New Cath Lab Nurse Needs Guidance

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Hi everyone,

I just got job working in the Cath Lab, finally, and I am very excited and have already been digging into things to brush up on.

I know this was already a post (because I searched for it), but it was an old post so I wanted to ask again: does anyone have any suggestions to get started?

Specifically I read in the other post to get a Cath Lab Handbook by Dr. M. Kern, read up on hemodynamics, and take an IABP course. Are there any other recommendations?

My background is in tele and radiology. I've bought the cath lab book suggested (it looks like a gold standard), and my ACLS is coming up for renewal so I've been going through those basics.

I'm in Chicago and cannot find anywhere that still offers an IABP class in person (the best I've found are ones offered by manufacturers online). Would it be helpful to take a 12-lead ECG course?

Thanks times a million!

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Will you be scrubbing? I've been in Cath Lab since July. I LOVE it. I read the entire Cardiac Cath Handbook (I think that's what it's called) before I started. It's mostly hands on learning. Do you have Icu experience? You'll really need to know how to manage and start gtts. In our lab, RN's do all 3 roles, so it's an enormous amount to learn. In many labs, RNs cannot scrub (which is becoming my favorite role). I wouldn't try to find an iabp class, I'm sure you'll learn what you need to there. Reviewing ekg/telemetry strips would be helpful, but you probably don't need a class; there is plenty of books and online resources for that.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do! It's incredibly challenging but so rewarding! I hope to do this the rest of my nursing career.

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Hi MilliePieRN,

I'm glad you love it! Its great to hear from someone whose just gone through what I'm starting. I guessed a lot would be hands on learning, but I'd like to start with the best footing, especially because I don't have ICU experience just step-down. Maybe I should take some CEs on drips? Nurses do scrub at my hospital. Is there something I should get to know specifically for scrubbing in? It really is a great specialty that most people stay with. I really hope I get to enjoy it as much as you too! Thank you so much for the tips!!

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There's not a lot you can do to prepare for scrubbing. Learning cardiac anatomy more in depth will probably help you the most for the job in general. It's nice to be able to recognize lesion locations without having to ask. I still have a lot of trouble differentiating even the lad and circ because of so many imaging angles. Scrubbing all depends on the dr, we have an awesome patient dr (we run his table completely) and a testy dr who runs his own table; some docs will never be happy. Just be teachable. I think monitoring is one of the toughest to learn because it requires lots of knowledge about what's going on (where the anatomy knowledge comes in).

You will need to know code drugs and critical drips, along with being very familiar with moderate sedation and pt rescue. Be sure to know your pt histories, which is easy to gloss over when it gets busy. Our team works fantastic together; be a great team player! Makes everyone happier.

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