Why did you become a ccu nurse?

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 22, 2010

i got into ccu quite by accident. i was working in micu and loved it; but had to move cross country when my ex-husband who was in the air force was pcs'd. the hospital in my new city didn't have micu -- they had ccu and sicu. since i knew more about medicine than surgery, i took the ccu job and was very glad i did. that was back in the 1980s, about the time marcus dewood was doing his studies about reperfusion . . . we got some very interesting patients. at that time, ccu nurses covered the cath lab, and that was fascinating too. now i'm in cticu -- kinda got there by accident, too, but that's a whole 'nother story.

BellaInBlueScrubsRN · Feb 23, 2010

I started in the ICU right out of school. During school I NEVER thought I would want to work there. It just seemed too scary, coupled with the fact that my dad died in the ICU when I was in high school, I didn't want to even step in there. That was until I had clinicals and I loved it! With 2 patients (our max) you have the time to know every detail about them. And everything is so interesting! The nurses I work with are ridiculously smart, and it inspires me to keep studying, reading, and learning from them. I can only hope to be half as smart as them one day.

Every now and then I will have a patient that reminds me of my dad... which can make me sad. But I am also helping them which makes it better.

In the new grad thread, it seems like a lot of nurses write about "dreading" going to work everyday. That's def not the case with me. I love it!

CABG patch kid, BSN, RN · Feb 24, 2010

It's funny because I remember in nursing school, cardiac was one of the tougher subjects for me and I thought I'd never want to work in telemetry even! AND I was terrible at reading rhythm strips! Anyway, by the time I graduated, working on a tele unit was the only place where I actually felt kind of comfortable starting out and by that point knew that I wanted to go into critical care one day. A year later I was ready! I wanted CCU because I felt more comfortable with the cardiac stuff after working in tele, and my only other option would be the ICU, which deals with more neuro/trauma stuff, an area I'm not really into mentally; plus my manager was really only hiring for CCU so I had to jump in with both feet. Another year later now, and I'm so glad I did. I'm constantly learning, looking up new things and playing with all sorts of equipment. I think it's fun even! I really do love my job!

**NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN** · Mar 10, 2010

I didn't know what else to work in.....lol I'd been an LVN three years prior and wanted to see if I could handle a challenging job. So far I've been fine, but don't think it was my dream job, so I may move on when this economy picks up.

StephaleighRN · Mar 16, 2010

I recently transferred to our CICU from a step down unit. My choice was based on a lot of personel issues in that I enjoyed working with the nurses in CICU and there was always a positive vibe when I got pulled to care for IMC overflow pateints on the unit; it felt like a whole new world from the unit I was on that had a lot of personality conflicts and zero teamwork.

Aside from the staff, I enjoy the control I feel when in CICU. I like knowing everything there is to know about two patients and feeling confident in the care I provide, rather than scrambling around for 12 hours wondering what I'm missing. At any given moment I know my patient's vital signs, I can see them and know that they aren't eating when they're NPO, I can monitor their visitors. I know those sound like relatively small things, but you'd be surprised how many times those little things greatly affect the patient outcome.

Every day is also a challenge and a true learning experience. I am constantly looking up new drugs, procedures, and conditions and I actually have time to do that (most of the time :cool: ). Every member of our team is competent and has to be since there is a good bit of competition to get a position in CICU and no one takes their job for granted and it feels good to be able to trust your coworkers and their skills when you need backup.

Joe NightingMale, MSN, RN · Mar 16, 2010

Aside from the staff, I enjoy the control I feel when in CICU. I like knowing everything there is to know about two patients and feeling confident in the care I provide, rather than scrambling around for 12 hours wondering what I'm missing.

That "scrambling around for 12 hours" sounds like the med-surg floor I presently work on. I'm looking to go into CCU precisely because I can have more control in that situation...which I can't do with 5 heavy patients and an admission, like now. I'm interested in ICU in general but I really liked CCU when I did clinical rotations.

celticcare · Apr 3, 2010

CCU is where I came into as a New Grad. To me, cardiology is a new world, Ecg is a new language and without the heart, there is no circulating blood to the body to keep everything awake.

I like the patient/RN ratio where you can know your patients, the essentials that make them tick, know their history, their vitals and everything to make their transition to getting home safe and comfortable.

I like the intensivity of some days, the mellowness of others, the feeling of being able to look at a bunch of squiggles on a screen and say what that is, like reading egyptian hyroglyphics.

I want to progress on eventually, but I know Cardiac care is where I will be for some time yet :)

Scotty