New job in CCU

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I just received a new job in CCU and I an nervous. I have spent most of y career in peds and neontal. I am not sure what to expect. I am not used to having a pt talk to me! Are any my peds experience trasnferrable to this new position? Any CCU nurses out there? What is you day like. Is it very busy, lots or emergency> They offered me a three month orientation(I think because of my PICU brackground).Is this typical. ANy good reading material to brush up on adult nursing?

Thanks!!

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I just received a new job in CCU and I an nervous. I have spent most of y career in peds and neontal. I am not sure what to expect. I am not used to having a pt talk to me! Are any my peds experience trasnferrable to this new position? Any CCU nurses out there? What is you day like. Is it very busy, lots or emergency> They offered me a three month orientation(I think because of my PICU brackground).Is this typical. ANy good reading material to brush up on adult nursing?

Thanks!!

You already know how to talk to patient families -- that's transferrable. Talking to a patient isn't that much different from talking to any other adult with anxiety issues. You know how to talk to MDs! You know how to organize your day, how to look up meds and procedures you don't know, how to delegate, and how to interact with coworkers. All that stuff transfers.

What your day will be like, how busy it is, and whether there are lots of emergencies all depends on how active your cardiology service is, and whether you're at a tertiary institution. A three month orientation is good! Try to get to spend at least one day with the monitor tech, and if you get a chance to see what goes on in the Cath Lab, grab it. Your patients will be nervous about it, and it will help if you can tell them what to expect. And you already know to study ACLS, right?

Good luck! I hope you love your new job!

Ruby (Over 20 years in MICU, CCU, CTICU and CSICU)

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What are the different drugs to learn? Currently I am stuck with amp gent clinda zantac and reglan(the favorite neonatal drugs!) Is there any good text out there that would be helpful to "brush up" on this new area? I am so excited,

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Hello! I am new to this site, but your post caught my eye! I know exactly what your going through! When the rehabilitation unit I was working decided to close due to medicare cuts, i was forced to work in another area of the hospital. When I went to HR, there were few choices left (back then there were too many nurses and not enough jobs... imagine that LOL). I was offered NICU or CCU/CVICU. Well, I was terrified of babies........ so off to CVICU I went. On my first day, I let every RN within hearing distance know I was scared but willing to learn. Not only did they come to my rescue, by showing me around, introducing tools for getting to know the new med's i'd have to learn, but they went as far as fighting over me. I know now, as a experience CVICU RN (11 years now) that it was because I would be doing most of their work while they "supervised me", LOL. So my advice is to RELAX, and let those nurses know your situation, be open to learning, and be eager to soak it all in. You'll have alot easier time of it, if you will. Good Luck!

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Specializes in ICU/CCU/MICU/SICU/CTICU.
What are the different drugs to learn? Currently I am stuck with amp gent clinda zantac and reglan(the favorite neonatal drugs!) Is there any good text out there that would be helpful to "brush up" on this new area? I am so excited,

Hi! I just started in CCU as well. I do however have 11 yrs as a nurse.

What kind of day??? Like someone else said, it depends on how active the cards service is. We are also taking MICU pts at the present....... they are SERIOUSLY overflowing. The 2 wks I have been on the unit, we havent had that many pts "talking" to us. A few....not many. We have 20 beds, and are a large teaching facility. Constantly running wide open.

As far as the drugs.............the majority of our IV drips are dopamine, dobutamine, cardizem, nitroglycerine, levophed, heparin, lidocaine and amiodarone.

Any books on hemodynamic monitoring, ventilators, aortic balloon pumps, CVVHD would be helpful. Also, any info you can get on reading and interpreting EKGs.

Hope this helps........ my brain isnt working at full speed right now.

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Thanks for replies!! Ironically, I just was released from this new hospital I will be working at, was admitted to a tele floor for a severe asthma attack(first one) and was quite impressed with their hospital as a patient. I grilled the staff about their thoughts on the place and no one seemed negative except for the lower shift diffs from the rest of the city, but that is not a big deal to me. Now my only problem is when I will be released back to to work from my docs. So it is strange, I need to be released back to work for my old job to give notice to start my new job. Hope this all works out ok. I am excited.

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Stop and visit: www.icufaqs.org has tons of info for CCU/MICU new and old nurses alike.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Best of luck in your new job!

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