Open Heart Team??

[TracyB,RN, RN]

For those in hearts, who had to make a choice between hearts & another service?

How did you KNOW you wanted hearts??

[linda2097]

I used to circulate CABG's.

Cons:

1. Hearts can be a tense working environment.

2. You usually have to take a lot of call.

3. Sometimes it hard to get breaks if there are a shortage of heart nurses.

Pros:

1. You do the same cases over and over so it becomes very routine.

2. Positioning is easy. All cases are supine.

3. You rarely if ever use x-ray.

4. Cases are nice and long so you don't have do a lot of turnovers during a shift.

[KayceeCA]

I'm a heart nurse. I worked as a nurse extern in the OR when I was in nursing school, and from the first time I stepped into a heart room, I knew that was what I wanted to do.

I completed a 6 month periop program in the OR after graduating from nursing school, so I had plenty of exposure to other services. I even worked in an outpatient surgery center for a year. But my heart belongs in cardiac surgery (pun intended).

Linda did a good job of identifying some of the pros and cons of hearts. Yes, the heart rooms can be a bit tense at times. Yes, we usually take more call than the other services. And the team I'm on now is short-staffed, so it's hard to get breaks sometimes.

But for me the pros far outweigh the cons. I like the flow of heart cases. I think the surgery itself is interesting. I enjoy doing one or two big cases a day rather than 5 or 6 smaller cases. And I like the cohesiveness of heart teams. I've been on the heart team at 3 different hospitals, and the heart team has been a close-knit bunch at each of those hospitals.

Some people complain that hearts are boring because you basically do the same 2 or 3 cases over and over again. But that's actually one of the things I like about the service. I'm the kind of person who would prefer to get really good at those 2 or 3 cases than do a huge variety of cases where I have to fly by the seat of my pants half the time.

If you're debating whether the heart team is right for you or not, I think you're doing the right thing. Continue to get opinions from those who chose to join the heart team as well as those who decided it wasn't for them. You can decide which factors are important to you and which ones aren't, and this will help you decide if this service is right for you.

[CDNORRN]

Hearts are definitely a specialty unto their own. These rooms work like a finely tuned clock. In my experience, these girls (and they mostly are female) almost always only work hearts. The biggest disadvantage to that is, they have really limited themselves if they might be needed in another service (ie, break relief or a sick call) or if they move to a place where they don't have a heart program. Getting a good general orientation to all services will make you more flexible and give you some confidence should you be required to shift to another temporarily. I know well that morbid look of fear when someone comes to do relief in ortho. It can be a scary place outside of your own four walls. You'll know early in your orientation if hearts is the place for you.

[CathRN]

This is only 3rd day as CVOR RN, I'm new to this service. I like the CVOR, but, at the same time the doctors are very needy and demanding. I got yelled at today by the surgeon because my preceptor (different preceptor today, my regular preceptor was sick) stepped out of the room during a case. The surgeon didn't need anything, just mad because I was the only RN in the room during this very short time. But, he also yelled at anesthesia because they also stepped out of the room for a few minutes.

When my preceptor came back (I had her paged), she told me that he gets like this sometimes and not to take it personally.

With all that said, I LOVE CVOR!!!!! I had always wanted to work hearts. I love the routine of it. The heart team here only does open hearts, carotids and AAA.

Like one of the previous posters stated, the heart room is very close nit. Some of the other general OR nurses seem a little jealous because we only have a few cases per day and they have several, but they don't want anything to do with the heart room.

Sorry for the rambling, as you can tell, that surgeon really ticked me off today! I think the heart room is THE place to be.

[caycay]

I LOVE CVOR!!! We have clean patients. No pus, no cysts, no TURPs, no Hemorrhoidectomies , etsetera....

Usually, its a 12 hour shift and only 2 or 3 patients turnover. If its Thoracic Aneurysmectomies, you will only have 1 patient on your shift.

The bratty surgeons? Let us just consider them as our "challenges" in our life. They are part of us as OR nurses. At least we will not be dealing with some other bratty relatives or awake patients who will scream at you and threat to sue you whenever their wills are not granted on time.

To those CVOR nurses, I give my to us!!!:redbeathe