cclnurse
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jmeador.... it sounds like you are going to have an excellent experience this semester. Unfortunately I still think that you will need to have the 1 or 2 years of CCU experience behind you before going to the CCL. It's really to your benefit. Even though you are going to probabaly see some great things during this semester you still need to have the basic building blocks and a solid critical thinking foundation. You will be amazed at how much responsibilty you have being a CCL nurse and how that experience will only benefit you, your team and your patients. Don't rush into a specialty, get the basic things down pat first. Best of luck to you....
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Does anyone work in the CCL at Central Baptist in Lexington,KY? I was looking at applying for a job there. BUT UK also looks interesting? Anyone have any words about how the staff work together and how is management like?
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Section Two- Anatomy and Procedures has good pics of diagnostic caths and the anatomy. It's probobaly going to take you a good solid year before you are comfortable with what you are doing. Figuring out all the anatomy is a challenge in and of itself. It'll come with time and experience. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask the Docs either. We are very close to our Docs and ask them questions all the time. They want you to know and understand what they are doing and WHY. I still after almost 3 years ask them how something works. Also your product reps are great sources. Ask the Boston Scientific and Cypher reps about their stents and balloons and what makes them different and or better than another. Many times they have seminars for new CCL staff to go to. Also go to their websites. (Cypher, Boston Scientific, Abbott, Kensey Nash) They usually have sections for pt's to find info about their product. And the great thing is it is in easy terms that you will feel comfortable with and won't be overwhelmed.
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CCL's love having ED nurses. They are comfortable with arythmias and code situations too. Shadowing for a couple of days in the CCL is always a good idea for someone looking to tx there. I wouldn't say that it is less stressful though. It's a diffent kind of stress. Kinda like ED where some days are gravy and then other days it hits the ceiling. Good luck!!!
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I've worked in CCL for almost 3 years now and I love it. It is not for everyone. It is defiently a select breed. You will work alot at times and there will be some very traumatic times with pt outcomes. I don't know of any RN waling in to a CCL straight from school. Nor do I think that any RN should do that. To really be successful in the cath lab you really need to have a strong cardiac background. You have to be very comfortable with arrythmias and have very good critical thinking skills. I don't want to scare anyone off to the specialty but I take a lot of pride in what we do. There is a lot of 'routine" things that we do everyday. Diagnostic left heart angiograms can get pretty borign sometimes. But then you get into the peripheral aspect of it and that can be interesting. I specialize in Carotid Stenting and it is a real rush. There are so many things that can go wrong in a procedure like that....the pt can stroke, go asystole, or drop their BP very very quickly and you have to be fast in responding. The call and OT is a whole other ballgame. At my facility we take call every 4th weekend and then 2 days a week. Most week nights are fine. You may have the occasional staying late to finish cases, but not too many acutes. It's great though when that pager goes off at 2 am and you know you are going in to save a life!! Words of advice are to definetly do some shadowing for atleast 2 days and see what it's about. Ask lots of questions. The staff will usually be brutally honest about what CCL life is like. Good luck to you!!!