New Grad-Recovery Room Position

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As a new grad who has an interest in working the recovery room what advice can you offer as to the best approach of reaching this goal?

What can I be focusing on and studying to prepare for this position?

What is the best advice you can offer for working in a recovery room as an RN?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions and help!

HI Bec17 Where are you at? Around here new grads can't get anything near the ER,ICU,PACU or wherever. I wish I could get in PACU. Thanks

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

We have very sick patients in our PACU, including trauma. Whether or not anesthesia is "next door", you'd better be able to recognize an issue STAT, especially with kids or you will be sued.

I DO NOT recommend this area for new grads.

Go to ICU before going there.

Jo

19 years a nurse.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
Many good points here but I'd also like to add the fact that PACU often has shifts where there are only two of you (off-shifts, slow schedule days) or if you work on call your second nurse might be the OR nurse who have a completely different set of skills that do not match managing a PACU patient in trouble.

You are it to spot signs of trouble and intervene quickly while the OR nurse is calling anesthesia stat and basically be an extra set of hands.

The ideal choice IMHO for the new grad is to start in a good sized SICU where there are experienced ICU RN's around you all day willing to pass on their skills and wisdom for at least 2 years, then try for a PACU position.

How about when you are on night call and it is just you and the other nurse because anesthesia is in OB with an emergency?

THAT'S a realistic situation and happens in many hospitals often.

Or the Triple A repair you weren't expecting and the SICU didn't know and didn't have space and you have to recover for about 8 hours? He was super sick and coded two times on me.

Yup. All happened on the weekend when I was on call.....

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People here keep saying how critical PACU is. Yes, it is critical. But New Grads are trained to handle these patients. It's doable. One great thing about PACU is that you get them and then send them out of there! There is basically no contiuity of care so if you get a complainer you don't have to deal with them as much. What I absolultely loved about working in the PACU is that if a patient was going sour, the anesthesiologist was RIGHT THERE.

Yes, and people also keep on saying how the anesthesiologist is "right there" if your patient goes sour.

If that is truely indeed the case where you work 100% of the time, then I'd love to get a job in your PACU.

Our anesthesia team does the very best they can, but the scenario from JoPACURN regarding the AAA repair and anesthesia being busy in OB is not all that uncommon, particularly in your big level 1 trauma center PACU's.

They cannot always get there instantly and you need to be able to manage and rescue a patient alone in the meantime.

Using the AAA repair example, this patient could either go straight over to SICU, or if they have no space there, could end up in PACU for an unknown period of time. Same level of care, same knowledge/skills needed to manage this patient.

Would the new grad, straight out of orientation and on his/her own, be better off managing this patient alone with one OR nurse in the PACU or in a 16 bed SICU with 8 SICU nurses on site?

This example also speaks to your comment about ICU skills not helping you in the PACU. SICU takes patients straight from the OR and the same skills/level of care are used whether in SICU or PACU.

Even MICU experience is very helpful because you are gaining experience with treating arhythmias, titrated pressors, vents, swans, a-lines, etc. all of which are very valuable and needed skills for PACU.

Any PACU that is willing to hire a new grad is probably one that no one would want to work in, and the new grad should consider the job offer to be a red flag, not a great career opportunity.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
Yes, and people also keep on saying how the anesthesiologist is "right there" if your patient goes sour.

If that is truely indeed the case where you work 100% of the time, then I'd love to get a job in your PACU.

Our anesthesia team does the very best they can, but the scenario from JoPACURN regarding the AAA repair and anesthesia being busy in OB is not all that uncommon, particularly in your big level 1 trauma center PACU's.

They cannot always get there instantly and you need to be able to manage and rescue a patient alone in the meantime.

Using the AAA repair example, this patient could either go straight over to SICU, or if they have no space there, could end up in PACU for an unknown period of time. Same level of care, same knowledge/skills needed to manage this patient.

Would the new grad, straight out of orientation and on his/her own, be better off managing this patient alone with one OR nurse in the PACU or in a 16 bed SICU with 8 SICU nurses on site?

This example also speaks to your comment about ICU skills not helping you in the PACU. SICU takes patients straight from the OR and the same skills/level of care are used whether in SICU or PACU.

Even MICU experience is very helpful because you are gaining experience with treating arhythmias, titrated pressors, vents, swans, a-lines, etc. all of which are very valuable and needed skills for PACU.

Any PACU that is willing to hire a new grad is probably one that no one would want to work in, and the new grad should consider the job offer to be a red flag, not a great career opportunity.

I have a feeling they (those who are okay with it) haven't run into situations where they are the ONLY ONES who have to be on their toes.

When their license is compromised one day, they will get it. I wouldn't want to be the one there when the hospital lawyer is talking to them.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
Yes, and people also keep on saying how the anesthesiologist is "right there" if your patient goes sour.

If that is truely indeed the case where you work 100% of the time, then I'd love to get a job in your PACU.

Our anesthesia team does the very best they can, but the scenario from JoPACURN regarding the AAA repair and anesthesia being busy in OB is not all that uncommon, particularly in your big level 1 trauma center PACU's.

They cannot always get there instantly and you need to be able to manage and rescue a patient alone in the meantime.

AMEN!!!!!!

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