CCU certification question

[dayshiftnurse]

hi , im curious is it worth it for me to take a ccu certificate course if i already have an intensive care certificate? i just feel as though i need more cardiac care knowledge and skills--rhythm interpretation, cardiac meds, procedures, etc.

[Ricu]

Originally Posted by dayshiftnurse

hi , im curious is it worth it for me to take a ccu certificate course if i already have an intensive care certificate? i just feel as though i need more cardiac care knowledge and skills--rhythm interpretation, cardiac meds, procedures, etc.

Hi,

Your question is a good one. There are so many courses out there that offer comprehensive critical nursing skill training, but would it be worthwhile for you to take such a course. You say that you already have an intensive care certification so another certification wouldn't likely be your goal. No training is wasted even for review, but I understand your point of wanting something specific to cardiac care. What you're describing is a program generally taught by facility nurse educators for telemetry nurses. Look into it and think about signing up for the next class offered. You may also consider spending a few days in the cardiology department interpreting ECGs, observing treadmill tests, echos, pacemakers, catheterizations and so on. Those people are a tremendous resource and usually love to teach. It would be total immersion but I'm sure you would come away with a better sense of understanding. Good luck.

R

[dayshiftnurse]

thanks for input ricu,

i think i may go ahead and go for the ccu certificate as i feel indepth cardiology review directly impacts my ability to function in the icu. i am having difficulty especially around bundle branch blocks/enlargments/ accurately diagnosing mi's with a fair degree of certainty. i dont feel i am fully doing my job unless i have much more confidence about this. also the meds, still very new at knowing how to wean/increase different drugs and when. for example, pt on levo, vasapression, fentanyl, versed and vented...how to get best balance and maintain good hemodynamics. feel in was NOT taught well in my orientation, and in my icu course we talked about all the meds separately but not as a balancing act in the real world. i don't have a lot of mentors in my job who really want to teach/show.

the only problem is, if i go back to school i think renal nursing certificate may be of more value to me because it will give me a completely different skill other than icu. i was thinking of getting this more or less to keep in my back pocket, as a just in case thing. any comments?