Questions from a student!

[Christinajoannne]

Hello, I'm currently a student, Junior in Nursing school. About two days ago, I shadowed and observed the Cardiac Cath Unit and fell in love. The experience was something I never experienced before.

Honestly, for three years I was in constant worry if I had chosen the correct field of work. I went through one geriatrics rotation, two medsurg rotations, a psych rotation, an ER shadow/observation, wound care shadow/observation, Nurse manager shadow/observation, and an Endoscopy shadow/observation, and I didn't like any of them. Psych was pretty "Okay" for me. For awhile, I thought I was going to be a psych nurse.

In all honesty, I even thought there was something wrong with me for not liking Med Surg. I tried SO hard to like Med surg. But now, I just feel a pull, you know? It's a bit like finally finding that purpose. And I'm so thankful to God that I found something I feel passionate about. Because for the last three years, I've been in such a haze, simply going through the motions, in constant depression, with the question "What am I doing with my life? Did I make a mistake?"

So here's the question. I want to be a Cardiac Cath Nurse. I researched, and discovered I was going to need experience from the CCU or ICU. I sort of want to go in the CCU more. How many years? Is it possible for a New Grad to get a position there? What do you do in the CCU? Is it similar to bedside nursing? How many patients per Nurse? What are the Certifications I need to be a Cardiac Cath nurse? Can someone give me their recommendations? Their stories? I'd love to hear them.

[icuRNmaggie, BSN, RN]

You might want to focus on preceptorships in a CVICU, Coronary Care Unit or Progressive Care Unit depending on what is available.

Learn all that you can during your preceptorship about the heart. Learn all that you can about valves, rhythms, cardiomyopathies, interventions, Iv dye, Nitro gtt, Integrelin, Heparin and bivalrudin, stents, TAVRs, introducers (also called sheaths), assessment of femoral and radial sites, PA catheters, balloon pumps, waveforms , Carotid stents, Ekos catheters, and therapeutic hypothermia.

Then request a job shadow for the cath lab. Some labs will train the right person. A CCRN, ACLS and PALS will make you a more desirable candidate.

You also need to be very fit and able to wear the lead vest and neck wrap. I think they weigh 25 lbs but I may be wrong about that.

There is a lot of on call and you need to be there in 30 minutes or less for a STEMI, so it's hard on those with small children.

Cath lab nurses are in high demand all over the country. This is a great career choice.

Best wishes, Maggie

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

If that is your passion, then look at what you need to achieve your goal in the most direct path. Get a preceptorship in an ICU setting. Then get a new grad residency in ICU. It may be difficult to get an ICU job right out of college without a new grad residency program.

[Flyboy17]

I have been in the Cath/ EP Lab for five years, and it has been the best five years of my nursing career. I started out as an EMT in the ED during my nursing school, then took a Nursing internship which pulled me through so many units within the hospital before landing back in the ED. When we opened up our cath lab I was one of the first in line to send out my resume. So I would recommend CCU, CVICU,and ED. In these places you will interact with Cath Lab and EP staff regularly and then you can try to get to know them and possibly get your feet in the door.

Jonathan

[kool-aide, RN]

I think it would be beneficial for you to have experience in CCU. I'm a new RN in CCU and receive pts from cath lab all the time, remove sheaths, assess chest pain, EKGs, and affected limbs(pulses). Also, working in CCU will give you tons of great experience with conscious sedation.

[RN_jess]

I'm a new grad and was hired into a cardiac advanced care unit (ACU) which is basically an ICU step-down. All of our patients are on telemetry monitors and some of our most frequently seen patients are s/p heart caths, ablations, stress tests, etc. Starting in the ICU straight out of nursing school can be difficult because most ICUs require experience (unless you get hired through a residency program like someone above me mentioned). An ACU is a great alternative to get you the critical thinking experience and depending on the hospital, your unit will send you through ACLS training. After a year or so in an ACU, you can move onto an ICU or CVICU and eventually to a cath lab. Good luck!!

[Ihearthearts]

Hi Christinajoanne!

I am a new grad, just landed a job in a cardiac transitional care unit (so excited!!). I however, was able to do a six-month nursing work-study internship in a cardiac catheterization lab (CCL) during my last summer/semester of nursing school. It was AMAZING! Totally life changing! I, like you, fell in love. The pace, the acuity, the camaraderie, the autonomy, the teamwork, wow. Dream come true. All of the nurses in my CCL were either ICU or ED nurses, and one had ICU experience and then moved to interventional radiology before moving to CCL. Once she was hired (during my internship) she spent two months doing intensive training at a sister facility to prepare for CCL. Anyhow, I of course, wanted more than anything to jump right in and never leave. But it quickly became clear that you need a solid ICU/ER background. You just have to have ACLS off the cuff- since when your patients "crump" they do so so quickly. Not to mention that you have no code team to call in that department- you are the code team! So my plan is (like the poster above said) to get a few years experience in TCU, move to CVICU, and then back to CCL/IR. If there is any way you can land an internship- do it!! It was the best experience of my life, and I built relationships and friendships with the nurses in CCL (and my boss) so that as soon as I have the experience I can transition back smoothly. Best of luck to you!!