OpenHeartRN24

I know that you say that you still feel a little frazzled with cardiac arrests and traumatic arrests and things like that, but there is no need to. I work in a level 2 trauma center in WV, but it is the busiest ER in the state. Also in this area we get all MI's and strokes and if you know anything about WV most of our clients are not the most healthy people in the world lol. We see a lot of codes and trauma especially mva, atv, and mining trauma. One of the most important things my preceptor told me when I was new was " there should always be someone recording". He was very anal about this and if your er is anything like ours if someone has an arrest or trauma there is atleast 3 or 4 people there to help. I would recommend staying back and recording for awhile until you feel a little more comfortable getting your hands dirty. Keep your ears and eyes open. Try to learn as much as possible and talk to all the other nurses about the codes and traumas. Have someone practice the rapid transfuser. It is very hard to try and keep up with everyone else and document at the same time. I am sure you are a great nurse, but def try and concentrate on getting the documentation down. Thats what killed me at first. Good Luck

I would recommend doing whatever your heart desires, but for me personally I could never work in a place like that. I never have worked in one, but I just don't think I could. I don't feel that places like that or just a general MD office gives you any chance to gain any type of actually nursing skills. Again, I have never worked in a place like that so please no one be offended. I have worked open heart recovery and er. I constantly have to be in some type of action and chaos. I constantly have to be learning something new and I just don't feel like you could obtain all of those skills in a place like that. If you are seeking knowledge and a place to have an opp to learn as much skills as possible I would recommend trying to find an icu or er job. If a pain clinic job is what you want though you should always go with what you want or you wont be happy. thanks.

Another Wv nurse here. I use to work open heart recovery. Now I am an ER nurse at St. Mary's... Love the ER. All of the new guys need to check the ER out, especially on trauma night.

I think that everyone just needs to try and get a long. I am a new nurse with only a year and 4 months experience, but I worked a M/S open heart step down unit and now I work CVICU. Floor nurses have it rough. Trying to take care of 4 to 6 pts that need to be walked at least 4 times a day. Discharge home, shower, take care of all of their families needs, admit new pts. On the other hand ICU nurses have it rough to. we come to work in the morning get our assignment. one assignment could be to pts that need to go to the floor. in that case we needto walk both pts. which entails getting all chest tubes and foley into walking cart. all ivlines either disconnected or take the pumps with us. including telemetry monitors. they need to go back to bed and get their chest tubes pulled if possible. a line needs to be pulled. get the pt their meds and let them eat. REMEMBER THIS NEEDS TO BE DONE WITH ONE OR MAYBE TWO PTS. you also need to accomplish this by about 9am so you can come back and set up your room to admit a heart. On the other hand you may have a sick pt still on the vent that weighs 300lbs with a swan and 2 quad pumps that needs to go to CT scan. They may also still have chest tubes. when you getback you may need to set up for new lines to be placed so you can run crrt. this pt may also end upon ecmo or a vad. then you may need to bronch them. and if you get them extubated some time in the day you inherit the joy of trying to get them to move their 300lb body from the bed to the chair. its end up with you and a couple of others dragging them. all in one shift. in retrospect floor and icu nurses have bad days. respect each other quit being asses to each other.

I agree with all. You need to get as many certs as you can. BLS, ACLS, PALS, stroke etc... this shows you are motivated to learn new things and puts you a step ahead of other new grads applying. attemp to get some type of job where you have hospital experience. Try to get you preceptorship hours for nursing school in a critical care area. Express a great deal of interest if you get an interview there. Dress and act prosfessional in the interview which goes without saying. Try and get your name circulating through the ICU somehow maybe you know someone that works there. Maybe someone you know knows someone that works in ther and can put in a good word for you. Do anything you can if thats where you want to work. More than anything I do strongly suggest you get as many certs as possible. take an arrythmia class and a 12 lead class, get that acls and bls. that should help

bojar: perioperative care of the cardiac surgery pt is a great book full of info on all things you will encounter and need to know while taking care of these pts. Biff is right they should intimidate you, but just try to keep a calm clear head and you will do fine.

One more thing. Use common sense. If your pt is odered 25mg PO lopressor and the order says do not give if systolic bp is less than 100. You take there bp and there systolic is 103. Guess what there systolic wont be that for long if you give the PO lopressor. Just use common sense. Ask questions. Ask advice from experienced nurses on your unit.

If you want to learn cardiac, pulm, renal and a little of everything else I suggest trying to get into your open heart recovery unit. You will take a lot of classes and be side by side w/ a preceptor for at least 4 months or so before you are on your own. Working on this unit provides a wealth of knowledge for just about everything. The best thing about this unit is you have 1 maybe 2 pts max. You learn hemos, drips, external pacemakers, lungs, CRRT and you learn how to actually take care of a pt and know everything about them unlike working on a floor where you have 5 or 6 pts and all you are worried about is passing your meds in time and getting that assessment charted. I have been there and done that. Open Heart nursing is rewarding because of the knowledge you gain and you actually see pts get better. Sometimes they don't, but most of the time they make it out the door to the stepdown unit and then out the front door. So, again if at all possible try out open heart recovery!!!

when i went through my cvicu orientation we were paired with the most experienced nurses in the unit and we started recovering fresh hearts right away. it was def a nerve racking experience, but our preceptors were great. they were w/ us all the time and were more than happy to explain anything. don't be afraid to ask questions or for help. also dont be afraid to get in there and learn as much as you can. everybody was new once and guess what those nurses you work with that have experience and you want to be like... they will need your help one day. you will do fine :)