CNRN in a non neuro ICU setting.

[NurseyPoo7]

I know there is a specific neuro message board here, but I am posting this in this section in hopes of getting more responses.

Some nurses on our stroke unit would like to get their CNRN - however, this is a stroke unit that also takes MANY med surg patients (usually total care, PEGs, traches, hx of CVA, etc.). We also just began to take spinal surgery patients.

It's a "small" community hospital - this unit is 30 bed. Our hospital has 3 neurologists and 3 neurosurgeons. The stroke unit is not a neuro ICU. We do medical tele - however, the hospital just went to remote/centralized tele - we can log in to see the rhythms on the computer but it does log us out with inactivity on the screen, we have no traditional tele monitors on the floor, we cannot hear the alarms "ding". We are "medical" tele, not cardiac tele. We do NO cardiac drips - nothing for BP (must be in ICU) and since they took our tele monitors away, a lot of nurses complained and now we no longer do Cardizem. We will occasionally have a heparin drip.

We do no ICP monitoring. Nurses typically have 5 patients on days and 6-7 on nights. Remember, this includes med surg patients. For stroke patients, we have specific protocols - Stroke pathway orders, tele, dysphagia screening, CVA education Q shift, neuro checks Q 4 hr x 48 hours and then Q 8 hr, etc.

Another nurse and I just attended a stroke conference in Philadelphia and everything discussed was overwhelming and so in depth - we are scared to now obtain CNRN, as it seems to be more applicable to a neuro ICU nurse or more well-developed hospital with better technology (At this conference they discussed many imaging/radiologic studies their hospital has that I have NEVER heard of!). Can anyone offer insight?