How are STEMIs handled during off hours?

[smf0903]

Our interventional program started relatively recently, within the past year. We currently have 2 cath lab teams, and the issue is that cath lab personnel don’t want to be on call as much as they currently are. Our facility decided to try to alleviate the situation by opening up opportunities to train other nurses to be the med nurse during off hours (nights, weekends, holidays). People jumped at the chance, until they were told they would not get paid to be on call. Understandably people were not going to turn down guaranteed paid hours to be sitting at home—unpaid— waiting for the possibility to be called in.

So, instead now they are having ICU, float, and charge nurses take on the role...an hour in the cath lab to see where supplies are located and a printout of commonly used meds. And they are having nurses go down during scheduled caths to become familiar with the process, although the cath lab staff is still training so the nurses basically just stand and watch.

None of us are the least bit comfortable with this. Everything I’ve read as far as the efficacy of non-CV lab nurses in the lab reads as a big fat “don’t do that”. So I am curious if any of you have experienced this...Did you can the idea? Or if you do this, how did you make it work?