Is the heart team worth it?

Specialties Operating Room

Published

To all those nurses who are apart of a heart team, can you tell me average hours worked in a week, how many beeper calls a month, and many hours are you on beeper call for?

i don't know what the norm is and am trying to get a gage on it. Thank you so much in advance.

Editorial Team / Admin

Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN

6 Articles; 11,658 Posts

Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

I don't think you'll find a norm because every facility is different. One facility in my area only requires one call shift per week, and that team is only responsible for emergencies. Case runs past end of shift? Heart team doesn't stay- the second shift crew (not heart specific) takes over. Not enough call coverage using just the heart team taking one shift per week? The rest of the OR pitches in or a premium is paid to heart team members who take extra. The facility across town? Only does a handful of heart cases per month and only have a heart surgeon one day a week who does not do any cases, emergent or not, after 3pm or on the days he's not scheduled to be there- those get shipped out, usually to us. My facility? Well, I'm on call for 124 hours just in this 2 week pay period. We do an average of 600 cardiac surgeries per year. I work a lot of call hours, primarily staying late because only the heart team does hearts no matter what time of day or scheduled vs. emergent. I've even worked a 26 hour shift- my 8 hour scheduled shift, stayed late to finish the scheduled cases that ran late, and then was halfway changed in the locker room when we got called for an emergency that ran past the time we were relieved when the rest of the team showed up the next day.

And that's without taking to consideration trauma center vs. non trauma center, which can be a whole other dynamic.

Is is it worth it? I only work day shift- the rest of the OR rotates days and evenings. I take call one weekend per month while the rest of the OR has to work and cover call every third weekend. I'm responsible for 1 winter and 1 summer holiday- and sometimes if there's enough staff not even everyone on the heart team covers more than 1 holiday per year. The rest of the OR has to work and cover call every third holiday, just like the every third weekend scenario. I make $30,000 above my base pay with on call and call back. I'm single with no kids. It works for me- at this point in my life.

BCooper77

20 Posts

I've been offered a position on the heart team. The perks/benefits are a raise of $5/hr, during the week if I'm working past 3:30pm then I'm making premium pay which is 2.5 times my hourly rate, on weekends I make time and half, a hourly rate for being on call for 24hrs at a time. In a 6 week schedule I'll take call 10-11 times (and expect to get called in), my beeper call must include one Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (they don't have to be together). Only heart team members can scrub the cases and there some people who can circulate it but are not on the team. There is a lot of burn out and it seems that employees quit the job altogether. I don't know if it's because management is just letting them leave (which seems like a terrible retention process) or the employee becomes so burnt out that they are willing to just walk away entirely. I am married and we don't have children. I've been learning in there and am enjoying the high acuity, adrenaline rushes, and thinking quickly on my feet. And I'm of the opinion if you can scrub or circ cardiac, you can do anything. My hesitation is can I hang with the hours required? Is an average of 60 hours a week going to kill me? I know only I can answer that but I wanted to see if the amount of commitment required was being apart of that team or the norm for the industry. But it does sound like it's normal. I'll have to ask more questions before I sign the contract. Thank you!

cvor nurse

5 Posts

Specializes in CVOR, NEURO, ORTHO, GENERAL, ROBOTICS.

I have been part of the CVOR team for 8 years. It is a tough group, strong personalities to deal with the high stress environment. I am an RN who has been in the OR for 30 years, both scrubbing and circulating. Currently I mostly scrub CVOR cases. We have a small team of 8, two circulators and two scrubs per case. Consequently we take a lot of call, averaging 128 to 175 hrs per 2 week pay period. We take 3 holidays per year and call every other weekend. We are paid time and a half after our 8 hr shift which is where most of our "call" comes into play as we don't leave a case that we are first scrubbing. We don't get a lot of "call back" but it comes and goes in spurts. I average 6 - 15 hrs of overtime per 2 week pay period, but sometimes I have one or two hours and sometimes I have 20+ hours. I love it. It is fast-paced, high energy, and very physically and mentally demanding. But when you start a case at 730 and then the next time you even think of looking at the clock it is 1130 or later, it makes the day go by fast. We have very high expectations of ourselves and each other, but there isn't a tighter knit group I have ever worked with and that is very rewarding. It is not for everyone, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Editorial Team / Admin

Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN

6 Articles; 11,658 Posts

Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
And I'm of the opinion if you can scrub or circ cardiac, you can do anything.

I disagree. If you don't have the exposure, you're not going to know it. Put me in a neuro

room with those specialty beds? I'm completely lost. The idea that if you can do hearts you can do anything is a fallacy if you ask me.

Specializes in ICU.

tooo much call no cvor for me.

aryazel

2 Posts

Hey BCooper,

Can you tell me where you work or City, State. I do hearts in Indianapolis and we do not get a premium pay. I have expressed to the powers that be that Cardiac usually gets a premium (as has happened in all the other states I've worked) do to all the hours, call, ect ect but they obviously want some "hard facts" and am having trouble finding information and pay scales throughout the area and nationwide.

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