How do I approach doing hearts?

Jeff RN · Aug 26, 2009

Hi fellow OR people....
I work in a large level one trauma center, big teaching hospital, 20 OR's.... they do "clusters" there, and the only service you never get to do is open hearts, for obvious reasons. But...I really want to work in that service..... My question is, and I do know this sounds foolish-- but hey, I really dont know.... Is...How do I go about making that happen? Do I approach the cluster manager for that service, my service, both? Will my manager be offended if I want to do another service? Will the veterans look at me like I am crazy, since I have been doing this for only 2 years? I can imagine some of them saying "who does she think she is" type of thing, you know? I always work out of my cluster, and am always willing to learn how to do things there...but the heart room is the only area that people dont rotate to....I know if I really want it bad enough, I shouldnt care what anyone says, Im just looking for advice from people who know about the OR....

I think 2 years is a good amount of time to want to specialize in something like hearts. I would approach your boss about it. I don't know how your leadership is structured, or what the culture is there, but I would talk to someone on the heart team about how to get on board. Ultimately, you need to talk to the CVOR manager to see if they have any openings. By talk to the open heart manager/staff they can fill you in on what it is like. The staffing, how much call you have to take, the variety of cases, if you can still float to other areas, what the available schedules would look like, what the personalities or culture might be there-I worked at a hospital once that after I rotated in CV I would never want to work on that team. I didn't like the people, the surgeons, and their "flexibility" with established policies. Anyway, just saying that you should get as much info before you commit to a change that you might not like. On the other hand, if they are looking to add staff, they should be excited to take you on. Although I understand that open heart rooms are not generally kind to newcomers!

KayceeCA · Aug 26, 2009

I don't know the best way to get into the heart rooms, but I can tell you how I did it.

From the first time I stepped into a heart room, I knew that was what I wanted to do. And I made that loud and clear. I let anyone, and everyone, know how much I loved hearts. I would hold heart until I thought my arm was going to fall off, and I'd keep smiling because I was in the heart room. I let the heart surgeons (some of them are satan, I swear!) yell and scream, but I kept on going, telling anyone and anyone how much I loved hearts all the while. I ran, not walked, to the heart room any chance I got. I took all the ridicule and scorn about "those snobby heart team people" and kept smiling, and being friendly, and willing to do just about anything else, although everyone knew I'd rather be in the heart room.

It worked for me. Maybe it will work for you too. Just be ready for the "why would you want to do that"s and the "I wouldn't do that, I want a life"s. Just brush them off and keep going, because you know what you want.

the1honeycomb · Sep 2, 2009

I work in the same environment. We are salary so they send people home early. I wen tto the Cardiac Services supervisor and told her of my desires and if i could comein on the days that I was sent home early she was glad for someone to want to learn and to fall back on if something came up go talk to the supervisor let her /him know how you feel and they mjay try to work things out with you

Good luck