by Joe NightingMale

I only had a single day rotation on a CCU, but I liked what I saw, so for my final rotation I chose Telemetry, which I figured would be a good preparation for CCU.

However, I found Tele to be one of the most boring rotations. Not bad, but predictable. And this was despite the fact that nearly half the patients were there for reasons other than a rule out MI!

I wonder if this means I'd find the CCU predictable as well...maybe my 1 day orientation didn't give me a good idea of what the unit is really like.

Or maybe it's just Tele that's boring. Did any of you have a similar experience?

Re: Did any of you find Tele interesting?

You might like something more cardiac related such as a cardiac progressive care unit (CPCU). We have one of these at my hospital and they mostly get either post-op (but mostly stable) CABGs, valve repairs/replacements, thoracotomies, r/o MIs, post-caths, pacemaker insertions, and other similar patients. They are able to run some drips on this floor and also take care of patients who have art lines, CVPs, and Swan-Ganz catheters.

Our other tele units take patients with a myriad of admitting diagnoses, but who also have some history of cardiac disease or another need for telemetry. I'm not sure if you have a CPCU in your area, but it's worth checking out if you're interested. The patients are a bit more "fun" than on a regular tele floor... but that's just IMHO.

Re: Did any of you find Tele interesting?

I just did a nurse externship in the CCU/CVICU. I know when we transerred patients out we either transfered to the PCU (like the above poster stated) or the tele unit. It seemed that the more critical patients went to PCU and other less complex issues went to tele. I know the short time i was on a tele floor, i also thought it was pretty boring, especially compared to the 8 weeks I just spent on the CCU.

I was not bored in the CCU, but we did get patients who might have some other thing besides a cardiac issue wrong, but if they have a cardiac history, they would come to us. But I saw a lot of different things and always learned something new. And can anyone really be bored in an ICU? I can't imagine that.

Good Luck. I graduate in November and am hoping to find a job in the CCU.

Re: Did any of you find Tele interesting?

I dont think tele is boring. I never had enough down time to be bored. Constant admits, discharges, transfers, meds, procedures, orders, questions, etc...It was an excellent place to learn time management without the patients being so critcal. Dont get me wrong, we had our fair share of rule out MI, cath patients, rapid responses but we also got alot of COPD, CHF, GI bleeds and everything else under the sun. Good learning environment. Most new grads on the tele floor are challenged but not completely overwhelmed. I guess it taught me well since I just got hired into an ICU. I guess you can start in a CCU if you want but getting a foundation on a Med/Surg or tele floor will only help you get basic nursing skills down.

Re: Did any of you find Tele interesting?

Originally Posted by rach78

And can anyone really be bored in an ICU? I can't imagine that.

Quicker than a snowball melts in hell.

Re: Did any of you find Tele interesting?

First of all- witty name :-)
2ndly- it might be your hospital. I am currently at a hospital where they are really pushing for us to NOT get pts that are not cardiac pts. I work on a cardiac care unit, as opposed to a tele unit that I started out in. I think it is a great place to start. At my first job, we had to print out and measure our own strips. At my (relatively new) job now, we have tele monitor techs (it was hard initially to relinquish control), and I liked the way things worked out for me. My typical patient is now a CHF exacerbation, ACS C/P RO, NSTEMI/STEMI...you get the drift. I hardly every see a small bowel obstruction anymore (believe me, I was GLAD to be done with one that was on our unit for 3 weeks!! The docs wouldn't move her, and all of us, including cardiology docs, were wondering why).

Anyway, it's not always fire, trauma, and CPR, but it would be great to hone in the BASICS of what every CCN should know.
If you are bored, work at a different hospital that might give you more of a challenge.