Med/surge RN wants to work in CVICU

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Hi all,

I am working in med/surge, I am going to apply CVICU at a teaching hospital where they offer a fellowship/training program. So they don't required candidates to have prior ICU experience, but have to have direct patient care. It has been only 4 months since I started working in med/surge as a new grad so after getting 1 year experience I will apply apply apply!!

In the "preferred qualification" section on the hospital website,"Based on position, one or more of the following courses including STABLE, smoking cessation counseling, basic critical care, or other specialty training courses preferred."

My question is, as a med/surge nurse, am I qualified to take STABLE, basic critical care training courses???? and if so, where can I ?

I am trying to do every possible things I can possibly do to make myself more competitive and get into CVICU.

I will appreciate any suggestions or thoughts!!

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Yeah go for it! Become excellent at what you are doing now so that multitasking/prioritizing comes easier to you in the ICU. Good job looking ahead at classes/certs while getting your solid one year done.

So STABLE is for treatment of sick newborns so if you are going into the world of adult ICU you won't need it. What you really need to take is an AHA accredited ACLS course (advanced cardiovascular life support). Contact your hospital's education dept and see if they offer it for free (most hospitals do) or if you can get reimbursed to take it. That will really help you in the ICU as well as on your resume. As long as you've done BLS you can take it.

It's kind of ironic that they say "basic critical care" because the nature of critical care is definitely not basic. You'll get a good boatload of info in your fellowship/orientation to the ICU program. But look to see if your hospital offers an EKG analysis course and IV insertion/ultrasound guided IV cert - those will both help you get off to a good start and be something you can put on your resume.

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Thank you so much for the helpful comment!

Is there other ways to take some training courses that the hospital I work at does not offer?

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Hello!

I am in orientation for a CICU as a new grad, but there is a girl in my cohort who has four years of experience who is placed in a specific transitional course as well as our fellowship program. She has a background on a transplant and oncology unit. We have specific CICU courses we take, and as new grads, we are placed in a critical care residency with all new NICU, PICU, and SRU (experienced float nurses who also want to float in the ICUs). During this, we are also orienting to the unit. It's a lot of learning and hours there and at home but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I would ask in your interviews what their orientation process entails.

As someone who did her final clinical and is now starting on the same floor, you are totally capable, because you can think critically, work under pressure, and prioritize your patient care. Good luck!

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25 minutes ago, EMB1548 said:

Hello!

I am in orientation for a CICU as a new grad, but there is a girl in my cohort who has four years of experience who is placed in a specific transitional course as well as our fellowship program. She has a background on a transplant and oncology unit. We have specific CICU courses we take, and as new grads, we are placed in a critical care residency with all new NICU, PICU, and SRU (experienced float nurses who also want to float in the ICUs). During this, we are also orienting to the unit. It's a lot of learning and hours there and at home but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I would ask in your interviews what their orientation process entails.

As someone who did her final clinical and is now starting on the same floor, you are totally capable, because you can think critically, work under pressure, and prioritize your patient care. Good luck!

Thank you so much for the encouragement!!

I am preparing and training myself to become a competent ICU nurse as much as I can now at my position! Good luck on your new journey.

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On ‎7‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 12:36 PM, Charge200J said:

Yeah go for it! Become excellent at what you are doing now so that multitasking/prioritizing comes easier to you in the ICU. Good job looking ahead at classes/certs while getting your solid one year done.

So STABLE is for treatment of sick newborns so if you are going into the world of adult ICU you won't need it. What you really need to take is an AHA accredited ACLS course (advanced cardiovascular life support). Contact your hospital's education dept and see if they offer it for free (most hospitals do) or if you can get reimbursed to take it. That will really help you in the ICU as well as on your resume. As long as you've done BLS you can take it.

It's kind of ironic that they say "basic critical care" because the nature of critical care is definitely not basic. You'll get a good boatload of info in your fellowship/orientation to the ICU program. But look to see if your hospital offers an EKG analysis course and IV insertion/ultrasound guided IV cert - those will both help you get off to a good start and be something you can put on your resume.

Thank you so much!!! actually my hospital offers a STABLE course. Do you think I should take it even though I don't work in that area? or ACLS and 12 EKG course is enough?

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I know a lot of residency programs will consider you as long as you have less than a year of experience. So you might be able to apply for CVICU residency programs now if you wanted to.

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