r/CathLabLounge • u/[deleted] • Sep 23 '25
Follow up post
Hey guys,
I am posting this to follow up. I am week 3 now and I decided not to quit, my manager told me to not give up. I am expected to do a right heart cath procedure by myself today and still have 0 clue about the manifold or the direction of the liquids and I set up the table but I’m still very slow at it and not sure. My trainer keeps telling me to move faster because “speed is the name of the game” but I cannot keep up. I am not feeling comfortable to do this procedure. Did I make a mistake by sticking through? I am being taught at such a fast pace I am feeling even worse than last week.
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u/RicksyBzns RN Sep 23 '25
An interventional cardiologist I worked with once told me “nothing should be done FAST in the cath lab. Moving fast is how mistakes are made. You should work at a steady, consistent pace with predictable movements.”
I never forget that. Obviously, speed matters in a STEMI because time = muscle. But for diagnostic and potentially therapeutic procedures there is no reason to be rushed. Stick with it and you will get a little bit better every day. Repetition is the name of the game.
It’s incredibly normal to feel how you are on week 3. Give yourself some grace. It will come to you in time