Nursing student as tech in CSU/CVICU

[agilitydogs]

Hello all...I have been lurking on this forum for a while, and find it to be a wealth of knowledge. This is my first post, and I hope you all will be able to offer me good advice.

I am a nursing student with 2 semesters left. I have been a tech on our hospital's progressive care unit (stepdown) for a while, and have recently been offered a position in the CSU. I have accepted the position, and am VERY excited, but wanted to get an idea of things that I should/should not do, and any advice that experienced CSU nurses or techs may have for me. We are a dedicated heart hospital, and the CSU is staffed with 1 tech per shift. Our responsibilities are mainly stocking and accuchecks, with helping out the nurses as needed rounding out the shifts. The nurse leader said that it will be a great opportunity for me to learn, and get my foot in the door for a GN position on the unit.

Any advice??? Thanks in advance!!!

[nursecass]

Congrats on the new position!!

Personally, I'm a huge fan of being a tech in the type of unit you would like to work on (esp. if it will be a critical care area). I did it through nursing school and I cannot tell you how valuable that experience was! My recommendation would be to make it very known to the staff that you are in nursing school and want to do Critical Care, and that you want to see and learn things. My tech position sounds like it was very similar to what yours will be, and I was able to do and see so much. As the nurses get to know you and your skill level they should expose you to more/show you more things/let you help with more. I watched and eventually helped with intubations, line placements, codes, etc. so that when I came out of school and directly onto the CCU I was not as intimidated by these things. Instead of having to learn all about rapid sequence intubations, I just had to learn the docs and how they liked things set up. It made the transition much smoother.

The other thing is as a tech, you get to work with all the different nurses. Use this to your advantage-learn from the great ones, ask a lot of questions, watch how they do their jobs; and watch the not great ones-learn what they are doing that makes them not stellar and make it a conscious decision to not repeat their behaviors. Either way, it is pretty clear I think teching in an ICU setting is a great learning opportunity if you want to graduate and go directly in-congrats and have fun!