bwpcicuube

Thanks!!

Does anyone have any references or good tips on how to increase critical thinking skills? Any idea would be extremely helpful. Thanks :uhoh21:

Anotther great refrence book is the"Field Guide to Congenital Hearts" I can't think of the author, but you can find it on Cardiotext.com.

Please remember though that if any child comes in with a Sat below 55% requires O2. Don't withhold O2 just because you think it is a CHD. If a blender is available you may be able to gice 30 - 50 % O2 instead.

I am the UBE for a PCICU. Anything by Mary Fran Hazinski will be perfect, but we use "Care of the Critically Ill Child"

Actually all of the hospitals I have worked in the ECMO team consists of both RTs and RNs. The RT works under their own registered license and are not an RN responsibility.

I think that the best advice I can give you is to start where you feel the most comfortable. I began my career in a PICU as a GN. Unfortunately they did not offer any type of orientation and after 5 weeks of orientation they set me free. Well I fell flat on my face as you can well imagine. But I stuck with it and eventually it "clicked" for me and everything came together. I honestly believe that it was the right decision for me. Had I started anywhere else I would not have had to meet that challenge head on. 16 years later I am an educator for a peds cardiac ICU. The minimum orientation for an experienced nurse is 12 weeks.(Unless the experience is PCICU) and for GN's I leave them on for 6 months. As for the emotional attachment I feel this way. The day I walk on to that unit and feel nothing or the day I don't cry when we lose someone is the day I get out of nursing.