eprn

Syncope is tricky, and there are many, many causes for it. Like I said, it can be an extensive workup. As far as your axis deviation, it's generally meaningless by itself. Let him continue his workup and hopefully they will come up with an answer ...

Yeah, you may need an extensive workup, such as the ol' tilt table or an EP study. If they just can't figure it out (even after the event monitors, holters, studies, etc.), they may implant a loop recorder. It's a small implantable device that can ...

SVT is one of those things that many people treat as a nuisance. However, it also tends to get worse (i.e. more frequent and longer episodes) as time progresses. Eventually, most people get sick of dealing with it and wind up getting an ablation. I...

Yes, I want to know what happened, too. SVT ablations come in many flavors. The most common is AVNRT or AV nodal reentrant tachycardia where there are essentially two pathways an impulse can take down the av node. Basically, the impulse goes around i...

Whoa, boss: I'm not saying that you can't put a magnet on it. I just think it's kinda irresponsible to assume that the magnet will magically take care of the problem. An ICD (or even a pacemaker) is a complicated device--it's a computer. It's just no...

With the recent problems with some Guidant devices, many of the magnetic reed switches were turned off, meaning that they will not respond to a magnet in any way. In Guidant devices, this feature is programmable. In Medtronic devices (and most devi...

That is interesting. Maybe there's a scheduling conflict. On the other hand, there could be some political intrigue as well.

Oh, and I even know how to spell "Cincinnati." It helps to slow down when you're typing that word.

Okay. I'll start. I'm an RN (for 6 years now). I'm in Dearborn County (just west of Cicninnati). I've always worked in Cincinnati, OH and I don't even have an IN license yet. Oh, and I graduated from the University of Cinicinnati.

Not all cardiologists may implant pacers. A cardiologist either needs to have gone through device training or an entire electrophysiology fellowship to be an implanter. Otherwise, they will have to refer it to another implanting cardiologist, an EP...

This time of year in Ohio (due to the other last-minute people), you can probably expect it to take 4-5 weeks for processing. You can apply online now, and the information was included with your renewal application. Make sure you sent the right amou...

Let me start by saying: Don't give up the ship! It sounds like your old facility had a lousy training program. These problems should've become apparent long before now and should have been addressed. The nice thing about nursing (in most areas of ...

A few years ago one of the hospital systems here in town offered $30,000 for cath lab/EP nurses. They were required to stay for 3 years. Well, the three years just ended and now there's an exodus out of that system. As you might expect, these nurs...

I'd have to agree with those suggesting that you find an EP. Most SVT is relatively easily induced during a study and they can usually ablate it then and there. People with these tachycardias generally tend to have more and longer episodes as time ...

I've been programming devices for years, and I encounter this problem often. The physician needs to write a very specific order for what he/she wants. Have the rep (or your hospital's device people) contact the physician for specifics if necessary....

You know, I forgot to mention a little bit of precious info about the Cincinnati market. There is no BSN differential, and that sucks. Just thought I'd share...:angryfire

The UC accelerated pathway program was great. I was there six years ago, when we had to do 25 credit hours/quarter (If you didn't go postal first, you graduated). Just watch certain faculty members--don't let them indoctrinate you into the "ivory to...

B North is pretty much a carbon copy of every other Cincy tertiary hospital. The pay scale is pretty much identical (I've worked/interviewed at most). The real plus about BN is the neighborhood, which is much, much safer than the downtown hospitals...

In Cincinnati it's hovering between $18-$19 per hour.

I worked a cath lab for a few years (and I'm now in industry). Undoubtedly the worst thing was call--both getting called in in the middle of the night as well as holding patients for hours on end in the evenings when there were no beds. Otherwise, ...

I double-ditto. The atrial rate for a patient in a-fib can be much greater than 300 bpm. You can't overdrive pace it. There are pacemakers that can deliver extra atrial pacing when a pt. has pac's to keep them out of a-fib, but once it's there, you h...

It's funny that you mention the reimbursement for the a-fib ablations. I think you're right. EP is not (entirely) beyond the "move the meat" mentality. Yes, the A-fib ablations are out there for some patients. It's a difficult thing to do. Many ...

Some people have an arrhythmia that wasn't ablatable, so we do an AV node ablation if medications don't control their symptoms. Does that make sense?

AV node ablations are pretty common, and we do it maybe 2 times a week. We usually reserve it for people who haven't responded to medical therapy or ablation AND who are totally miserable. We can usually do it in less than two hours, and it really...

Regarding the surgeon who was annoyed that his patient was shocked so many times: If they're in VF, they need a shock. Period. Electricity is really the only thing that fixes VF, so the surgeon's choice is simple: living patient vs. dead patient....