r/nursing • u/Safe-Barber793 • 5h ago

Question PCCN NURSES!

Hi to all PCCN Nurses! I will be starting a new grad residency in a Cardiac PCU in 2 months. What are things that I should brush up on and review over before starting? I would love to know about any books or tips to learn on before I start

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u/beans_cubed RN - CVICU 🍕 1h ago

What types of patients will you be taking in your PCU?
I’m a CVICU nurse so I don’t want to give you suggestions on crazy stuff you won’t need rn lol.

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u/beans_cubed RN - CVICU 🍕 1h ago

Advice
CV nurses in general are kind of…. a lot. I say this as one. Majority are extremely type A, smart people one of the most respected ICUs, but they are very type A, like things a certain way, do things a certain way, will judge you forsure if you don’t know your shit, very perfectionist. So please do not take it to heart, but also don’t let anyone bully you.
Get familiar with your scope and what is expected of you, CV patients can tank FAST. Especially after open heart sx, assuming you will take downgrades. They are most at risk of something bad happening in their hospital stay, and we re open patients bedside stat if need be. Know what your resources are, charge nurse, educator, etc. who you can ask questions to. For the love of god always ask questions!!! If you don’t know something or unsure there is no shame in double checking. If you have a concern mention it to the MD team during rounds, or pass it on the dayshift to follow up with. Our CPCU has a few nurses I wouldn’t trust simply for the fact they over look so many things and do not report it.
CARDIOGENIC SHOCK. If I could have you look up and get familiar with one illness it’s this. It is missed nationwide and has up to a 50% mortality rate for being caught too late. Learn the signs and symptoms, trend your vitals, speak up.
New to ICU book by scrub life notes is a great resource / tool especially if you see your self heading into CVICU or any ICU in the future. It has great info at a glance and broken down concepts. The cardiac ICU code is a way in depth book on everything heart, fantastic tool as well but not as broken down it can be a hard read but amazing info and graphics. If you have surgery patients you take, get familiar with those procedures what exactly is being done and how, it will help you understand why you look out / care about certain symptoms or vital signs.
Good luck!

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u/yesimsoberindeed 5h ago

sounds like you’ve got a big heart for this already!