cardiac nursing versus medsurg?

BrayaRN · Jan 21, 2009

My first, and current, position is on a Cardiac/Telemetry floor. It is a steep learning curve, but manageable. Being able to read rhythm strips would be an asset if you eventually wanted to move onto ER or ICU. I also received ACLS training within my first year in my position.

At my hospital the type of patients that go to the medical floor tend to be nursing home patients. There are frequently a lot of isolation patients as well.

Our floor gets a good mix of patients. However, many are walkie/talkie and able to complete most of their ADL's. It is rare to get a total care patient on our floor, however, it does happen.

In terms of acuity, it is hard to gauge it. Besides ICU/Stepdown/ER we have the most codes. However, they are still infrequent. The patient on the medical floor usually have more comorbities and are generally as sick. I believe they receive more total care patients.

I still see patients with medical problems and we receive medical overflows often.

At least on our floor, patients generally stay 1-4 days. There are a lot of admits and discharges, particularly because we receive all post-cardiac procedure patients such as pacers and heart caths. The actually nursing workload is not excessive, however, the admits and discharges will keep you busy.

Hope this helps.

rn2bn07, BSN, RN · Jan 26, 2009

I think the difference is that cardiac nursing is more of a speciality type unit. Most of your pt's will be admitted for a cardiac condition. On my cardiac tele floor, we received cardiac pt's but alot of them had some other kind of medical history that needed to be treated such as, diabetes, asthma, diverticulitis, wound care, etc... Tele floors are better if you plan to work in critical care, some employers even count that as having "step-down" experience. Unless you like NG-tubes, JP drains, stage 1,2,3,4, pressure ulcers and wound care, code browns, and basically more medically unstable pt's then med-surg is for you. Good luck

nyrn5125 · Jan 26, 2009

I work days on a tele/med/surg floor. We do not have tech's so we are responsible for knowing all the rhythms and

watching monitors on 8 patients. You get every king of patient but most are cardiac. It's crazy and hectic so no matter which one you choose you will get a good learning base but I would go with cardiac. Those pt's have heart problems along with diabetes and all the other conditions of a med surg floor

al7139, ASN, RN · Jan 27, 2009

Hi there,

My first (and current) job out of school was on a Telemetry/medical unit. I graduated in May 2007 and started on my unit right out of school. I hated cardio in school, but when I got to do cliicals on this unit, I loved it, and actually applied for a job before I graduated.

I think that my experience in cardio has been a huge benefit. We are a tele unit, so we see anything from chest pain to CHF, diabetics, other medical issues. We do have lots of nursing home patients, and other total care (contrary to what another poster has said). We are also stroke certified, so we get CVA's as well. What I found is that while at first it is very overwhelming, I get a variety of patients, so I am always learning. Med/surg is lots of surgery, infections, etc, while my unit sees it all. I had to learn to use my critical thinking skills, and be able to think on the fly, because a patient may be stable one minute and really critical the next.

I had a great orientation where I was with a preceptor for about 10 weeks before they gave me my owm assignment, but even then, I was never alone. I can always go to a more experienced nurse or to my ClinII with questions, not to mention the MD's who are mostly very good with new nurses, and this let me develop relationships with them where they can trust my judgement.

I was so scared the first time I had a patient who was having chest pain, or the patient who coded suddenly, but now, it's like I say to myself "I've done this before, I know what to do."

I think telemetry has prepared me for any aspect of nursing I want to try. If you have the cardiac knowledge, you have an advantage over lots of other nurses since we get training in reading rhythm strips and what to look for in an emergency.

I also like my work because we see so many people regularly and get to form bonds with them and see their progress.

I advise telemetry, but this is just my opinion.

Amy

jjensen · Feb 10, 2009

I was a cardiac nurse for 5 years and loved it. I took care of MI's, second day CABG's, pulled sheaths and all that jazz... I now work in med/surge and love that too. I think that the variety is great. When we pick a specialty, we get so focused on that, I think we forget all the other good types of nursing. Cardiac is my passion and I will go back to it, but for now I am enjoying all the variety of med/surg... Good luck to you

mks1420 · Feb 27, 2009

I decided to give myself two years to build a foundation on a surgical floor, then specialize. The unit I worked on was very challenging, acute and extremely busy so that I learned to manage my time, stay on top of things, stay focused and get very good at the basic nursing skills that you need regardless of where you work. I just started in cardiac surgery and find that the foundation that I built for myself is a real asset now that I am learning a new specialty.

luvbug080688 · Apr 12, 2009

tele drives me crazy! i don't understand it and that is where i am and have been the past 2 semesters for clinical. : |