What exactly goes on in a CCU?

[sasha1224]

I treid posting under qnother thread but got no responses. i have done nothing nut peds and have accepted a jop in CCin a medium bed hospital. I would like to know what goes on in a typical day. Are ther lots procedures, lab draws tests What is you typical load? I have been doing some reading so the terminology isn't so foreign. Whai I would like is what you thought on you unit and any good reference material to be had.Thanks.

SHannon

[suzanne4, RN]

Besides size of the unit, it will be important to know the type of patient load. Does your facility do interventional cardiology, meaning plancing stents, ballons, etc. in the Cardiac Cath Lab, or strictly just take picutres of vessels and transfer them for anything else. Do they do open heart surgery there? Do they use LVADs, or implantable devices like that? Some facilities will combine their cardiac patients into one unit, and place both surgical and medical cardiac patients in the same unit, others will place them in separate units.

If you can give us a little more info, then we can give you more info. In this case, size doesn't matter...............:)

[AfloydRN, BSN, RN]

Depens on the type of CCU. Patients will vary. I have done post open heart ccu and med surg and boy is there a HUGE difference in your daily routines. Nurse to patient ratios are different as well. Our CCu had intensivists in the unit 24/7 and that ROCKED. Not having to page an MD and wait for orders was awesome.