Cardiology Nursing Care: Just another word to describe a person strong enough to tolerate anything and soft enough to understand anyone

Cardiac care nurses can treat and care the patients with a variety of heart diseases or Health conditions.

Cardiac Nursing can include patients suffering from

·         Coronary artery disease

·         Congestive heart failure

·         Those recovering from angioplasty and

·          Bypass surgery.

Cardiac care nurses have to observer the hearts of patients of all ages and may help manage heart medications and perform stress test evaluations on a regular basis. As well as to take care of more urgent heart issues such as assisting in defibrillation. This type of nurse works closely with a cardiologist to accelerate excellence of care for heart patients. Cardiac Care Nurses care for patients that have been identified with or that are at risk for cardiovascular illness or other cardiovascular complications as well as interacting with the patient’s family. Cardiac Care nurses care for patients who have undergone cardiovascular surgery as well as performing evaluations and assessments. Cardiac Care Nurses can also do stress test evaluations, cardiac and vascular monitoring and electrocardiogram monitoring. A nurse is a care setting for all health problems and it will encounter patients with some degree of heart disease manifestation. The nurse or health care provider must provide a careful and thorough evaluation of the assessments needed to give proper reporting to the physician.

Telemetry nurses also can take care for patients who need cardiac monitoring during their hospitalization. Cardiac monitoring may also include devices that measure oxygen level, heart rhythm and blood pressure. Some patients may require telemetry monitoring, because some patients have high blood pressure and a history of a stroke or heart attack. Patients who are hospitalized due to chest pain also need cardiac monitoring. Telenursing can work in step-down units, intermediate care units and telemetry floors. The patients in these areas require field care but may not need to be in the intensive care unit.

Key Points to remember –

·         The geneses of cardiac disease and how it pertains to the course of care.

·         Methods of cardiac care assessment from the health care provider and nurses have to report the results.

·         Laboratory and diagnostic testing is relating to the cardiac system.

·         Hypertensive heart disease can be perceived by a clinical examination, ECG and other cardiac imaging devices.

·         The level of systolic and diastolic blood pressure are straightly related to coronary artery disease symptoms, both morbidity and mortality.

·         The ECG/EKG assessement system today still remains the “gold standard” method for detecting LVH despite its relative lack of sensitivity.

Roles and Duties of a Cardiac Care Nurse

·         Implement and perform health assessments on cardiac patients

·         Manage medication

·         Execute stress test evaluations

·         Provide cardiac and vascular monitoring

·         Treat chronic health conditions

·         Monitor electrocardiogram readings

·         Cardiac care nurses have to provide post-op care following bypasses, pacemaker implants and other heart surgeries

·         Insert and remove IV drips

·         Monitor use of defibrillator

·         Work along with cardiologists and surgeons to provide cardiac care

As nurses we know suffering. We are fully aware of how precious each moment of life is. We learn to live well. Nurses are grateful people. Some people only learn about these essential spiritual qualities from traditions of worship. We learn compassion, love, peace and more by performing our daily work. Nurses are constantly reminded of the necessity of valuing the dignity and worth of every person. As a result, we become better people. Our souls are healed. We develop communication skills and open hearts which make us more loving members of our own families. We become tolerant, and appreciate the diversity of all of the people on this earth. Perhaps that is the biggest benefit of being nurses. We become more caring, and honorable people.

Rehabilitation Nurse: "The power in taking care of people is remembering that diseases/complications/illnesses affect people very differently."

A rehabilitation nurse is a nursing professional that helps patients suffering from disabling injuries or illnesses live relatively normal and independent lives. Rehabilitation nursing professionals help the patients to recognize their abilities and limitations in order to reach their full potential. Rehabilitation nurses are must be extremely supportive and encouraging. They often help patients to feel empowered and by giving them hope, they can help their patients to extent ostensibly impossible goals. Working as a rehabilitation nurse is one of the most rewarding nursing careers. As a rehabilitation nurse you will frequently get to witness patients to impulse past their own limits and overcome exceptional odds. Because Rehabilitation Nurses will typically work with the same patients on a regular basis, they will also get the chance to establish relationships with patients and their loved ones. Rehabilitation Nurses are not only a caregiver, they will also often be perceived as a friend and source of support during tough times. Rehabilitation nurses help chronically injured patients reach their full potential by following plans of care instilled by physical therapist, neurologist, speech therapists, psychologist and other specialist. The goal of rehabilitation nurses is to help patients become independent by reaching small-term as well as long-term goals.

General Responsibilities of the Rehabilitation Nurse

·         Rehabilitation Nurses possesses the specialized knowledge and clinical skills necessary to provide care for people with physical disability and chronic illness

·         Coordinates educational activities and uses appropriate resources to develop and implement an individualized teaching and discharge plan with clients and their families

·         Performs hands-on nursing care by utilizing the nursing process to achieve quality outcomes for clients

·         Provides direction and supervision of ancillary nursing personnel, demonstrates professional judgment, uses problem solving techniques and time-management principles, and delegates appropriately

·         Coordinates nursing care activities in collaboration with other members of the interdisciplinary rehabilitation team to facilitate achievement of overall goals

·         Coordinates a holistic approach to meeting patient's medical, vocational, educational, and environmental needs

·         Demonstrates effective oral and written communication skills to develop a rapport with clients, their families, and health team members and to ensure the fulfilment of requirements for legal documentation and reimbursement

·         Acts as a resource and a role model for nursing staff and students and participates in activities such as nursing committees and professional organizations that promote the improvement of nursing care and the advancement of professional rehabilitation nursing

·         Encourages others to become CRRN certified, obtain advance degrees, participate on committees, and/or join professional organizations

·         Facilitates community education regarding acceptance of people with disabilities

Rehabilitation Nurses can treat:

·         Amputation

·         Brain injury

·         Burns

·         ALS

·         Cancer

·         Cardiovascular

·         Cerebral palsey

·         Guillain-Barre syndrome

·         Parkinson's disease

·         Major joint replacements

·         Multiple sclerosis

·         Organ transplant

·         Pulmonary disease

·         Spinal cord injury

·         Stroke

Types of Rehabilitation Nursing Careers:

• Neurological: Registered nurses who work as a neurological rehabilitation nurse care for patients who've experience injuries of the nervous system. This includes patients who’ve experienced infections such as meningitis or encephalitis. They also care for patients who experience frequent headaches, seizures, neuralgia and other problems concerning the nervous system. Neurological rehabilitation nurse may work in specialty clinics, skilled nursing care facilities or on neurological units in hospitals.

