KeepingItSterile

Hi guys! So I've been doing Cardiac Step Down/CCU/Open Heart for 3 years now and I want to get my PCCN cert. I've got the Ace the PCCN books by Nicole Kupchik and I bought and already took the 120 Question practice question book from the AACN. Was looking to see how much time you dedicated to studying, and if any particular method or schedule worked for you. And what scores were you averaging before you took the test and passed? I know 68% is about the min to pass, but just seeing what else is out there.

Thanks guys, I think you're right. I'm going to take the plunge and travel after my vacation in September.

Here's another job hopper! I admit that I have moved around to what some would consider a lot in my short nursing career and I can't decide where I want to go next, just looking for some input. So far I have 13 months of nights on MedSurg and 12 months of nights on Cardiac StepDown/PCU experience in the same hospital. Options I've been throwing around are: StepDown Travel Nursing, ER, Day shift on my current StepDown (although they're real cliquey and I hated orienting with them on Days), PACU, and Day Shift Float Pool (able to float to every floor except my current floor because it's a closed unit, but I can't freely titrate gtts like I can on my unit). Looking for input. I want to travel, but also I'm hesitant to leave the hospital system I'm in, and I'm not sure I'm experienced enough to.

So background: I'm a RN, BSN with just over that 1 year of coveted Med-Surg experience in a big city hospital, primarily ortho, neuro and general surgery. I love what I do and I love my co-workers, but I'm on the search for greener pastures because: 1) I really want to be off nights because I'm tired of being tired all the time 2) I want to expand my skills and see new things (like tele, as I'm a non-tele nurse) 3) There's been some management changes and things have been tense So I've applied and interviewed and these are my options: 1) Nights in a Cardiothoracic Surgical unit in my big city hospital 2) Days Float Pool in a smaller, but related hospital in my current network Both positions will have me learn tele and I'd develop new skills, and I'm not quite sure if I'm super interested in cardiac or not (as it's not something I've dabbled in), but my mentor (assigned by the union) says I should give the cardiac unit a shot, and even if I walk away in a year I'd have a good education there. But I really desperately want to be on Days because I can barely sleep and I feel like I'm losing my mind. My mentor thinks I'm too young for Float Pool, but she's never worked with me because she's a Charge nurse on the chemo unit. So naturally: I'm asking strangers on the internet for their two cents.

Everyone, thank you for your feedback. I think maybe I should be more confident in myself and give it a shot. Crush - There's high turnover on my floor because my floor has the strictest unit manager in the whole hospital. But now she's in hot water for being mean to her staff so other supervisors step in. Is she strict? Yes. Terrible to some? Yeah, but not to me. I was an aide in LTC for three years and I've had WAY worse managers. Bosses are bosses, not always your BFF.

Charges: -Make Assignments (I already do this some nights because I come in first and some Charges let me) -Assign Admissions -Speak to patients and family members -Make calls for some RNs -Confirm BedBoard assignments of admissions (infectious pt's can't be assigned to post op rooms, my unit can't take Cardizem gtts, etc) -Resource for Codes/Rapids -Resource with other RNs -If RNs are taking 7-8 pts then the Charge (a good charge) jumps in and starts taking admissions -Manages the Massimo (our remote heart/pulse ox monitor) and pagers -Decides when to call the surgical team or the medical team or if it can wait until morning -Reports to Nursing Supervisor on all the patients and who potential discharges are

I'm a new nurse and I've been on my unit for 10 months now. It's a surgical Ortho/Neuro floor with some overflow general Med-Surg. Lately we've had a huge shift in staffing and some nights I'm the most experienced nurse on the unit (theres nurses who've been there 3-6 months). Because of this I've been asked to be Charge. I'm good at what I do and I'm "the smart one" I've been told, always jump in with Rapids and Codes and help everyone out, but I can't help but feel that I might not be ready. When is a nurse ready for Charge? What makes a good Charge?

Thank you thank you thank you!