RN Medical/Surgical Telemetry
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette General Medical Center

Registered Nurse - Medical/Surgical Telemetry

Location: Lafayette, Louisiana
Employment Type: Travel/Contract
Contract Length: 8 weeks

Job Description

• May be assigned to an "Emergency Team" during emergency events, requiring staying at the facility until the event passes or joining a relief team.
• Patient diagnoses commonly include chest pain, coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, arrhythmias, diabetes, COPD exacerbation, pneumonia, hypertension, myocardial infarction, renal failure, pulmonary embolism, congestive heart failure, GI bleed, and syncope.
• Potential for med-surg overflow patients such as GI bleed, sepsis, stroke, and COVID-19 positive cases.
• Special procedures/unit details include care for pre/post cath lab patients, pacemakers/AICD, ablations, post-op CABG, thoracotomy, vascular surgeries (carotid endarterectomy, femoral-popliteal bypass), abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, and titration of drips (Cardizem, Amiodarone, Dobutamine, Nitroglycerin, Dopamine, Heparin).
• Responsibilities include sheath pulling at bedside.
• Scheduling notes: work every other holiday, may be pulled to other inpatient units, no guarantee of specific scheduling requests such as block scheduling.
• Special equipment used: telemetry monitoring, chest tubes, patient-controlled analgesia (PCA), epidurals, wound vacs.

Required Skills and Certifications

• BLS (Basic Life Support)
• Telemetry monitoring and interpretation
• Management of dysrhythmias
• On-unit patient monitoring
• Post-myocardial infarction and post-cardiac catheterization care
• Care for most cardiac surgery patients
• Port access and blood pressure administration
• Central and peripheral line care and management
• Starting IVs
• Management and titration of cardiac and vasoactive drips
• Wound care including wound vacs
• Chest tube management

Required Qualifications

• Valid Registered Nurse (RN) license in Louisiana
• Telemetry experience within the last year (minimum 1 year)
• BLS certification issued by the American Heart Association
• Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) or Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN)
• Experience with port access
• Experience with blood product administration
• Experience titrating cardiac drips
• Experience titrating vasoactive drips

Experience Requirements

• Specialty: Registered Nurse
• Minimum years of experience: Not explicitly stated; standard travel RN experience expected.
• Prior travel experience: Not explicitly required.

Additional Notes

• Must be comfortable with potential emergency team assignments and flexible scheduling.
• May be required to float to other inpatient units.
• Every other holiday work required.
• Photo for badge and other facility-specific documents required within 24 hours of booking.

This position offers a challenging and dynamic environment caring for complex cardiac and medical-surgical patients with opportunities to utilize advanced nursing skills in telemetry and critical care support.