PCU interview... but what exactly is PCU?

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I know it stands for Progressive Care Unit most of times, and probably equivalent of a stepdown unit? I thought that cardiac nurses can relate to PCU also, so I will post here.

So I got an interview next week at PCU, and am trying to figure out exactly what a nurse does at PCU, what to expect, what kind of environment it is, etc. Also, any strategy, info on how to land the job would be appreciated.

you know that sounds almost identical to my medsurg unit actually haha. we get a ton of cardioresp pts like you mentioned, but being a medsurg, we get all from cellulitis to syncope, anemia, abd pain, etc etc. list is endless... we do some drips like heparin, protonix, dopamine, etc but never a titration, just running at set rate per md or following protocol such as in heparin acs protocol case. honestly, I do not like medsurg to the least, and can't wait to leave it asap, but i got another interview with MICU/SICU in another hospital after PCU interview, so unless the pay is nice in hospital that I will get PCU interview, there's no reason for me to go to another dead-end job; I love critical pts and probably one of main reasons I can't stand medsurg floor. This hospital is about 200 beds, not very big, so I wonder if the pt in PCU will be that much critical, but we will see. Just waiting to see what kind of place this is on this Friday.

By the way, any other interview tips you can give out like mamacita did on previous post, let me know. I have had two interviews since graduating, and I feel like I don't do well in interviews!!! Thank you!

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Specializes in Thoracic Cardiovasc ICU Med-Surg.

Always good to hear about other Progressive Care Units. I worked in one for three years. We took POD 1 CABG/Heart patients, and also fresh thoracic cases- minimally invasive esopojectomy, lobectomies, VATS wedges , TPA lysis, etc. This unit was separated into two sections- the floor where you could have up to 5 ( 6 on a REALLY awful day) patients and the IMU where the ratio was 1:3. Often the acuity on the floor was just as high as the IMU patients.

Drips we took on the floor: Nitro up to 60mcg with no titrating, Heparin, Insulin, Amiodarone, Milrinone,Agatroban, Lasix, Bumex.

In the IMU we could do: Nicardipene, TPA, Neo, cardizem. We used to cheerfully to refer to ourselves as ICU-LITE.

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This post is old, but how many weeks of orientation as new grad did you receive prior to start working on your own?

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Specializes in Hospice.

It depends on each hospital, but my orientation was 4 weeks classroom, 4 weeks day shift and 2_3weeks night shift.

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It depends on each hospital, but my orientation was 4 weeks classroom, 4 weeks day shift and 2_3weeks night shift.

What struggles as a new grad you had on this unit? Do you feel that the orientation this short (for new grad) prepared you to work on your own?

Currantly I have 2 job offers. One is in inpatient rehab unit and the other is in PCU. The job on rehab unit offers 7 weeks on orientation on the floor and 1 week of classroom. And the job on PCU offers 2 weeks of orientation in the classroom and 7 weeks on the floor. However, hiring manager on PCU said that orientation period could be extended as long as needed if necessary.

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Progressive Care Unit = Pure Hell :devil:

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On 6/25/2017 at 7:58 PM, cocoa_puff said:

Progressive Care Unit = Pure Hell :devil:

sounds .like you're only in it for the money

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