wants to be a telemetry nurse

[iamlvp2]

Hi! I work as a RN at a med/surg floor right now and is thinking about moving up to a telemetry department after one year. Im interested in doing CCU in the future and I think tele will be a good starting point. :redbeathe What do I need to do to be ready for the responsibilities of a tele RN? I only know basic EKG reading, not to mention I am not very good and familiar with it but I am definitely very much willing to learn. Can someone please give me a clear picture of what tele nurses specificaly do in their units? And what I need to brush up on before even applying for this position? Can you suggest a book that I can read on? Im still scared about jumping from med/surg to tele with only one year of med/surg experience but I want this so bad... Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated...

[TA123]

Basically, tele floor is the same as med/surg floor except the pt has to be on cardiac monitor 24hrs due to different reasons. You will need to attend Basic EKG class as you will need to normal and abnormal heart rhythm that you need to contact MD for. you will have monitor tech that will notify you if your pt has abnormal rhythm but you too need to identify the rhythm.

[kmt123]

I have worked on a telemetry floor for 3 years, both as a student and as an RN and think that telemetry would probably be a good way to transition for you into critical care. As a progressive care unit, we deal with a lot of patients who transferred from ICU or CCU after a CABG, digoxin toxicity, Atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response, wedge resections, etc. We also receive patients outpatient or inpatient from the cath lab. Not all hospitals require nurses to be certified to pull sheaths, but some do. I believe that all nurses on critical care units are probably required to be certified to pull sheaths though. Pulling sheaths is a very crucial part of care at the hospital I work at. We also must know the implications and be able to start and maintain dopamine, dobutamine, nitroglycerin, cardizem, and amiodarone drips (this of course may vary by hospital). Unlike critical care, most patients are on only one of these drips at a time, but it will help you become more familiar. I would just be sure that the nurse to patient ratio is good in the telemetry unit you might be thinking of applying with. I personally think that the best care is provided when each nurse has 4 patients or less on a telemetry unit. This allows the nurse to have time to look at the patient's tele readings, look back at the chart, make sure that everything is being done properly, and prepare for pulling a sheath or monitoring after a sheath is pulled. We also deal with chest tubes on occasion, PCA pumps, and even get patients transferred from surgery or outpatient procedures if they suddenly go into a.fib or have severe bradycardia. I hope that this helps some and isn't too much information! Good luck in your search :)