New grad RN. ER or Cardiac Telemetry Department! What do I pick?

beachbaby31 · Jun 23, 2010

Which one is the dearest to your heart?

Which one do you see yourself doing for a very long time?

Cardiac care does have a certification...The ER will always be different with different diagnoses etc. and cardiac will be cardiac. I specialize in Multiple Sclerosis and work in an MS Center and I love my pts. we are like family, I have worked in MS for 15 years now and just got my International Organization of Multiple Sclerosis Nurses Certification. So I can't answer your question it has to come from within you.

Moneymn316 · Jun 23, 2010

In my opinion I would choose ER.

It all depends what your plans are for the future and what you enjoy.

Do you plan of Grad school?

What type of hospital are each?

ER gives you the diversity of critical care and telemetry in one unit. Plus is you work in a busy ER/tertiary care center you will see all types of things.

Hope this helps.

John

ijuanabhappy, ASN, RN · Jun 23, 2010

I know a lot of new grads want to get into the ER and those spots are harder to acquire, but I personally wouldn't want to start out in ER because I heard it is really tough for new grads to begin there without any other experience. So I would choose starting out in telemetry if it were me.

emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Jun 23, 2010

What kind of orientation is each offering? At least 14 weeks? Have you talked to the staff n each unit? Done at least 1 walkthrough of each? Does the staff seem generally happy or do they seem surly?

Follow your heart. If you choose the ER, you'll see plenty of cardiac pts as well as all the other fun stuff we do :^)

Nothing wrong with starting in the ER as a new grad. That's what I did and I'm very glad I did.

Good luck and have fun wherever you wind up.

lagrl7 · Jan 20, 2011

Follow your heart, maybe make pro/cons list and see what shines.

Altra, BSN, RN · Jan 20, 2011

These are vastly different positions. I would suggest shadowing for a day in each.

llltapp · Jan 20, 2011

I'm biased, I love the ER. Things I love:

great teamwork, variety, fast pace, HUMOR, playing detective, seeing the babies and kids (ones that are so cute, but not really sick :), great doctor-nurse relationships, learning something new every day.

not so great things: seeing sick or abused children/babies, drunk chunks :), drug seeking sandwich seekers (although if they are pleasant they can be a fun way to turf the STEMI coming in to my buddy who has the next room down lol)

Just make SURE you get a good orientation and they are supportive of new grads. Our team is the BEST :). We love to teach and we love to learn. That's the kind of place you want to be.

Hoozdo, ADN · Jan 20, 2011

CCRN is the certification for ICU nurses.

CEN is the certification for ER nurses.

PCN is the certification for tele nurses.

All things considered, I would compare pay and benefits of both jobs and use

that criteria to decide. Congrats on your offers :yeah:

Bubblybabs · Nov 30, 2012

I know this is an old thread but thought I'd jump in... I don't understand why nurses are hired straight out of school to ERs and ICUs... You are clueless when you first get out of school no matter how much book learning you have... You need to learn the nuances of a patient going bad without the monitors... You need to learn organizational skills that only a med/surg unit can teach you...The ER is mostly a gofer type position... You get them in and get them out to a floor ASAP - no real nursing when it comes to patient care... Yes, I'm ruffling the feathers of ER nurses... I've worked the ER and think its a great place for experienced nurses who can think for themselves due to previous experience on a floor but a terrible place for a new grad...A telemetry floor is a good place to start because you usually don't have the patient load of a med/surg floor and you don't have all the equipment the ICU has so you get the time to develop basic skills along with more advanced ones...