What do PCU nurses do?

[SA2BDOCTOR]

I would appreciate if someone can give me some highlights on their core function.

[Conrad283, BSN, RN]

What does the PCU stand for? If it's PACU (Post Anesthesia Care Unit), then they recover the patients from the anesthesia before they go to the floor or d/c'd.

[tutu123]

They are progressisve care nurses, in other words stepdown nurses. This is the transition between ICU and the floor. YOu can have hearts that are extubated but cannot go to floor, failure to weans with trachs, thoracotomies, cardiac caths, MI's, ect. I can tell you from experince that you will work and have about a 4 to 1 ratio. They are usually hardwired for monitors, have central and a-lines. Just no titrating of pressors and no et tubes.

[bigredrn57]

They are progressisve care nurses, in other words stepdown nurses. This is the transition between ICU and the floor. YOu can have hearts that are extubated but cannot go to floor, failure to weans with trachs, thoracotomies, cardiac caths, MI's, ect. I can tell you from experince that you will work and have about a 4 to 1 ratio. They are usually hardwired for monitors, have central and a-lines. Just no titrating of pressors and no et tubes.

It depends where you work. We were supposed to be a step down unit. However our patients many times were interchangeable with those in the unit. This would include vents, CABG's off the vent but with pacer wires and chest tubes, cardiac cath's, MI's and just about anyone else they didn't know what to do with. Where I worked the ratio was 6 patients to one nurse and you would have one tech for 22 patients. So you also did a lot of primary care. It is not an easy floor to work. Patients can go bad very fast. The trick is to be alert and catch the change before they code.