Which one should I choose?

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HI everyone. I really would like your honest input in the matter. I have been accepted to several patient care tech positions in 2 hospitals and I was wondering which floor will give me the most exposure to the field (unfortunately, none in the med-surg area). My choices are ER, Ortho, L&D and Cardio. I am still hoping to get med-surg but I need to tell them by Tuesday, the latest. Thanks.

Specializes in multispecialty ICU, SICU including CV.
Nope, procedures are easy to learn. Go Cardio and try to find a friendly doc who might teach you something along the way. Learning your cardiac stuff will take you far and wide. Get to know your rhythms and what they mean, and what is done for them :up:

Ummmm....how about finding a friendly NURSE who might teach you some stuff?

My vote is for ER as well, unless you are married to getting into one of those other specialties if/when you go to nursing school. If you want med/surg, ortho is as close as you are going to get (a surgical subspecialty.)

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

I would go ER, although I am a little partial to the ED, spent almost 3 years there as a tech. :D

You will see a ton of stuff, we have a little of everything codes, stemis, occansionally L&D:eek:, ortho.

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ER gives variety and variety is the spice of live. ;)

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.

I would definitely go with the ER because you will get a lot of variety. My second choice would be cardio.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTAC, Critical Care.
I vote cardiac- you will gain a lot of valuable knowledge on how BP affects the regulatory systems like renal, etc. I know in nursing school a lot of my co-students struggled with those units, which are huge important units, but I didn't only because two of clinical semesters I lucked out and was on a renal/cardiac unit.

Also, EKG strips suck to read- I still struggle with them even after those experiences- so get a jump on it early!

ACLS is a BIG help. Depending on where you work, your employer might pay for it. We were also payed "seminar pay" for the two days we took the course. Also, if you work in a hospital, sit in telemetry for a few nights. It's amazing how fast that stuff comes back to you.

Just make sure to tell the Resp Therapist to inform you if they do chest PT on a tele patient... It may seem funny afterwards, but when that monitor goes DING DING DING and you see a nice replica of V-fib... Well...you will dang near have a stroke:D

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