any words of wisdom greatly appreciated

[powernurse]

I am an RN who graduated in 2003 and went straight into home care. I worked until April 5, 2004 when my 40 year young husband was dx with lung Ca (never smoked, no family hx).

Needless to say, I left work and stayed home to care for him full time. He had a real rough time with being anxious and wouldnt let anyone take his blood or touch his port except me. I had him home on IV antibiotics 24/7 for 9 wks.

My best friend and husband of 17 yrs passed away on Dec 5 2004. Eight months to the day after dx.

We have a fabulous 15 yr old son who we have homeschooled since kindergarten and after my husbands passing I felt I needed to focus as much of my attention on him as I could.

Well I finally feel ready to go back to work, but I feel like a new grad all over again. I decided to apply for a cardiac tele medical floor. They take new grads to this floor all the time and have a dedicated nurse educator. I want to get as much experience as I can from this position. The nurse manager is aware of my background and doesnt seem to foresee any problems stemming from my lack of bedside experience.

Although I am craving the challange I am apprehensive about returning to the workforce at all.

I am a very quick learner, am certainly grounded and work very hard to achieve my goals so I know I will be successful in the long term.

Does any one have any words of wisdom though pertaining specifically to cardiac/tele? Is there anything in particular that I should brush up on before beginning orientation?

Any input will be greatly appreciated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With every difficulty ~ there is relief....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[dianah, ASN]

First, my heartfelt condolences for your husband's death. You've had a lot to deal with these last three years.

Congratulations on 1) raising a teenager!! and 2) making your family your primary focus = stable family base for him AND you. I'm sure your son will help you out as you make this transition.

I work Cath Lab, so I don't have any direct experience in the area you'll work. I do have a few questions, for clarification:

Do you already have ACLS?

What shift will you work?

How long will your orientation be, and how is it structured?

Have you had a chance to experience the unit (tour through, shadow an RN, etc) while it was in full swing in the shift you'll be working?

I assume you'll take some sort of basic dysrhythmia class, and ACLS as well. I'd review cardiac anatomy and physiology, as well as cardiac meds. I know you said it was a medical floor, but would you ever take care of postop step-down patients (their last day or two before discharge)?

I'm sure others will have a LOT more specific and helpful advice. Mine is: open your eyes and your mind, and ask questions. :) I wish you satisfaction in this career change. I think you'll do well. Keep us posted. (BTW, I'll check back in for your comments :))