EP LAB- poss job opening- info?

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

Hello, My friend who works in the cath lab just told me there will be a couple of openings in the EP lab. This would be a good change( I think) as I need to do something new. I have been a post angioplasty, pacers, chf, etc intermediate care unit RN for 5 years now. I will be asking the manager if I can shadow in the lab for few hours to see the process of an EP nurse, but I was wondering if any of you experienced EP nurses might be able to give me some insight as to RN responsibilities in the Ep lab. I know/have worked with all the Dr's that would be working in EP, so that's a bonus. What skill set is needed for EP that is different from floor nursing? I have administered plenty of moderate sedations for sheath pulls, etc , so I am aware of the monitoring process there.Any other thoughts out there? Thanks in advance. Jr.

[LoveANurse09]

At my hospital any cath lab/EP nurse has to be ICU trained. They will take nothing less. The nurses or techs as they are called can scrub in as 1st assist basiclly as in OR and another circulates,pushings IV meds, vitals.There is another tech at the computer charting the whole procedure. I've shadowed and its a nice 8-5 with some on call required. They work very closely with the docs and have to know what each EP likes! Especially their type of closure (sutures/staples), irrigation solution,etc. The EP's I work with are very OCD/anal (that's a good thing!) and I can only imagine how one can get "chewed" when something is not just so!