How do I prepare to be a PCU nurse

[Ruke]

I just got offered a job to be a PCU nurse at a hospital here in Virginia....and am a new grad...been out of school for like 2years...any idea on how i could prepare would be nice..like good books to read or topics to read about....start orientation in April

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

* know your cardiac rhythms and treatments for each

* you will be administering a wide variety of medications, but look up your cardiac meds and gtts. Not all PCUs are equal, but common gtts on my floor include dopamine, cardizem, lasix, heparin & NTG.

* As I mentioned, not all PCUs are created equal...but here is a list of diagnoses that are common to my unit: chest pain, heart failure, pneumonia, COPD exacerbation, acute respiratory failure, PE, DVT, patients prepping for heart cath/stress test, post-cath patients (including pulling sheaths), acute/chronic renal failure/ESRD, electrolyte imbalances (most notably hyper/hyponatremia and hyper/hypokalemia), ETOH intoxication, overdoses, acute CVA/TIA, seizures, A-fib with RVR, syncope, bradycardia, SIRS/sepsis. I would brush up on the pathophysiology and nursing interventions/etc for the diagnoses mentioned above.

[Ruke]

Thanks alot..

[libran1984, ASN, RN]

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