Travel Nurse RN - PCU - Progressive Care Unit
Rapid City, SD
Thrive Staffing
3x12 hrs, Nights

Unit Information

This is a 44-bed Mixed Acuity unit that includes Intermediate Care, Telemetry, and Medical-Surgical patient types. The unit manages various patient conditions including:

• Direct admits
• ED admits
• Post-Cath Lab patients
• Myocardial Infarction (MI), NSTEMI, STEMI (IABP redirected to ICU)
• Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)
• Dysrhythmia management
• Pacemaker malfunction and management
• Epicardial pacer management

Patient Care Responsibilities

Nurses will be responsible for managing a variety of patients including:

• Post-cardiac and vascular procedures
• Post-cardiac catheterization
• Post-open heart surgery
• Post-Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)
• Post-Electrophysiology studies
• Post-pacemaker insertion

Patient Ratios

The typical RN-to-patient ratio is:

• 1:4 most of the time
• Can vary to 1:3 depending on patient acuity

Qualifications

• Minimum 1.5 years of general nursing experience
• At least 1 year of experience specific to Progressive Care Unit (PCU)
• Travelers must reside at least 100 miles from any facility
• Completion of an approved nursing education program
• Registered Nurse (RN) license in South Dakota

Certifications Required

• BLS (Basic Life Support)
• ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support)
• NIHSS (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale)

Skills Required

• Experience with cardiac procedural recovery (CABG, TAVR, post-cardiac catheterization)
• Familiarity with medication management including MI pharmacology and titratable cardiac/vasoactive drips (Cardizem, Amiodarone, Nitro, Levo, Dopamine)
• Heparin drip management
• Cardiac rhythm interpretation
• Chest tube management
• TNK administration (preferred)

Support on the Unit

Support personnel include:

• CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) - Ratio: 1:5-8, depending on the shift
• Charge Nurse - Unassigned
• Phlebotomy services available for peripheral blood draws
• No IV/VAT Team available
• Resource Nurse available occasionally
• Telemetry Technician overseeing cardiac monitoring

Charting System/Equipment

• Epic (experience required, approval needed if not familiar)
• Alaris
• Omnicell

Floating and Orientation

Staff may be floated to:

• Sister unit, General PCU, as needed
• Medical-Surgical or Telemetry units to care for PCU level patients

Orientation consists of:

• 2 partial days of education
• 3 shifts (12 hours each) on the unit

Scheduling and Holiday Expectations

• Weekend rotation: Every other weekend
• Holidays: Every other holiday
• Approval of time off for up to 7 days (requests for full weeks off need to extend approval)
• No time off in the first 3 weeks of August due to high volume related to a regional event