Certified EKG Technician OSA
- Degree Type: None awarded
- Not all courses offered online
- EKG OSA is offered for dual credit students.
- TSI: not required
Certified EKG Technician (CET) OSA
After completion of the OSA, students are eligible to take the National Health career Association Certified EKG Technician (CET) exam to pursue national certification.
| Term One | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| HPRS-1105 | Essentials of Medical Law/Ethics for Health Professionals | 1 |
| NURA-1307 | Body Systems | 3 |
| Hours | 4 | |
| Term Two | ||
| ECRD-1211 | Electrocardiograph | 2 |
| MDCA-1317 | Procedures in a Clinical Setting | 3 |
| Hours | 5 | |
| Total Hours | 9 | |
A grade of 75 or better is required in all courses to progress in the program.
Who are Telemetry Technicians & What do They Do?
Telemetry technicians are responsible for monitoring the heart activity of a patient. The human heart exhibits rhythms in the form of electrical patterns. It is the job of telemetry technicians to monitor these electrical patterns to identify possible problems or diseases so that the patient’s physician can develop an appropriate care plan.
In addition to monitoring a patient’s heart rhythms, telemetry technicians may also be required to apply EKG leads. EKG leads are connected directly to a patient’s body, which feed into an EKG machine. The EKG machine displays the patient’s heart rhythms on a monitor. This is why sometimes telemetry technicians are also referred to as monitoring technicians or EKG technicians.
So Who Are EKG Technicians?
In the past, physicians were the only ones who performed EKGs on patients during the early days of EKG machines. As the technology became more advanced and ubiquitous, the operation of EKG machines was delegated to nurses and other hospital staff. The delegation of this task created a new, specialized role called an EKG technician.
EKG technicians were first only responsible for applying EKG leads and operating EKG machines. Over time, however, the role of EKG technicians evolved to much more than just operational tasks and into interpreting cardiac rhythms. Teaching this skill to EKG technicians greatly increased the value that they could provide to patients, and the healthcare system overall, as they could proactively take action if an abnormal EKG reading appeared on the monitor.
This is when the roles of Telemetry Technicians and EKG Technicians fused, and is also the reason why the titles for each role are often interchanged.
SUMMARY
- Median Pay: $28,992 to $35,040 Average Salary; $15.10 to $18.25 per hour
- Typical Entry-Level Education: Non-degree, no degree awarded
- Jobs: https://nationaltelemetryassociation.org/category/jobs/
SUGGESTED CITATION:
National Telementry Associate, Telemetry Technician & EKG Technician Salaries in the United States on the Internet at https://nationaltelemetryassociation.org/telemetry-ekg-technician-salary/ visited March 30, 2020).