Cardiothoracic NursingAre you a high intensity lover? If so, you may want to consider cardiothoracic nursing. This is where I started my nursing career. While I found it extremely overwhelming at first, I am so thankful for my experience and the vast wealth of knowledge I gained from my three short years as a cardiothoracic nurse.
There are several types of patients, usually surgical, that you will see in this field. I worked with patient who had lung surgery, CABG (coronary artery bypass graft) surgery, heart valve surgery, lung transplants, heart transplants, and mechanical hearts (think Denny Duckett from Grey’s Anatomy—only more real). As you can tell, these are very sick patients. I found this type of nursing very rewarding because with MOST of the patients you see significant improvements within days or a week of surgery. On the other hand, because their diseases are so serious, if a patient does not do well, their care is usually very busy and labor intensive. So what can you expect as a cardiothoracic nurse? Well, as the patients are so critical, the nurse to patient ratio is usually 1 nurse to 3 or 4 patients. You will give a lot of meds, especially pain medications. I became very proficient in PCA and epidural management in this job. Post-op patients need to get out of bed and walk often. Many times the nurse is the one that has to re-iterate the importance of activity to the patient and make them do it. These patients are limited in their ability to move, due to surgical wounds, therefore the nurses on these floors do a lot of lifting. I would average 2-3 “boosting of patients” in bed per hour. You will also be talking to families often and not to mention educating the patient on their plans for home and recovery period. Most of the patients have many questions, which is to be expected after having one’s heart cut into. 
Cardiothoracic nurses will also need ACLS training, usually within 6 months of starting a job. This is because you will need to understand life saving techniques at all times in a job with heart and lung surgery patients. You have probably already figured this out. This type of nursing is fast paced and at times highly stressful. Like I said before, I gained a lot from my job, but I was feeling the effect of nursing burnout after 3 years and had to move on. Just another reason to love nursing, there is somewhere for everyone!
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