Ace7

I live in Michigan :). And I did not start out Med-Surg although that is what many people suggest. I started out with the floor that I'm currently on (Cardiac Progressive Care):redpinkhe

everyone's experience and workplace is different depending on the hospital and state so i don't know how much help i'll be. i didn't take any additional courses outside of the required ones going through school, so anything extra in cardiac will probably help you:). plus when getting hired they like to ask if you belong to any other organizations like the american association of critical care nurses (aacn) so that may also help you. i work the night shift (7pm - 7:30am) so that is quite a different experience in itself. my floor is considered intermediate care so you have to have bcls and acls. i work on the cardiac progressive care unit. on a typical night i usually start out with 4 patients and then have to admit one, i never have more than 5 patients though. i've had 18 year old patients and 97 year old patients. we get chest pain, heart arrhythmias, copd & chf exacerbation, diabetic ketoacidosis, people that need open heart surgery and stuff like that. we see chest tubes, trachs, lots of drips (like amiodarone) and other stuff like that:). sometimes it's an intense floor to work on but you'll never be bored, that's for sure:). it can be sad/scary/exhilarating when a code happens too. hope i didn't bore you too much and that this helps.