Cardiothoracic & vascular vs CTICU

[aneres1390]

hey everyone,

i was wondering if the cardiothoracic and vascular floor is the same thing as the cticu??? i am a bsn student and one of the hospitals around my area is hiring patient care techs/cna's to work in their unit. i tried looking it up at their website but couldn't find anything except the cticu. i have an interview and i don't want to call the nurse manager to ask since she will be doing the interview herself. i really want to get the job/experience regardless of what unit it is and be well prepared for the interview. thanks guys!

[BeckiRN]

CTICU is a cardiothoracic ICU and may or may not include vascular. We have a CTICU and a separate CVICU at the hospital I work at.

[sexyaqr]

CTICU is a cardiothoracic ICU and they will perform strictly open heart cases, CABGs, MVRs, AVRs, etc only. A CVICU is a cardiovascular ICU and some hospitals will combine open heart cases with vascular cases such as fem-pop bypass, AAA repair, etc. Some places will also call the CVICU a CVTICU( cardiovascular thoracic ICU) or a CSICU(cardiac surgical ICU).

[JCCCNurseGrrl]

It just depends. I work in a cardiothoracic surgical ICU - CTS ICU - but we also take vascular patients, though we have not always done this. Honestly, there's nothing wrong with calling and asking - it shows that you're really interested and curious about the job.