What's like to work in Phase II recovery room?

[neatnurse30]

I work on medical oncology floor for about 2.5 yrs now. I really want to specialize in one area of nursing and be really good at it. My friend recently had a knee surgery and I stayed with her for some time in Phase II , picked her up and brought home. I know that Phase I recovery really requires good critical skills and I think I would be overwhelmed with it. Can those of you share what is like to work in Phase II, do you need critical experience there and why do you like it?

[hot flasher]

I have worked Phase II for 23 years and love it. It does require good assessment and critical thinking skills and, depending on whether you are in a freestanding setting or a hospital based setting, some degree of critical care skills, as well. I think the thing I love most is that you will inevitably have busy days, but every busy day is new and different busy day...not the same patients day in and day out. It requires excellent teaching skills and a huge focus on patient satisfaction. You have a short time to make an impression and to educate and care for your patient and prepare them to care for themselves at home. Also, with the variability of surgery schedules, you do a lot of smoothing things over for reasons you did not create...the surgeon is late, the cases are running late, the patient has been waiting for 4 hours, none of which you have any control over, but it is you that has to appease the patient and their family! My staff are all ACLS and PALS trained and many are crosstrained to cover in the Phase I PACU. A few also help out in Pre-Anesthesia testing. In our unit, we admit the patients and prepare them for surgery as well as do their postop care and discharge them home. I have seen a transition over the years to caring for patients with many more co-morbid conditions as outpatients than ever before, as well as doing procedures as outpatients that previously patients were kept at least overnight for, so the education piece is critical. It is a very fulfilling, fast paced environment for the right nurse, however, and I would encourage you to at least explore the option. I don't think you will be sorry!