CritcareRN13
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Thanks for the advice everyone. Much appreciated. Fortunately the hospital I'm interested in has a step down/progressive care trauma unit and progressive care neuro for the patients who aren't as sick.. so we would most likely get just the really sick patients. I am 99.9% ready to re-vamp my resume and apply!
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Thanks ICUman. How about hemodynamics? Do you utilize ICP monitoring/Ventriculostomy frequently? Just trying to get a better sense of the trauma patient. I'm picturing chest tubes and lots of broken bones.
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Hello! I studied using the PASS CCRN question bank and I was very successful. I recommend knowing your STEMI's like the back of your hand! EKG leads, corresponding coronary arteries, symptoms for each & potential complications. Also, knowing your swan numbers is a must. Meds that effect preload/afterload. Hope that helps :)
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Hello all.. This is my first post here and I need some help advice. I've been in critical care since I was a new grad. I started out on a small 8 bed Neuro Critical Care Unit. I was there for about a year and a half and was looking to have more experience/higher acuity so I transferred to our 36 bed Med/Surg ICU. We are a mixed CCU/ICU/CVICU. We take care of STEMI, IABP, LVAD, fresh CABG and typical med/surg ICU patients needing CRRT, vents, pressors, swan ganz, therapeutic hypothermia etc etc. I've been here for about a 2 years now and I'm feeling the need to move on to something with a higher acuity (again). I always have this itch for a "sicker" patient population. A hospital a little farther away from me has a large level I Trauma/Surgical/Neuro ICU with 30 beds and a couple open positions. We don't take any trauma patients in my current facility so this would be totally new territory for me. I'm feeling like the trauma population might be what I'm looking for as a nurse... So, I would like to hear from any Trauma ICU nurses! How is trauma ICU different? What different skills will I be using? How does the acuity differ? What does a typical trauma patient in your ICU look like?