First job! cardiac step down, med surg, tele, GI floor mix

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Specializes in tele,med/surg.

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) so this is my first nursing job I start May5!

Its a mixed floor, cardiac step-down, tele, med surg and some GI... great floor with lots of opportunity for growth and cross training with ICU and ER apparently (like field trips and learning days etc). Soo what are some good tips? AND what should I start looking over and reading ahead of time to prepare for all this? :D Any scary possible situations or encounters I will be facing to know of ahead of time? Thanks!! :) :) :)

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Specializes in Cardiac.

Can you manage cardiac drips on this floor? Also, do you receive post heart cath & PM/AICD placement patients? If so these areas would be good to read up on!

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Specializes in Quality, Cardiac Stepdown, MICU.

Just like in clinical, know what every med is/does before you put it in your patient. Especially now that HCAHPS (the customer satisfaction surveys) ask if you give medication education. The worst is when you go to hand a pt your pill and they ask, what is that for? and you don't know.

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Ask a lot of questions. Everybody has to learn from the beginning. It can be overwhelming and you will have moments of doubt. Take a deep breath. You have senior nurses to rely upon so you aren't alone. Also focus on the patient first. They will drill real time charting and charting on time, but take care of the patient first. If something seems scary, a low blood pressure bad rhythm, etc, look at the patient first. For example, pulse ox us reading 70s. Well, is your patient pink and talking to you? May just be a bad reading. Learn to trust your instincts. I remember having bad feelings about a patient and wanting to call a rapid response, but not because other people were like they are fine. Then the patient deteriorated. Yes, sometimes maybe nothing us wrong, but better safe than sorry.

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Specializes in tele,med/surg.

yea i remember that clearly from school, ALWAYS look at the pt first! yes i agree this has me a bit on edge, I know ill have to def trust my gut instinct, and i def am with u on the better safe than sorry notion! the last thing i want is someone getting hurt or dying on me :(

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Specializes in tele,med/surg.

omg i know...i REFUSE to have that happen, i intend to be super anal about all my meds.

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Specializes in tele,med/surg.

I dont believe we receive any post cath pts, that would be the specialty cardiac unit on the floor below. but i def will ask on orientation.

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.
Ask a lot of questions. Everybody has to learn from the beginning. It can be overwhelming and you will have moments of doubt. Take a deep breath. You have senior nurses to rely upon so you aren't alone. Also focus on the patient first. They will drill real time charting and charting on time, but take care of the patient first. If something seems scary, a low blood pressure bad rhythm, etc, look at the patient first. For example, pulse ox us reading 70s. Well, is your patient pink and talking to you? May just be a bad reading. Learn to trust your instincts. I remember having bad feelings about a patient and wanting to call a rapid response, but not because other people were like they are fine. Then the patient deteriorated. Yes, sometimes maybe nothing us wrong, but better safe than sorry.

Yes, always assess your patient first! I have had severely low BP readings pop up on the monitor but it's because the cuff was too loose or not even on the patient. I also had a patient "go into" vtach on the monitor and when I went in and asked if they were okay, they were brushing their teeth :lol2: Tapping lead wires can also stimulate vtach.

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