dialysis nurse thinking about switching to cvicu

[nomadness]

I recently had by-pass surgery in the hospital where my wife works. She has been an RN for 30 years, the last 10 in dialysis both chronic and acute. While I was recovering for 5 days, and because I walked in for my operation instead of coming on the bus, and had no other health issues, the care I received seemed to me to be less intense than what my wife goes through at either a clinic where she treats sometimes 30 patients per shift, or in acutes, 3 per shift. A mature nurse who was caring for me thought the shift from dialysis to cvicu would not be difficult for my wife given her experience. What additional training would she need and how much time would that take up between jobs. Thanks

[joeyzstj, LPN]

I recently had by-pass surgery in the hospital where my wife works. She has been an RN for 30 years, the last 10 in dialysis both chronic and acute. While I was recovering for 5 days, and because I walked in for my operation instead of coming on the bus, and had no other health issues, the care I received seemed to me to be less intense than what my wife goes through at either a clinic where she treats sometimes 30 patients per shift, or in acutes, 3 per shift. A mature nurse who was caring for me thought the shift from dialysis to cvicu would not be difficult for my wife given her experience. What additional training would she need and how much time would that take up between jobs. Thanks

Nomadness.............I think that the assumption that it would be an EASY tansition is a bit overstated. I guess it all depends on the personality of your wife and her critical thinking ability. I worked as a Respiratory Therapist in the unit I work in currently which is a CVICU. As a Respiratory Therapist it appeared to me that everyone was pretty laid back, usually just charting or joking around with one another. When I began my employment as an RN in the unit, that perception was quickly changed. The level of skill and ability of the staff to handle problems can make a disaster appear very calm and organized, when in fact it may not be that way. Any critical care unit wheather it be ICU, CCU, CVICU, ect...........is a very specialized are and requries a certain type of personality, skill, thinking process and a ability to deal with extreme stressors to be successful in my opinion. Now, this isnt to say that someone can come in and learn it after time, but its not something that someone can usully just jump right into for many reasons. We often deal with equipment, disease process, surgeries, and a wide variety of drugs that arent used in dialysis units or outside of critical care. The drugs alone are something that take a good amount of time to know inside and out. From my experience, many of the CVICU's require independant thinking and often have doctors which expect you to make decisions and then inform them later after they are out of surgery or doing rounds. Once again, it is very doable, however the statement that it would be "easy" might be naive. Good luck.

[RN12345656]

I think the nurse who was taking care of you was being polite when she told you that it would be an easy transition from RDU to CVICU. Just last year, we had a dialysis nurse who was told at the end of her orientation that she was not ready to be on her own. She was encouraged to work on a stepdown unit for at least 6 months.

Can it be done???..Absolutely! It all depends on your wife's skill level. What did your wife do the twenty years before dialysis? Does she have any experience in a critical care setting? How does she handle stress?

There are many days that I don't eat lunch, sit down, or go to the bathroom.

Can she handle that?

I have worked side by side with many dialysis nurses in CVICU. Where I work, if the patient is stable, the hemodialysis nurse or tech will come to the bedside. (Unstable patients receive CRRT which I manage). I can tell you--no matter how long they've been a nurse--they have not a clue what a swan ganz catheter measures. Unfortunately, dialysis is so specialized...it will take alot of refreshing!!