Icu Field Experience

Every nurse within this unit has had experience in the ICU setting. These nurses are trained to react within seconds of a problem occurring. During my time on this unit I experienced three surgeries. When I first got to the unit I was unsure about what I would see. There was this one nurse who really helped me out and showed me a lot. He made a pretend aortic artery and showed me how the stents and all the wires were pushed in through the femoral artery. I was able to feel the wires and see how the doctors would maneuver these wires throughout the patient’s body. The first surgery I was allowed to actually stay in the room and visualize it while the other two I watched behind the glass. While watching behind the glass the nurse and the tech were showing me what I was looking at. For two of the surgeries we were mostly looking for blockages within the coronary arteries. The three coronary arteries I was observing were the left anterior descending, circumflex, and the right coronary artery. This was a really good experience for me, I learned a lot about the anatomy of the heart but never had a visualization for it. Nurses on this unit must always be prepared for the worst. The start of their day right after report they go into the room they are assigned and check the crash cart first. Next, they ensure all the supplies are stocked within the room including the pyxis. Once the patient comes into the room the nurse helps get the patient from the stretcher to the table and ensure the patient is comfortable. One
It’s a lot of monitoring and ensuring that the patient stays within limits. The biggest difference here is that with any cardiac catheter procedure there is a risk of throwing a clot and having to call a code stroke or having a cardiac rhythm change due to the catheter irritating the ventricle. No matter the floor all nurses put their patients