Bap9762

This was very helpful!! Thanks for making this process smooth & easyyy (despite the amount of $$ required )

Thanks for all your input! & Nice username @ flexiseal Lol:D I'm hoping I can pursue PACU again soon, I can definitely see myself there. Possibly when I won't be commuting 45 min to work.

The pacu closes at 11p, so there is no staff from 11p-6a. They said if you do get called in, 2 RNs go in together every time. They made it sound like it wasn't a big deal and you don't get called in very time you are on call. I guess it just makes me nervous bc I definitely like my off time, and don't want to be driving into the city at odd hrs in the night. With that being said, I may wait to pursue pacu a little whole longer and just go with the stepdown unit.... :-/

Its the same pay rate by the way, and I have a couple days to make a decision.

Hi all! I was just offered two jobs at a new hospital. One for CV Stepdown unit, and one for PACU. The PACU is 9a-730p 4 days mon-fri, with 2:1 pt ratio. Seems awesome. The only downfall is that they require 4-6 on call shifts (11p-7a) a month!! (Is this normal??) It just makes me nervous having an unsteady work schedule, with the potential of being called in at night. I would like the change of pace and critical care experience of PACU because I've been a nurse for 3 yrs on a Progressive Care Unit. The CV Stepdown is day shift 7a-7p, with 4-5:1 pt ratio. Having worked on a progressive care unit, I know kind of what I'm getting into with step-down, but adding the focused cardiac care. Downfall of this is the patient ratio seems like a lot! I'm used to 3-4:1 on pcu. Any thoughts? Suggestions????

Hi @fancypantsRN ! I've worked on a PCU for 3 years, and I'm now changing hospitals so I applied to their CV stow down unit. Do you think it's harder or more difficult than PCU? I know you're not getting as many GI bleeds, overdose, ETOH withdrawal, vents.. Etc but the ratio of CV stepdown is 4-5:1. I've only worked on 3:1 and now more often 4:1. Will it burn me out???