RN - PCU

RN - PCU

● About Facility:

o 304 Turner McCall Blvd, Rome, GA 30165

o 361 licensed beds

o Level 2 Trauma Designation

o Teaching Hospital? Yes, Residency Program

o Chest Pain Center

o Stroke Center

● Department Information:

o Minimum Years of Experience required? 2 years in requested specialty

o Will you accept a first-time traveler? Will consider, not preferred

● Patient Types/Common Diagnoses:

ED:

o General ED population for Level 2 Trauma – Chest Pain/Cardiac events, Stroke, Trauma – GSW, Stabbings, MVC, Falls, etc.; Respiratory illnesses, Seizures, Abdominal illnesses and infections, ETOH/CIWA, IVDA, Mental Health

Medical-Surgical Floors:

o 3 MedSurg (Overflow & Difficult to place patients – 27 beds): Syncope, Fever and Chills, Intractable N/V, Failure to thrive, Cellulitis, Vascular dementia, Cerebrovascular disease, History of CVA.

o 3 North (Oncology – 20 beds): Immunocompromise patients, Cancer pts’, end of life care, respite, palliative care patients, do chemo infusions (This floor will be moving to 2 MedSurg on Northeast building soon).

o 4 East (Ortho – 16 beds): Medical and surgical ortho patients including fractures of different bones and joints (open & closed), MVC, trauma, Buck’s traction.

o 4 South (General Surgery & Trauma – 36 beds): Ureteral stone, Goiter, Hernia, Uterine Fibroids, Renal Mass, Diverticulitis with perforation, MVC, trauma, Bowel Obstruction, Breast Cancer for Mastectomy, Hematuria (irrigation), Fetal demise, DNC.

o 4 Central (Pulmonology – 22 beds): Acute respiratory failure, Hyperglycemia, Sepsis, Metabolic Encephalopathy, Dementia, COPD, Acute Kidney Injury, Failure to thrive, Pneumonia (This floor takes glucommander).

o 6 Central (Vascular & Bariatric Surgery – 19 beds): End stage renal disease, Foot ulcer, Peripheral Vascular Disease, Morbid Obesity (take vascular and gastric bypass surgeries, also take glucommander).

Critical Care Areas:

o 4 West (Neurology Stepdown – 23 beds ): Stroke, Seizures, Back pain, Lumbar surgery, s/p craniotomy, lumbar drains, AMS, Aphasia (This floor takes glucommander, Cardiac titratable drips).

o 5 West (Cardiac Stepdown – 34 beds): Chest pain, S/p Cardiac angiography with or without PTCA, CHF, Cardiomyopathy, Pneumonia, Palpitations, Syncope, Arrythmias, Angioedema, Hyponatremia, AMS, Sepsis, Acute Coronary Syndrome, A-Fib, Heart Block (takes glucommander, cardiac titratable drips, also do aqua pheresis).

o Observation unit (Decision Unit & Overflow for 5 West – 11 beds): Facial numbness, CAD, A-Fib with RVR, Stroke-like symptoms, Chest pain, right or left sided weakness, Acute respiratory failure (takes cardiac titratable drips, bedside cardiac monitors in all rooms).

o ICU (Medical, Surgical, Neuro, Cardiac – all combined – 26 beds): Drug overdose, Psychosis, MI, Subarachnoid hemorrhage, MVC, Sepsis, ARF, AAA, Acute hypoxic respiratory failure, Hypoglycemia, Pneumonia, Suicide attempt (has pts’ on Life link, CRRT, Intra-aortic balloon pump). Travelers not assigned CRRT and IABPs.

● Required License, National Certification, Certifications (BLS, ACLS, NIHSS, etc.), or other position specific requirements such as Driver's License and/or Insurance:

o ED RN: ACLS, BLS, NIHSS, TNCC and CPI (we will offer this if they do not have CPI) for all nurses

o ICU RN: ACLS, BLS, NIHSS, and CPI (we will offer this if they do not have CPI) for all nurses; TNCC (preferred)

o PCU and Med/Tele RN: ACLS, BLS, NIHSS, and CPI (we will offer this if they do not have CPI) for all nurses

● Skills required:

o ED RN: ER skills - arrhythmia monitory, sedation, paralytics, titratable drips knowledge, CVP monitoring, caring for s/p craniotomy pt, TPA administration, TNCC is a must , CEN preferred

o ICU RN: ICU skills – arrhythmia monitory, sedation, paralytics, titratable drips knowledge, CVP monitoring, caring for s/p craniotomy pt, TPA administration, CCRN & TNCC preferred

o PCU RN: PCU skills – arrhythmia monitoring, knowledge of cardiac titratable drips

o Med/Tele RN: Basic arrythmia interpretation, Foley catheter irrigation, PCA, Epidural, CPM, Buck’s traction, Drains & chest tube management

o Nursing skills, with knowledge of cardiac drips, neuro, cardiac, pulmonary, ortho, trauma, and surgical patients.

▪ At our facility, we require 2 nurses to place foley catheter

● Ratios:

o MedSurg: Days 1:5 but can increase to 1:6 in staffing crisis. Nights 1:6.

o ICU: Days and Nights 1:2. Can go up to 1:3 depending on acuity

o HAU (High Acuity Unit, PCU level): 1:3

● Support within the Department:

o CNA/ Nurse techs

o Respiratory Therapists

o Phlebotomists

o Educator

o Staffing specialist

o Timekeeper/ Payroll specialist

o Safety sitters

o Virtual Patient Observers (VPO)

o Virtual RN (currently on 4 West)

o Security

● Technology/Equipment:

o EMR: EPIC

o Department specific Equipment- depends on the units, Glucommander, cardiac monitors, Precision BBG monitor, specialty beds, alarms, bed and chair alarms, BiPap, ventilators, Alaris pumps, Virtual RN, Virtual Patient Observer.

● Floating: If yes, where?

o All med surg and Critical Care Areas (including ED boarders). If ICU or ER, we do use those as well.

● Orientation (facility and unit) :

o 1 st week: NEO (Monday – Friday 8:00am-4:30 pm)

o 2 nd week: 2-3 days departmental (on the floor)

● Scheduling:

o Weekend rotation: Every other

o On call? If so, what is that schedule? If census is low, you may be asked to be on call, but this is rare.

o Holiday Expectations: 70% of holidays

o RTO Requests: If participating in Lamb Staffing Clinical Interviewing – can we approve up to 7 days of RTO on your behalf, if traveler extends contract to accommodate? Yes

o Shift times: 7a-7p and 7p-7a for med surg and critical care, ER may vary

o Schedule cycle (how many weeks): 13

● Other notes:

o Scrub Color: Navy

o Parking: Free? Yes

o Department Culture: Teamwork, work as 1 group, speak up if you need help, assist when you see someone that needs help, answer call lights and rover phones timely. Telemetry is a priority and should be answered quickly and respond to the patient quickly.