Specialties/unit types Flashcards
Specialized area that performs procedures to either visualize the arteries of the heart for blockages or may perform “angioplasties” that use a balloon catheter to open the blocked arteries. Specialized training required. Lots or radiology related equipment.
Cath Lab (Cardiac Catheterization Lab
CCU. A Specific ICU for patients with heart problems including heart attacks, congestive heart failure and and other cardiac related diagnoses
Coronary Care Unit
CVICU. Aspecific ICU for patients following open-heart surgery. In general considered to be the most critical and highly specialized ICU. They may also care for heart transplant patients.
CVICU
(ED) The unit that cares for patients who need urgent or emergent care due to an illness or injury. The acuity of these units varies widely. In general, Level III is the highest acuity, keeping all serious trauma and most burns, Level II are very acute, caring for most trauma, cardiac, but usually not burn. Level I or units with no level are lower acuity and patients with serious illness or trauma are either not brought to this facility or transferred out.
Emergency Department
This is the AMN Healthcare term used for nurses who come from very small facilities and have experience in all areas, but at a low acuity level. In general, they travel to smaller facilities, slowing increasing in size as their skills increase
Generalist
Services, including nursing, OT, speech, PT, etc that are offered in the patients home. Generally the health care provider goes to the patients home 1-3 times weekly. Usually patients are in home health to recover from an acute problem, like an infection or post surgery
Home Health
Can be inpatient or out patient service that are offered to terminally ill patients with the emphasis on keeping the patient comfortable, rather than curing the patient
Hospice
The unit where the sickest patients are cared for, very technological, low nurse patient ratio.
ICU
(L and D) Unit that monitors and cares for patients in labor and delivering patients. May be combined with recover and/or post partum. May want nurses who can “circulate” or “scrub” on cesarean sections
Labor and Delivery
MS. The basic unit for patients who need to be in the hospital. Nurses on these units care for patients with a variety of diagnoses including gastrointestinal problems, lung problems, cardiac problems (low level), pre or post surgery
(Med Surg) Medical Surgical
(Tele refers to the Telemetry packs that are the mobile cardiac monitoring units) Step down from an ICU but less acute than PCU. PT’s require cardiac monitoring but generally there are no IV blood pressure or heart rhythm medications, no ventilators.
MS Tele/Med Surg
(Neuro) unit with patients with problems related to the brain or spinal cord like stroke, brain injury, epilepsy, paraplegia, brain tumors, other brain surgeries. Often combined with Ortho
Neurology/ Neurosurgery
Units that cares for newborns who are healthy. Often combined with post partum or labor, post partum and newborn together
Newborn Nursery
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. A highly specialized unit to care for very sick newborns including those born prematurely, those with heart or other problems, addicted newborns, newborns with infections.
NICU
(ONC) Specialized unit caring for patients with cancer, usually during the acute phase of giving chemotherapy or radiation therapy. PTS tend to have a high acuity on these units
Oncology