• Drug and Alcohol: A drug and alcohol rehabilitation nurse help and support patients who have addiction problems change their lives. They teach them positive ways to stay sober to prevent relapsing. Drug rehabilitation nurses monitor patients who are going through withdrawal and teach patients coping skills needed to succeed in life. This nurse may work in rehab clinics, in a doctor’s office or in a hospital drug rehabilitation unit.

• Orthopaedic: Orthopaedic rehabilitation nurses must become expert in caring for patients who are in casts as a result of fractures. They monitor their neurologic status and monitor therapies such as continuous motion therapy (CMT). Hip fractures are very prevalent in the United States with the elderly population and account for many patients on an orthopaedic rehabilitation unit. Orthopaedic nurses work in rehab units in a hospital, skilled nursing and long-term care facilities.

Rehab Nurses Play Many Roles:

·         Administrator

·         Clinical nurse leader

·         Clinical nurse specialist

·         Consultant

·         Nurse practitioner

Rehab Nurses Practice across the Post-Acute Care Continuum:

·         Community hospitals

·         Freestanding rehabilitation facilities

·         Home health agencies

·         Hospitals (inpatient & outpatient rehab units)

·         Insurance and HMOs

·         Long-term acute care

·         Private practice

·         Skilled nursing with rehabilitation

·         Sub-acute facilities

·         Universities and teaching hospitals

Objectives of Rehabilitation Nursing

There are 4 broad objectives of rehabilitation nursing:

·         a. To restore affected abilities to the highest possible level of function.

·         b. To prevent further disability/ handicap.

·         c. To protect the person abilities.

·         d. To assist the person / patient to use his or her abilities

Principles of Rehabilitation:

·         Rehabilitation should begin during the initial contact with the patient.

·         Restoring the patient to independent or to regain his pre-illness/pre-disability level of function in as short a time as possible

·         Maximising independence within the limits of the disability.

·         He must be an active participant.

EMERGENCY NURSE: I have been spit on; Bitten, Slapped and Beaten-But always I win at the end.

Emergency Nursing is a nursing specialty in which nurse’s care for patients in the emergency or critical phase of their illness or injury. While this is common to many nursing specialties, the key difference is that an emergency nurse is skilled at dealing with people in the phase when a diagnosis has not yet been made and the cause of the problem is not known. Emergency nurses also deal with non-emergent populations that present with non-life threatening issues as well. Patients that present to the Emergency Department may range from birth to geriatric. The term emergency is used for those patients who require immediate action to prevent further detoriations or stabilizing the condition till the availability of the services close to the patients. The nurse as a team member plays significant role in the early assessment, intervention either in the form of care or transferring the patient safely to the health services.

Common Nursing Emergencies

·         Choking

·         Bleeding

·         Seizures

·         Difficulty breathing.

·         Fainting.

·         Chest pain or pressure.

·         Uncontrolled bleeding.

·         Coughing or vomiting blood.

·         Sudden severe pain.

·         Poisoning.

·         Major injuries, such as broken bones.

Role of Emergency Nurses:

In addition to addressing these true emergencies emergency nurses increasingly care for people who are unwilling or unable to get primary medical care elsewhere and come to emergency departments for help. Besides heart attacks, strokes, gunshot wounds and car accidents, emergency nurses also tend to patients with acute alcohol and/or drug intoxication, psychiatric and behavioural problems and those who have been raped. They must be adept at working with patients of many different backgrounds, cultures, religions, ages and types of disabilities. Emergency nurses must also have a good working knowledge of the many legal issues impacting health care such as consent, handling of evidence, mandatory reporting of child and elder abuse and involuntary psychiatric holds.

In their role as patient educators, they must have a thorough knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and psychology and be able to communicate effectively with patients and their families. An emergency nurse is typically assigned to triage patients as they arrive in the emergency department and as such are the first professional patients see. Therefore, the emergency nurse must be skilled at rapid, accurate physical examination, early recognition of life-threatening conditions. In some cases, emergency nurses may order certain tests and medications following collaborative practice guidelines or standing orders set out by the hospital's emergency physician staff.

Key Responsibilities of an Emergency Room Nurse

·         Triage

·         Taking vital signs

·         Administering medicine

·         Providing treatment

·         Monitoring patients

·         Charting

·         Discharge

Emergency Nursing Education

Education and best practices about women's health issues during disasters is needed on relevant topics including the following:

·         Delivery of care in low resource settings,

·         Issues with special implications in disasters (e.g., infectious disease and violence against women in shelters),

·         Triage and appropriate care of perinatal/neonatal populations in disasters,

·         Altered basic life sustaining requirements for the pregnant woman and her foetus (e.g., adequate rest/sleep, clean water, hygiene, nutrition, and safe bathroom facilities),

·         The psychological burden for women and children in disasters, especially issues related to separation from their significant others,

·         Long‐term mental health needs,

·         Nutrition for pregnant and postpartum women and infants, and

The importance of access to contraception in shelters.