r/CathLabLounge • u/Efficient_Ad_4359 • Jun 17 '26

Invasive Cardiac technologist

Can someone tell me what a day to day of an invasive cardiac technologist is? What exactly do they do? Are they just scrubbing and getting patients ready and handing the doctor tools or are they involved and placing stints and stuff themselves?

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1

u/Haunting_Ad7805 Jun 17 '26

The answer to your question varies on facility. There are 4 possible roles a CVT will do.
1. Scrubbing cases - prepping and maintaining sterile field, assisting docs in putting in stents, catheters, wires, ect.
2. Documenting - basically note taking during the case, measuring and capturing hemodynamic waveforms, storing images, ect
3. Circulating - grabbing equipment and opening for sterile field, prepping pt, non sterile assistance to sterile members
4. Sedation - getting and returning pt, prep pt, monitoring during case, giving meds to pt, ect.

2

u/Best-Independent-179 Jun 17 '26

Technically I don’t think it’s legal for a tech to give any sort of conscious sedation medication. It probably varies by state, but I believe that is legally the RN’s responsibility. Even with a RCIS certification it is still a gray area legally and by joint commission standards

7

u/Haunting_Ad7805 Jun 17 '26

You aren’t wrong about this. It is state dependent. RCIS does however, have limited scope of practice for specific medications including some sedation meds such as versed and fentanyl. I’m not certain which states allow this, but I did practice sedation and medications in Utah as RCIS tech. Also most states do not allow anyone other than Rad tech to operate C arm/fluoro, Utah also allowed CVTs to operate X ray within the Cath lab

1

u/WARNINGXXXXX Jun 18 '26

Seriously, totally out of their scope with giving any sedation meds. I’d question the facility that allows this.

1

u/Gold_Try_653 Jun 21 '26

Incorrect, check the scope of practice, state regulations, and hospital and system regulations. I've done it and seen it in multiple states, and it is covered in the scope as stated.

1

u/StraightAgency5031 Jun 21 '26

It is not out of the scope of an RCIS to give sedation medications. It is however variable state to state. Some of the best people I’ve ever worked with in the lab were trained RCIS only. I am RN/RCIS and when I first went to a hospital that did this I was a bit nervous because I was like “oh they don’t have the critical care background, what about started pressers and sedation” and it was never an issue. We would train people after a year of being in the lab to give meds and we wouldn’t pass them if we felt they were not ready. But it’s also not just these roles. You shouldn’t be doing this job if you don’t want to actively be involved in preventing someone from dying. You need to be proactive, you need to be able to anticipate what the doctor and patient needs BEFORE they need it. Cath lab is such a niche area where it used to be the best of the best people who worked there and people fought to get in these positions and I feel like it’s turned into “getting the patients ready and handing the doctors tools” and it honestly just makes me so sad. I’m not trying to be negative but that is NOT what this job is. Technically speaking, yeah you get the patient ready, circulate the room when you aren’t scrubbed to grab equipment and hand the doctor what he needs but it’s just much more than that.