Tertiary Care

[ShockerGirl07]

I was wanting to know what you do in tertiary care - passing meds, interaction with the pt, etc. In secondary care i worked on a med surg floor, and i felt like all i was doing was passing meds - is it the same? What have your experiences been? Thanks so much!!

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

The official definition of tertiary care is care provided at facilities with advanced technology and things like special intensive care units, equipment and specialists. Tertiary care facilities are usually large teaching medical centers or university medical centers. There is often a lot of cutting edge research going on in tertiary care centers. You want to go to a tertiary care center if you have a serious illness to see a specialist who not only has expertise in that area but is also likely to know what the latest treatments are. You will often have patients receiving experimental drugs or having experimental surgeries or treatments in these places. When you are caring for patients like these you have to be aware of the protocols for the treatment or drug they are getting. Sometimes your charting will be very important since the treatments are being evaluated by researchers. Will you see a med/surg floor and be passing meds? Yes. You are also likely to see patients with rare disorders or having very new or controversial treatments for diseases that are very ordinary.