By David Witt 
In my previous column I wrote about “time compression,” the result of a baptism into the chasm of software technology which remotely affects all aspects of the industry including increasingly lengthy onboarding processes, payroll, human resources and parts acquisition challenges.
It impacts all who take the hook, line and sinker offered with the spontaneous advances of software technology at risk of being adversely affected by problems not necessarily anticipated with the promise of efficiency offered to all who would partake. Like a trout after a lure, the realization that it is not a good thing is often too late. The adage, “If it’s looks too good to be true, it usually is.” echoes in my mind and I apply it to my decision-making processes on a daily basis – at work and home.
I have been in the HTS field for over four decades and want to share knowledge with my colleagues. If I were to leave behind advice in the twilight of a wonderful career it would be to always keep the patient first!
The common error with assessing our worth to the hospital employer or client is that they “need” us. While this rings true, emphasis is often misplaced upon the importance of our mission; first, to the patient and then to the owner of medical devices and their ability to finance our existence to support their property and in doing so enable the institution to provide the best possible medical service to their respective communities in the most affordable way. We are caught up in a symbiotic loop; they need us and we need them!
In this increasingly competitive field, we must go beyond mere technical support and take a more holistic approach to caring for equipment. We must extend care and concern to the clinical and administrative colleagues as well.
We also seek ways to collaborate with other departments – whether technical, clinical, EVS, food services, safety and the list goes on. We look for those gray areas which exist between our scope of work and theirs. We strive to care not only for duties for which we are hired or contracted to perform, but also at a personal level showing concern for others. When we perform rounds it is not with the idea of asking for malfunctioning equipment, rather, it is to speak to the person and to concern ourselves with the person if only for a brief minute and has nothing to do with the “job.” Doing so has not only fostered friendships but allies between our discipline and those formerly hostile and distrustful towards us.
One of the most wearing pains in our field is that of being the recipient of a cross comment from someone with a damaged or otherwise malfunctioning device. I encourage my team not to wear the attitude often sent their way and to understand that their emotion, though not against the person of the technician, certainly comes with a description of the problem with the device. However, after months and years of developing relationships the pain is significantly lessened as understanding develops between the clinical and technical departments.
I have always said to those whom I have mentored in this field that, “If you chase after excellence, money and promotion will chase and overtake you, but if you chase after money and position you will always chase after money and position, never being satisfied with either salary or employer.” This scenario crosses all levels of our industry from entry-level technician to the senior administrative echelon. I will focus upon the sector closest to my heart – the realm of the technician. The technician is the primary reason for the success of the employer, whether it be in-house or a with service provider.
In all of my travels domestically and internationally, my focus has always been on the patient. Yours should be as well. I have adopted a phrase that has been my standard for all my years in the field, “At the end of everything we do it is the patient whose comfort, recovery, and life may depend upon us.”
– David Witt has more than 40 years of experience in the international field as a technician, instructor and advisor. He is currently the director of clinical engineering at a major Las Vegas hospital.
