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I worked on a cardiac floor, it was a step down unit. It was only a 15 bed unit and depending on acuity (we also had post op open heart pts) we would have 3-5 pts. We were expected to pull arterial and venous sheaths post cath, days and night shift as needed. Cath lab would get behind and have no room in holding. Sometimes we would only have 2-3 nurses on our floor total and be expected to pull a sheath. we would call a cath lab nurse (or one of there techs as they could pull sheaths)for help as it takes 30 min at a minimum. a 4 hour training course would be helpful. We had a packet and test to take, plus a day in cath lab pulling sheaths, and would have to do 5-6 and be signed off and boom there u go. we would never pull alone, and they would even do it with a nurse and a tech. thats what they do in the cath lab. It was never fun, specially when cath lab is set up better, and they have one pt at a time and we have 4-5, but it was done ( i hated it!). It is definitely not an on stepdown. But it is going to be more common im sure. what ever came of your situation?

The interview was good, The most like a 'typical' interview I have had, with more formal with questions they have to answer and such. First I met with the Human Resources Lady (Director I suppose) and had an interview with her, then on a separate visit I met with the Director of Case Management Dept. and now on a yet separate visit I am going to meet with the Case Management Team. perhaps a peer interview/meeting. The facility is nice and clean and looks great. The benefits are better than where I am now, and I am hoping the pay will be worth the drive, as it is 45 min away from my house vs 25 min at my current job. I would still like to hear from someone who has worked in CM at a health south? Anyone?

Anyone a case manager at a HealthSouth Rehab? I have an interview monday, and there are two positions open CM II and CM Pool. The job descriptions are identical, does anyone have any insight? Is it a good company to work for? I am trying to break into case management and want to know more about this company. Any info would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance :)

I was a New Grad on a similar floor. (been there for 1 year). I work on the Cardiovascular Progressive Care Unit and I Love it! We are the only unit that takes the open heart patients after CVRR (Cardiovascular recovery room) are hemodynamically stable, usually on Post op day 2. pts normally still have chest tubes, foleys, subclavian lines, pacing wires and sometimes external temporary pacers. typically they are not on cardiac drips when they come down, but occasionally they do go into Afib with rapid ventricular rate and need to be started, so we do run them, we are the only PCU that can run them in our hospital. They also can go bad really quick, so having good assesment skills and a strong grasp on your nursing confidence helps. We have had a few new grads come to the floor and do well. The acuity of our patients can get very. we are still only a stepdown unit so we can get max 6 patients as we are a tele floor and get cardiac caths, AMIs, and chest pains to fill the unit. So having your time management skills down is more than helpful. I think this would be a great move for you, you have the basic nursing down, and will get specialized training to make you proficient in a new area. Also the best place to be other than CCU to get into the CVRR is on a floor like that. So at least there you can get comfortable with a stable patient before taking unstable fresh ones. :) Good Luck Good Luck.

On our cardiac proressive care unit I go answer a call light to a man who is beingworked up for open heart surgery, completely oriented. I ask him why he called he points to the bag on his. Table with a secimin cup in it and states there is his sample. So I grab the bag with the specimin cup and walk out of the room. I check to make sure it is labled and I am perplexed at why his urine is so dark. Then upon taking a second look why is it solid I am confused at what kind of 'sample' hisnurse asked of him. I call his nurse over and hand her the bag. Here's your sample. Needless to say she wouldn't take it without gloves haha. The pt had managed to get a stool 'sample' into a urine specimin cup. We had quite a fit of laughter over this but we still needed a UA. We had our tech go bac a little later with another cup and said this time that we needed a urine sample. She came back to say he was quite upset with us. 'You people and your samples! How many do you need?!' Haha

"What does a male nurse practioner do?" The same as a female nurse practioner. Seriously?

I am a new RN (undr one yr) but I have worked ER as a tech and now on a cardiac foor as an RN and I fail to see where this major issue is on your part. The patient made it to the hospital and to cath lab and was treated.. you followed protocol. Used good judgement. Another nitro dose might have been appropriate based on the drop of 14mmhg in systolic pressure and your pollicy states 'until under 90' as u stated but based on this patients reaction he would have dropped to 78 systoli. And with the administration of fluids might not have been that low. But that's your judgement and I know I don't feel comfortable taking care of someone when there bp is that low. Anyway. Back to the fluid overload part, he continued to get fluids infused in the er under direction of the er doc (600ml) to combat the low bp, which would have been even lower if u would have given the second dose of nitro. So I think that you did the right thing in this instance based on the scenario u presented. And I love how u send an ekg to er while enroute and draw blood on the way. that would save so much time if our area did that! Sry for the typos. I'm on a mobile phone :)

keep looking ,try every opportunity. LTC can give you experience if that is all that is available, then you can always keep looking while you are there, but you will have some kind of experience. here in central Fl, jobs are scarce I graduated in May 2010 and finally just started my job yesterday, not in my choice place, but hey I am thankful, and I like it. Good luck!

