child. I got called stupid often, but was beaten if I came home with any grades lower than an A. I was an honor roll student but never had a 4.0, so this happened on a regular basis. I would be grounded for "misbehaving" after incidents that I now recognize were meltdowns. I was also routinely shamed for having difficulty making and keeping friends. The phrase "why can't you just get it together" was something I heard hundreds of times over the course of my childhood. I was also made the scapegoat for my parents' messy divorce(dad is where the 'tism and ADHD from). I don't remember parts of my childhood and have been told that I likely have CPTSD.

And then I got diagnosed. The abuse mostly stopped, and the rhetoric changed to "I didn't know, I just thought you were being difficult this whole time". Nope. I was, y'know, trying to deal with literal disabilities. As a side note, I was only told that I had ADHD. My parents did not tell me that I was diagnosed with autism.

Things got so bad that I had to move out at 15 while my parents were getting divorced. I was sent to a boarding school out of state, where I stayed until I graduated high school. I floundered during my first attempt at college and came back home to pick up the pieces. Mother was more compassionate than critical. Then she breaks the news that I'm autistic. Fun times. That would've been nice to know before trying to decide on a life path.

Fast forward to today. I have a technical degree, work full time and have managed to maintain a small friend group. I make about $85k in a VHCOL area, which isn't amazing but is a lot more than when I worked in retail. It doesn't go far after taxes, but I do have some savings. I go to therapy weekly and am mostly stable on medication. Things still aren't perfect. I really need to start trying to date, but I haven't had the confidence to do so yet. But I have a little life that I don't hate now.

And then there's my mother. I do love her, but it's really hard to live with her. She works from home, so she's literally always there. I mostly stay in my room when I'm not at work, doing errands or with friends, because it's the only place where I can have alone time. There are times when she'll come in unannounced, so I've started to lock the door just to get some space.

The biggest thing is that she tries to use me as a therapist, especially in regard to her love life. She's "searching for a husband" at 61(her dating apps say she's 57), but refuses to compromise on anything. He has to be Christian, wealthy, have hair and be "exciting". Exciting generally equals crazy(we literally had to get a restraining order against one of her exes), but if a guy is stable then she gets bored. She's also very insecure about her appearance and will constantly ask me if she looks good for her age. To be fair I think that she does, but I don't think it's healthy for her to need validation about it constantly.

Her most recent boyfriend broke up with her today. They'd broken up once before after he wanted sex way too soon, but he asked her for another chance(I told her she shouldn't give him one). Things seemed to be going ok. They were going to go to a wedding in a few weeks. But he called things off because she's "bossy, serious, controlling and insecure about her appearance".

I told her that she is bossy, but that isn't always a bad thing. Some women are, and they need men that are okay with that dynamic. That this men didn't seem to be one of them, and that he probably isn't the right person for her.

I just had to sit through a rant about how she "lowered her standards for him" because he was noticeably overweight(did I mention that she's an almond mom?). That she thought she had more power in the relationship because she was more attractive than him, but he was actually in charge because he has more money. How dare he do this to her etc.

I sat through this for about 30 minutes until I couldn't take it anymore. This pattern has repeated itself at least a dozen times over the past 5ish years. I told her that clearly this was not going to work, and that she should have had enough self respect to walk away if something isn't working out. What she permits she promotes.

She retorts that she's lonely. I come back with "that's what your situationship is for". She's been seeing one guy for two years. It's never been serious and they just pass time together. She's acknowledged that it's not going to go anywhere and that he doesn't want to commit to anything long term. He also isn't religious, which means he doesn't meet her arbitrary criteria! But she keeps in contact with him because she wants things to do.

I am immediately accused of being unsympathetic and unsupportive, and that I'm not being a good friend. But I'm not her friend, I'm her daughter. I'm not her therapist, and she refuses to get one. She claims that she's too old to change and that therapy won't work for her. This has literally happened over and over again and I'm sick of being the one who has to shoulder the fall out of her emotions.

I exploded and said that I wasn't her friend, I was her child. That we were very different people, don't have much in common and probably wouldn't have a relationship with her if we weren't related.

I know that it was a low blow to say that when she's feeling down like this. She has done a lot for me over the years. But I barely have space for my own issues. I'm still trying to figure out how to be an adult and live my own life. I'm having a hard time showing her compassion when she refuses to break this pattern of behavior.

So AITAH here?

Edit: getting ready to go out with friends to get away from her. Her parting shot: I hope you live long enough to regret the nasty things you said to me, because I will never forget them. I'm going to start treating you like we're nothing more than blood relatives". Also "I'm your biggest fan in the world and you just alienated me".

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u/rachlbee — 26 days ago

▲ 7 r/healthIT

Allied Health to Health IT

TLDR: Looking for insight from allied health professionals(rad techs, respiratory therapists, etc.) who pivoted into Health IT.

Hello all, I'm currently working as a technologist in a very niche section of allied health(sleep medicine) in the US. I'm one of the crazy people who actually enjoys patient care, but my current role is essentially a dead end. There isn't really anywhere for me to go from here unless I switch to either teaching or managing a sleep lab. I'm currently making 75k in a VHCOL area(SoCal). Techs CAN make 100k after decades in the field, but it's very rare. Money is definitely a concern in the long run.

I understand that the market is very tough and difficult to predict right now. But in your collective opinion, is this a worthwhile field to get into long term? I just turned 28, and I feel like I need to start laying groundwork to pivot sooner rather than later.

I currently have an associates degree directly related to my field. I've worked with Cerner for most of my career, but I am in the process of moving to a new job where Epic is used instead. The hospital system will pay 5k a year for education as long as it is healthcare related. Tuition at public state schools out here runs about 8k a year, so I could get a bachelor's for 6k plus additional fees.

My question specifically for the folks who've made a similar transition: how'd you do it? Did you get a BS in Computer Science, or focus on getting certifications/self study? Which programming languages are you primarily working with? Python? SQL? Java? How difficult was the transition for you? Do you ever regret switching careers?

Thanks for reading, and any responses are appreciated.

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u/rachlbee — 2 months ago

▲ 5 r/AuDHDWomen

Are any of you therapists/work in behavioral health? I'm looking for a change and want some honest opinions about how AuDHDers do in this line of work.

I(F28) currently work in healthcare doing nightshift in the US. I enjoy the work and it suits me, but working at night and not having a lot of interaction with other people can make things very lonely at times. The best part of my day is chatting with patients and getting to hear about their lives. My job is at higher risk of being automated in comparison to other subsets of healthcare, so pivoting to something different has been on my mind a lot lately.

I've thought about working in behavioral since I was young, but was always hesitant due to the high financial and opportunity cost. I've looked at the therapist sub, and a lot of people seem so discouraged about the profession. But I know that some subs can easily turn into echo chambers. I'm just looking for a reality check from any AuDHD practitioners who've been in the field for a bit.

Is the day to day work sustainable for you? Are you able to support yourselves financially? Do you work in community mental health or private practice? Would you go back and do it all over again, or choose another path instead? Any other additional insights would also be welcome and appreciated.

Additional context: Dxed with ADHD and ASD level 1 as a child. I've already got an associates degree and could realistically knock out a BA in psych or social work in 2-3 years either online or hybrid while working. I might be able to have my job pay for the majority of it. Grad school, internships, licensure hours and the aftermath are what's giving me pause at the moment.

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u/rachlbee — 3 months ago