Cedars Sinai - Cardiavascular ICU vs Cardiothoracic Surgical ICU

[X620]

Dear fellow RN's, I was recently invited to interview for the Cardiothoracic Surgical ICU and Cardiovascular ICU positions at Cedar's Sinai.

1) Can any employees provide insight into the types of patient's seen in each unit? Pre-Op/Post-op, valve repair, heart transplant, CABG, intubated/sedated patient's vs walkie talkies, etc.

2) And how often do each of two units utilize/see these - ECMO, CRRT, Impella, VAD'S, A-Lines, Swan Ganz, Chest Tubes, etc.

3) What is the training like for (1 year) experienced nurses? I.e. floor time, classroom time, quality of the training, opportunity to train on advanced skills.

All feedback is much appreciated.

[Nurse Guy Mike, BSN, RN]

CONGRATS on landing interviews for some awesome units at a prestigious hospital. Merely getting the call back to interview is pretty bada** considering the current climate. How'd it go? Are you working either of those units now?

[X620]

1 hour ago, Nurse Guy Mike said:

CONGRATS on landing interviews for some awesome units at a prestigious hospital. Merely getting the call back to interview is pretty bada** considering the current climate. How'd it go? Are you working either of those units now?

Hi Mike,

ITA ? I was honored to interview for such high acuity prestigious units, both nurse managers were super sweet and kind. I ultimately did not get the position due to my limited experience. For reference, my background was one year CVICU experience in a small community hospital at the time that I interviewed, we get maybe 30 or so CABG patients a year, 1-2 Swan's a year, no CRRT, no Impella/LVAD's, arterial lines and chest tubes not that common. I don't have CABG training yet. We see more medical and pulmonary patient's than cardiac.

I did recently work with a couple individuals who also work in the CTICU at Cedar's and the theme heard from both was very similar - high RN turnover due to the high acuity and steep learning curve, with many nurses failing out of the program there, in addition to the micromanaging culture (but honestly what large facility doesn't micromanage?).

It seemed like Cedar's is looking for the well rounded nurse when they hire for experienced positions - CCRN, BSN, patient satisfaction a priority, some type of extracurricular involvement such as a unit quality improvement initiative or member of a committee, etc, and some type of experience with the above equipment.

Recruiter mentioned that with my background, I should look into applying to their Cardiac ICU internship program. Hope this helps.