Your average day...

healingtouchRN · May 28, 2003

typical day in CCU ( I work nites & have for years)....I make rounds by 1930 (7:30pm) I have either 2-3 pts. equally male & female, lots of young ones lately. Last week I had a 34 year old mom of 6 kids on a balloon pump post MI (full arrest) with no history!, & a 35 year old service man on TDY here at the base (so he was from 800 miles away) post MI, & a 52 year old pastor. Some weeks I get alot of vents that are long term (failure to thrive), & some weeks alot of just routine PTCA with stents & out to telemetry the next day. a few 90 year olds that get CABG. It's feast or famine, I am either working my butt off or trying to get somebody to stay home for 8 hours....but I guess I wouldn't have it any other way. The older I get the more it stays the same. :rolleyes: hang in there! no day is ever exactly the same.

RnStudentMommy · May 28, 2003

thanks for the input healingtouch, sounds like quite a variety.

healingtouchRN · May 30, 2003

check out positive comments thread...

oh & by the way, I love Janis Jolin, I become her when I am doing my chores, turning it WAY up, drives the Loatian neighbors nuts! :eek:

zambezi, BSN, RN · May 31, 2003

i work nights in ccu also...lately we have been getting alot of younger patients also...some nights are slow some i don't even get to sit down...i ususally have one or two patients, occassionally three...pre/post cabg patients, PTCA/stents, etc art line pulls, IABPS, post MIs, iCHF, ICU overflows, I really enjoy working in CCU...lately we have been pretty busy...I usually get out of report 1930...check on my patients, check meds, orders quickly, do my assessments, check out my room (drips, etc), after, i do my assessments, i do a more in depth chart check...organize my night...our "scheduled" assessment times are 2000/2400/0400 which is also when lab/xray come (so much for promoting sleep)...everything else is fit in when it is due...of course my night rarely runs that smoothly, i let my patients sleep as much as i can but if they are unstable, i am in the room much more often, and if the patient codes the whole night order is changed around, thats why i love CCU ... never know what might come up...and i love to teach...

healingtouchRN · May 31, 2003

we sound like twins....!:kiss

TreceRN · Jul 25, 2003

I started my nursing career right out of college working on a cardiology unit, then transferred to critical care. Now I am the nurse manager for the very cardiology unit I started on and I LOVE IT:D I love studying cardiac diseases, pouring over a really funky ECG and trying to decifer it, and being part of the code team. Our cardiologists are great teachers, and It's stimulating to collaborate with them to teach our newer staff and grow our more "seasoned" nurses as well. Cardiac care is evolving so quickly, and the patients, in general, are very eager to learn about their diagnosis and how to take care of themselves. There are some great teaching moments, and you really feal like you are making a difference in the quality of someone's life:)

HARN · Aug 29, 2003

I have been a nurse for 2+ yr on a tely floor. I am trying to get to CCU, I love the heart. You guys above, I hope I can get there where you are :) As far as my floor we have a 24 bed unit. I hold 6 pt on my own 2 with a LPN (whom I take GOD for daily). We have a HUGE turn over rate, largest in our hospital. My pt have Dx like CHF, CP r/o MI, post MI, Cath pt, syncopy. Ages range from 20's- 100. I would have to say equally male andfemale. I love the fast pace of my floor. I happen to work with a group of people who really work well TOGETHER. So if we get 12 admisssions in 12 hrs, we do it as a team. That is the only reason I stay. Over all I love my job. I have learned so much working on this floor. The Dr's in the heart group are awesome with explaining. I really feel like I am part of a team even being on nights. I hope to move to CCU within the next year. I wish you luck.

P.S.

Janis Joplin ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!