About This Career

Conducts electroneurodiagnostic (END) tests such as electroencephalograms, evoked potentials, polysomnograms, or electronystagmograms. May perform nerve conduction studies.

This career is part of the Health Science cluster Diagnostic Services pathway.

A person in this career:

• Indicates artifacts or interferences derived from sources outside of the brain, such as poor electrode contact or patient movement, on electroneurodiagnostic recordings.
• Conducts tests or studies such as electroencephalography (EEG), polysomnography (PSG), nerve conduction studies (NCS), electromyography (EMG), and intraoperative monitoring (IOM).
• Monitors patients during tests or surgeries, using electroencephalographs (EEG), evoked potential (EP) instruments, or video recording equipment.
• Collects patients' medical information needed to customize tests.
• Explains testing procedures to patients, answering questions or reassuring patients, as needed.
• Sets up, programs, or records montages or electrical combinations when testing peripheral nerve, spinal cord, subcortical, or cortical responses.
• Summarizes technical data to assist physicians to diagnose brain, sleep, or nervous system disorders.
• Conducts tests to determine cerebral death, the absence of brain activity, or the probability of recovery from a coma.
• Measures patients' body parts and marks locations where electrodes are to be placed.
• Attaches electrodes to patients, using adhesives.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would sit most of the time. There's some walking and standing. You may have to lift and carry things like books, papers or tools weighing 10 lbs. or less.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
• Requires getting into awkward positions
• Exposed to disease and infections more than once a month through work such as patient care, laboratory work, and sanitation control
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person

Work Hours and Travel

• Irregular hours
• Overtime work
• Rotating shift work
• Weekend work