Why are CV OR nurses "CV Queens"?

shodobe · Jul 1, 2013

It is really funny that you mention that because it is pretty much true at another hospital I work at. This group is excetional and extremely talented at what they do. The only problem is this, they pretty much struggle outside the heart rooms! They get into such a routine they lose all other skills. Some of these nurses have been doing this for many, many years so what can you expect. Like I said in the heart room they are the "queens" of the domain but outside they are pretty much lost.

citylights89, BSN, RN · Jul 19, 2013

That's kind of what I heard, as well. For me, there seems to be some truth to that because when they pull me out of CV and float me to some other area, I feel like a n00b all over again. Technically, I'm still a n00b, but being in an unfamiliar environment makes me feel more like one. The good thing about the CV OR is the routine. It's pretty much the same cases and same instrument sets. Makes it a little bit easier to get the grasp of things.

chinchu · Jul 19, 2013

I cannot agree with the fact that they won't survive outside CVOR because they do a lot work than us.I think they can manage any cases easily .If we go into CVOR we will struggle a lot.ABGS,blood works.,defib,laser,,,,..I beleive there is a routine evrywhere.

Editorial Team / Admin · Jul 19, 2013

The same thing could be said of someone who works in neuro, or someone who works in general, or someone who works in......

Someone who works in the same specialty routinely is simply going to be more comfortable with the routine in that specialty. You know the instruments, you know the surgeons, you know where each and every little supply is. Those who then have to float into another specialty aren't as familiar with each of those aspects.

I find comments like this incredibly divisive. It's along the same line as ICU nurses looking down their noses at med/surg nurses (there's an extremely long thread titled pretty much that somewhere on this site). We are all nurses, and some of us have been lucky enough to find our niche within the varied world of nursing practice.

citylights89, BSN, RN · Jul 23, 2013

Yes, it's all in the routine. It is divisive when people say that. Some of the nurses from the other services loathe CV, probably because they aren't comfortable with it...AND they think the people are overly dramatic. Oh well. They expect us to do their services, but go crazy when they have to do ours, which I can also understand. As a a result, CV ends up keeping to itself most of the time. That's the queens for ye!

RNOTODAY, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2019

On 7/1/2013 at 1:45 AM, shodobe said:
It is really funny that you mention that because it is pretty much true at another hospital I work at. This group is excetional and extremely talented at what they do. The only problem is this, they pretty much struggle outside the heart rooms! They get into such a routine they lose all other skills. Some of these nurses have been doing this for many, many years so what can you expect. Like I said in the heart room they are the "queens" of the domain but outside they are pretty much lost.

THIS... I remember when I was at my first job in an OR-the heart team appeared so badass and confident- and they were; IN the HEART rooms .. I was simply shocked one afternoon, hearts were done for the day - but of course the rest of the OR was running, so they pulled a couple heart nurses to help out. WELL.... the main Rockstar, prima Donna heart Nurse was assigned to me and my room ( I was almost off orientation) It was a mere LAP CHOLE; and the Rockstar , literally almost had a STROKE! “WHAT? I’m not working this room, I’m not familiar with these towers , etc etc@ on and on... and she was FUMBLING around the room , TOTALLY frazzled with very SIMPLE things..I was totally AMAZED!! I mean at this point, me, brand new to the OR just months ago- a lap chole was routine to me!! This girl just completely decompensated!!! It gave me a WHOLE new perspective, on a lot of things that day!! I remember thinking “ you do hearts, but put you in a lap chole and you can’t function “ what’s wrong here...

Insert my heart rotation.... 3 weeks it was. Now PLEASE, do not take this the wrong way, they are extremely good at what they do and deserve respect. However , I observed , that, the case are the SAME, week after week, same positioning for every case, and you basically work with your own group of co workers .

I thought to myself: “ If I did the SAME cases week after week; supine position for every patient, worked with the same tech every case... *ID* be a Rockstar, TOO! How could you not? “

Ill tell you, it’s intense in the heart rooms, but... I’ll TAKE IT any DAY over being thrown in the main , one specialty to the other, running your ass off, fetch this machine and that machine...,GO GET THIS, that’s not working, fix it... etc

Know what I mean , anybody???‍♀️

ctsurgeryscrubrn · Mar 27, 2019

I think sometimes the institutions create this persona. I'm at a place where the CVOR team is hand-picked for specific roles. For example, I was hand-picked to scrub on our high-risk aorta team where we only do certain types of cases such as aortic arch repairs, re-do of re-do AVRs, ruptured TAAs, open thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repairs, Marfan patients, etc. And you do get a very strong sense of routine - the etiology may change, but our team is always usually the same. We only have RNs on the team - no CSTs. We do lose more patients on the table than other services b/c of our patient population, which naturally builds a strong kinship with others on our CVOR service. I certainly don't believe I am better than someone else because of what I do, but I can see how some might perceive that attitude. I think we all need to be more self-aware and supportive of each other because we always can learn and collaborate more effectively.

offlabel · Mar 27, 2019

Snappy dressers and very neat?

IslandSUP · Apr 14, 2019

That would me me a CVOR King?

I've been a nurse for 10+ years and CVOR is the most stress free area I've worked in. Before coming to the CVOR 4 years ago I did CVICU civilian side and CCATT in the Air Force Reserves. To me that was stressful.

I love how good our team can be predicting what the surgeon and scrub will want. It's all about anticipation.

Main OR is stressful to me because I have no idea what happens over there and the last thing I want to do is delay patient care with my ignorance. However I think I would be able to survive most cases.

Anyone want to move to Florida and work on our CVOR team?

BosLeyDog1 · May 11, 2019

IF I ever acted like a diva, I apologize. But I worked in CVOR for 22 years, after 8 years in general OR. I could get through any general OR case, even if I needed a little help. But the CV surgeons that I worked with treated us differently, more respectfully than the other surgeons. We were encouraged to ask questions and really learn about anatomy and physiology. Our duties and responsibilities increased to include first assisting, and wound closure. When non- cardiac nurses came in our rooms, they were always introduced and treated respectfully- well, except for the tech who was holding the heart, fell asleep and almost fell into the operative field. She never came in our room again. When I would get pulled into a general OR room, I many times I was ignored by the scrub and surgeon even though I introduced myself. The service specialist wouldn’t help unless we called repeatedly, because they thought that I thought I was a hot-shot and knew everything ( a misconception) I’m glad I’m out of that situation! I’m on the down hill slide to retirement ( one year, one month) from an ambulatory surgery center where egos are not so prominently on display

Windyhill, BSN · May 11, 2019

So true. Outside the heart room they seem useless...