Cardiac Observation Unit-a step down unit?

[minmin11]

Hey Everyone,

I have been a MSRN for the past 7 years, and just got a job offer from a Cardiac Observation Unit. I had Tele monitor experience for about 6 months few years ago, but that's about it for my Cardiac experience.

The patients on this units include CHF, Cardiomyopathy, Pre-Post Cardiac Surgery, Dysrhythmias and Patient waiting for heart transplant.

They do IV cardiac meds drips like Lidocaine, Cardizem, Dopamine, heparin, insulin drips but they don't titrate BP.

Is this floor a Cardiac Step Down unit? When I applied for the job, by the floor's name, I thought it would be a more like an intermittent unit.

Patient ratio is 1:3 to 1:4, Orientation is a month, does this sounds typical?

Thank you for your input!

[MunoRN, RN]

The name is confusing since those clearly aren't observation patients, I would guess from the name that it would be rule-outs with some pre-post diagnostic cath patients, ie observation patients that are there for cardiac reasons.

What you describe would be what's often called Progressive care, which at some places includes step-down, and is slightly different at other places, with step-down being 1:3 and progressive care being 1:4 or even 1:5.

[minmin11]

Muno RN, Thank you for your input.

The floor has 13 bed only, sounds more like a step down unit size, I think.

[AJJKRN]

This sounds like the regular cardiac med-Surg floors for my hospital but with awesome Pt ratios (ours are 1:5 or 6)!

[nutella, MSN, RN]

I wonder if it is observation because there will be pat after cardiac cath procedures / perhaps pacemaker implants and so on and forth as well - and if they are not filled up with that they take "all things cardiac"?

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Sounds like a great opportunity. I would love to be doing that, but have no desire to work weekends, holidays, and 12 hour shifts anymore. But if I were into hospital nursing, that would be right up my alley.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

One hospital I worked at had a post cath observation unit that sounds sort of like what you're describing. These patients needed to be monitored because they'd just had invasive procedures of some sort (not all of them had caths, despite what the name says), but they were too healthy to be in the ICU. In my brief experience floating there a few times, it was a pie gig. People just about had to die for a space to open up.

It sounds like a great job. Good luck!

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

This thread has been moved to our Cardiac specialty forum with the goal of attracting more responses from those who are familiar with this type of nursing.