It just sounds like they have dumped part of the secretary's role directly onto your lap. I would bring this up to the managers and see if your co-workers are having the same issues. I agree that it is very disrupting to your care and safety of the patients. I like call light system, where its lights above the room and shows at the nurses station, with the little speaker where the secretary or nurse if available can speak to the patient, as usually it is nonemergent, and if it is, it can be addressed just as quickly or faster than calling the nurse in the middle of a dressing change or something.

We have given doughnuts and coffee. Perhaps a healthier option, like subs if $$ available, but everyone responded so well to doughnuts and coffee, well mainly the free coffee :)

Can you accept the job with the start date being after May 17th?

Wow your job sounds like my dream job! I want to work with teen parents as a FNP, but am a new ASN graduate, so If i could specialize with them now it would be such a blessing ( I was a teen mother myself). Do you work through a company/agency if so could you PM me the information, I have been searching for areas in public and community health but all want experience. Any details you could give would be so helpful, thank you!

Wow I envy you for that. I live in a rural area, so everything is spread far apart. I have to fill up (60) once a week if I take my son to day care everyday. and When I start working I will be spending about 100 I figured per 3 shifts just on gas to and from the hospital (if I get that job). It sounds like a lot compared to the city, but I suppose its normal when its a half an hour just to the grocery store :/

For those of you who are going to be New Grads in the NICU, did you have any tech experience in the NICU or else where? And were any NICU specific interview questions asked? Just Curious how you got the job, as I have an interview for a GN position in the NICU and I really want to land the job! :) Thank you!

would be very interested to here any replies :)

first of all, people are sick and weird. Second of all I think I am more prepared to be a nurse after reading this entire thread. Way more fun and educational than boring old text books lol jk

sounds interesting. do they give an employee discount. ;P I don't know if I could sell plastic surgery either, perhaps reconstructive surgery, but I couldn't be like 'hey, your nose doesn't quite fit your face, its too big. I think we can fix it if you sign here.'....nah, not for me. anyone have a job like this, how is it really?

I worked as a tech at a SDS over the summer, and The Pre-op nurses start IVs and maintain airways if needed, and monitor sedated pts was their main duty, of which I could do as a student (except start IVs and give the medication) OR there was one scrub nurse (and sometimes a scrub tech, or just a scrub tech) and one circulator) in post op the nurses are incharge of maintaining airway and pain medication for pts as they awake, then getting them ready to go home (discharge instructions, a drain here or there and sometimes reinforcing a dressing, but not much else, for day2day things. SDS you won't see many sick people usually, because many SDS are elective (at least in this facility) and the surgery center didnt want the liability, though if it is a hospital SDS it could be different, you might run into more pts requiring more skill. They offered me a job post graduation, but I don't know if I will take it, for the fact of limited skill usage, other than in the OR if I were to be trained to scrub.

Yes the pre-reqs still must be completed, though you probably already have some of them like algebra and english. Talking with a counselor will help you find out which classes you might still need. Once you have all the pre-reqs you begin in the summer doing Nursing IIA-B or whatever it is called, the you join up with the regular RN class in nursing 3, then move on with them to nursing 4. so 3 semesters + pre-reqs :) Good luck

I cant speak for the LPN program, but any oral presentations we do in the RN program are just informal (so far as of nursing 3), and to the class. One assignment we did in our PEDs rotation we had to to a presentation to the kids on a safety topic. but I don't know about the lpn program

A nurse that works on med-surg where we are doing clinicals is called by a nick name on her badge and when she signs, but it is not her legal first name, it is actually her maiden last name. I do not know what her license says. I always thought it was her name, until I was told otherwise.

Thank you! Can you give me some details, pros and cons about Spring Hill regional, from which I also heard good things from. What floor do you work on? thank you

Hi, I am going to graduate in May, and live in this area and have heard good things about Oak Hill, can anyone expand on some information on this hospital, such as wages for new grads, great departments to work on, and any nurse pt ratios, thank you!

now that I have been there a while I have heard that they used to have double the staff they have now, so yes it has like everything else been feeling the crunch

If you know OR is where you will be happy ,why not try and be there. That is what I am going to do