Input Wanted

I went to ICU right out of school, and the recruiters all tried to give me a speech about how you really should go to Med-Surg first, ect.........but I didn't and I did fine. So will you. If tele is where you want to be, its where you should go.

I'm working tele as an LPN and intend to continue doing so as an RN. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Even though you will be doing specialized nursing interventions, I would still classify a telemetry unit as a medical-surgical unit. (BTW, I also consider pediatric and labor-delivery as medical-surgical nursing, as well. That is a soap box of mine for another day, another post.)Typically, someone who is old enough to need a telemetry monitor also has some additional health problems that would equate to medical surgical nursing. You will need to be very astute with your telemetry interpretation and your understanding of the heart, but if that is what interests you, I think that you will be very happy with your career choice! Good luck to you!

I went to ICU right out of school, and the recruiters all tried to give me a speech about how you really should go to Med-Surg first, ect.........but I didn't and I did fine. So will you. If tele is where you want to be, its where you should go.

I second that.. I also went straight to the ICU out of school.

Don't let anyone tell you differently. Yes it's challenging, but if that's where your interests are, then go for it!

Best of luck.

With proper orientation and support, you will do just fine.

There is often an "overflow" of medical/surgical patients onto other areas, like telemetry. Most of your patients will have an extensive past medical history. You will be checking glucose levels on diabetics, just like the med-surg nurses.

wow in telemetry..good for you..well if thats what you really like and you have the interest in that area, well its ok for you to be there after all.. enjoy your area.. :)

I am interested in working in tele per diem myself. I will be reading my EKG workbooks over the next few days to remember some of the tracings. I think that you should go where your heart takes you. Like others have said, I think that basic nursing is universal; you will have a specialty, yes, but there are some very basic things that will be done for all of those patients the same as what would probably happen in med-surg. Good luck! Maybe in a month or so, you can give ME some pointers!

Telemetry is classed between med/surg and ICU. Typically you care for about 4 patients--as opposed to 6 on med/surg and 2 in ICU. It can be really, really busy (like med/surg) because the patients are more acute, but you have the benefit of having more nurses around in case a patient goes bad. You will learn all about cardiac rhythms which is awesome. Telemetry experience is very desirable and a great place for a new grad. Congratulations!!

I'm a new grad myself and will be working in telemetry starting next week. It is intimidating in a way, but maybe if you talk to your manager in more details about the acuity level of the patients when it gets closer to you starting, it may ease your mind. For example with me, I was deathly afraid of caring for a patient with a Swan-Ganz. Come to find out, we don't even do arterial lines in my unit at the moment (we will be phasing them in later). We do also have some step-down patients, but those are 3:1 and my manager said I won't be taking those until I'm competent to do so, they won't just throw me into it.

My point is that sometimes when you find out a little bit more about exactly what is to be expected of you, you will have more confidence in yourself to actually do it. I think telemetry is a great choice for new grads, many start there and move on to higher acuity patients, and if you decide to stay there for awhile, you will most likely get to precept some new grads in the future!

Good luck in your last semester and boards :)

I just spoke with an aide at work about this tonight. She asked me where she should start (graduating in May with her nursing degree) and I encouraged her to go to Telemetry. It is a great place to get your feet wet. You learn to read monitor strips, less patients and time to get your organization down, plus it is just an all around great experience. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

I just wanted to thank those that responded. The telemetry unit I will be working on has a 6:1 ratio from 7pm to 7am. There are some step down patients. I was told that there is a fast turnover on the unit. The preceptorship lasts from 8 -12 weeks depending on how well I do. My instructors are tickled to death for me. Evidently it is rare that someone is proactive enough to lock-in a job this far out from graduating. My pinning is scheduled for May 5th. I will be drinking Margeritas for everyone that night. Again.... thank you so much for your input and words of encouragement. I wish every nurse you talked to was so positive.

Mike

Mike, don't worry that there is a fast turnover there; most tele units have fast turnover because most people just go there to "get their feet wet" and move on to ICU or ED. My manager was also honest in telling me that my unit has high turnover, but if you know that going in, you won't be scared when you see people leaving. Now, if there was a bad reason for the turnover rate, your (and my) manager would probably have tried to hide it more