Cardiology Nursing

[Sweese22]

Hey guys,

New grad here. Have a phone interview with Loyola University Medicine for a cardiology nursing position. Wanted to know if anybody here has any experience in this field and some advice for prep. I am not sure what aspect of cardiac nursing I would be involved in and do not want to sound unprepared.

 

Appreciate any help!

[gere7404, BSN, RN]

What kind of cardiology is it? A telemetry med/surg? A cardiac step down? A CVICU?

if it’s med/surg you’ll see a lot of stable afib, chf, nstemi’s, post-cath, and post open heart surgery pts recovering for discharge, almost all will be on telemetry monitoring. You’ll run some drips like amiodarone, cardizem and heparin. 5:1 ratios usually for night crew, 4:1 for days

step down you’ll see people who are less stable, more drips (nitro, insulin) and perhaps ventilation involved. 3:1 ratio usually.

CVICU takes care of very unstable cardiac pts, fresh cardiovascular thoracic surgery pts... lots of drips (pressors, dobutamine, etc etc etc) and vents. 1-2:1 ratio based on acuity. 

recommend learning rhythms on skillstat.com for any of those units. ACLS is generally required but as a new grad your hospital should include it in your orientation or give you a couple month grace period to get it.