Nursing Practice Areas

Nurses on this fast-paced 28-bed medical surgical telemetry unit care for patients with most phases of cardiac disease. Staff emphasize rehabilitation, education and lifestyle changes or modification for patients. The patient population includes those post-MI, post-open heart surgery, post-thoracotomy, pace-makers, pre-and post-angiography, post-cardiothoracic surgery and pulmonary patients, and those who have suffered congestive heart failure or COPD.

The Cardiac Catheterization Lab performs coronary angiography, percutaneous coronary interventions, electrophysiology studies, structural heart disease interventions, radiofrequency ablations, and pacemaker and defibrillator insertions. Staff collaborate with Cardiotesting, Pre Op, Exercise Physiology departments and the Cardiothoracic Surgery teams. The Cardiac Catheterization Lab contains two interventional suites, one electrophysiology suite and utilizes the hybrid operating room suite.

With a long-standing reputation for premier diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities, we treat many complex and high-risk cardiac conditions. The Heart Institute's multispecialty team includes specialists in cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, congestive/chronic heart failure, pediatric cardiology and electrophysiology.

A nursing team is assigned to each cardiologist or surgeon and coordinates care for the patients. Nurses assess the patient's overall health and educate about medical conditions, medications, tests/procedures and the plan of care. The nursing staff has extensive experience in medical and surgical cardiac care, as this outpatient clinic serves more than 1,000 patients per month.

The Critical Care unit is a fast-paced, 20-bed unit that provides a broad range of medical and surgical specialty services. The Critical Care unit's multidisciplinary team consists of highly skilled RNs, Critical Care technicians, advanced practice nurses, intensivists, pharmacists, a respiratory therapist, health unit coordinators and other support staff.

This unit provides patient- and family-centered care for a variety of high-acuity patients including post-cardiothoracic surgery, neurovascular interventions, ventilated patients, continuous renal replacement therapy and post-cardiac arrest care.

Nurses in our Level II ACS-verified Trauma Center provide care to over 60,000 patients annually with a wide variety of physical and emotional needs. The department consists of 40 patient exam rooms, five resuscitation/trauma rooms, eight Urgent Care rooms and three dedicated Behavioral Health rooms. Nurses are part of a multidisciplinary team that includes emergency physicians, EMTs, paramedics, health unit coordinators and social workers. Patients have 24-hour access to laboratory, X-ray and surgical services. We are also a Stroke Center with 24/7 neuro-interventional capabilities and a Chest Pain Center with 24/7 interventional cardiac catheterization lab capabilities.

Patient volume and statistics

• More than 60,000 combined Emergency and Urgent Care visits
• 29% emergency admission rate
• 11% of patients are pediatric (<16-years-old)
• 21% of emergency patients arrive by EMS
• 357 trauma activations in 2018

Ancillary staff

• Pharmacist available daily in the department
• 24/7 social worker coverage in the department
• Psychiatrist in the department daily
• Child life specialists available in the department

The Hospital Float Pool is staffed by RNs and CNAs who are trained to work inpatient units, such as medical-surgical, maternal child health, critical care and inpatient behavioral health. Clinic Float Pool staff work in ambulatory departments, such as Family Medicine, General Medicine, Neurosciences, Hematology/Oncology and Pediatrics.

The General Medical Unit is a fast-paced 20-bed unit that cares for a wide variety of acute medical and surgical patients including general medical cases, surgical cases, rule out chest pain, same-day procedures and post heart catheterizations. The General Medical Unit admits both inpatient and observation patients.