Cardiovascular Nurse, Cardiovascular Nursing Schools, Training, Jobs, and Careers

What is Cardiovascular Nurse?
A cardiovascular Nurse is a term used to refer to nurses who assist cardiologists and doctors in providing health care to people with cardiovascular system illnesses and disorders. They are a more specialized subset of ordinary registered nurses and are also referred to as cardiac clinic nurse specialists, cardio nurses or cardiology RNs. Cardiovascular nurses work as a team and are under the direction of the cardiologist.

Key responsibilities of these nurses include:

1. Cardiology roles:
Cardiology responsibility covers monitoring of patients' vital signs, looking out for and managing any signs of surgical infection and wounds, implementation and management of the patient's overall treatment and recovery plan. Collaboration is done with physiotherapists, cardiologists and even nutritionist.

2. Nursing roles:
Nursing involves providing support for patients during physiotherapy, daily personal care and general hygiene. The cardiovascular nurse regularly monitors the intravenous drip. Because of the widespread occurrence of cardiac conditions and the delicate nature of such conditions, the nursing responsibilities of the cardio nurse will sometimes extend to house visits to in order to monitor clients for any improvement or deterioration.

3. Training roles:
Cardiac nurses are expected to not only train cardio nurses just joining the trade but also nurses in other specialties who need to know the basics of cardiovascular nursing for emergencies. The training may be in the form of on the job training as well as seminars and classroom training sessions. The cardiovascular nurse will sometimes be called upon to conduct training beyond the health facility they work in and do it in nursing schools. Cardiac RNs must also train family members of cardiac patients on basic care for the patient in order to manage the condition when at home.

4. Other roles:
• Respond and deal with heart related problems such as heart attacks, congestive heart failure, coronary artery diseases, cardiac dysrhythmia among others

• Operate medical machines used in detection and the treatment of heart related issues

• Conduct cardiac and vascular monitoring and continuously assess the patient's overall condition

• Support and monitor patients after heart surgery.

• Conduct health assessment of patients using stress tests

How to Become a Cardiovascular Nurse:
How cardiovascular conditions are managed can often mean the difference between life and death for patients. For this reason, proper qualification and experience of cardio nurses is adhered to strictly. One must be a registered nurse with preference given to persons with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing or an Associate degree in Nursing. You will need to sit for and pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Cardiology RNs (NCLEX-RN) administered by the National Council of States Boards of Nursing.

For persons who are already registered nurses but wish to branch into cardio nursing, one must demonstrate experience working around cardiac patients in critical care as well as show evidence of training in cardiac nursing techniques.

Cardiovascular nurses often work in hospitals within either one of the following departments:

a. Coronary care unit (CCU)
b. Intensive care unit (ICU)
c. Cardiac catheterization laboratory (CCL)
d. Surgical wards for cardiac patients
e. Operating theaters and research labs
f. Cardiac rehabilitation units

Cardiovascular Nurse Salary:
Being a cardiac nurse has its own rewards. One of those rewards is the excellent pay one gets. The average salary for these nurses is $83,000 pr year according to our research on Indeed.com. This is serious money for a serious career.

Cardiovascular Nurse School:
If you are looking for schools that offer cardiovascular nursing programs, visit one of our favorite nursing school website. There, you will find schools in our area or online. You should request for the free information offered. You can go there by clicking this link.

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