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What's It Like For Critical Care RNs?
Jennifer C., RN, ICU
View the video.
"I have gathered so much knowledge from different departments in my 10 years at John Muir Health, and I can use it all in the ICU. Now I'm a Preceptor and I tell my students...you can not only move up in your career to different levels, but you can also make lateral moves that help fit your lifestyle."
The Joint Commission recently awarded John Muir Health's Concord and Walnut Creek campuses Primary Stroke Center Certification. Our medical centers are the first in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, and two of 130 certified nationwide to receive this certification.
At Walnut Creek, Critical Care Nurses appreciate the John Muir Health Trauma Program that reflects the medical center's commitment to Critical Care, with its strong emphasis on Emergency Medicine, Surgery, Orthopedics, Neurosciences, Cardiac Care, and Rehabilitation. Here you will be involved in ultimate teamwork in a collegial environment where passion and collaboration are highly valued.
As an experienced nurse, you will have the opportunity to work in a supportive environment and utilize a wide range of your Critical Care nursing skills. As a newly graduated RN in the critical care setting, you will participate in an extensive training program that will prepare you for success in this nursing specialty.
The Concord campus is a preeminent center for sophisticated cancer and cardiac care, including open heart surgery and interventional cardiology. Other specialty areas include General Surgery, Orthopedics and Neurology. Because of the high level of patient acuity demands, it is imperative that we stay at the forefront of new technologies.
Information Technology is an essential partner in our recently implemented Electronic Medical Records, and in ensuring the delivery of quality patient care at our facilities. Another partnership between our clinical and Information Technology systems is the new Critical Vision eICU. This telemedicine program augments the bedside care teams at John Muir Health, providing patients and caregivers with support from intensivists and experienced critical care nurses who work in a remote command center. It is part of our $40 million patient safety initiative that has been in place for years.
John Muir Health also has one of the nation's top neuroscience programs, and is designated as a Neuroscience Center of Excellence (COE), according to the 2006 Neuroscience Center of Excellence Survey, co-sponsored by NeuroSource, Inc., Chicago, IL and HealthTech, San Francisco, CA.
The John Muir Critical Care units at the Walnut Creek campus provide 35 beds for critically ill adult patients. The staff in the Intensive care Unit and the Neuro ICU care for patients with a variety of trauma, surgical, and neuroscience diagnoses. The nurses in the Cardiac Care Unit treat critically ill patients with primarily cardiac and medical conditions.
Our staff comes to us with a rich and diverse professional background in nursing Some experienced Med/Surg nurses transfer to Critical Care because they seek new professional challenges. New grads in Critical Care have typically completed their senior preceptorship in our units and have demonstrated a readiness to enter this nursing specialty. For the experienced Critical Care nurse who comes to us without prior experience in Neuro or Trauma nursing, we provide additional didactic education using the Essentials of Critical Care Orientation. The ECCO training program utilizes education modules developed by the American Association for Critical Care Nurses to establish competency standards for critical care education. This solid didactic education program is followed by an extensive clinical preceptorship, to ensure success for the new nurse in Critical Care at John Muir.
The dedicated nurses in our Critical Care units are committed to lifelong learning in a professionally challenging, intellectually stimulating, and collegial environment. You will utilize all of your skills as you care for patients who have undergone procedures that are not performed at the average community hospital. Diagnoses and core programs include: Acoustic Neuroma, Aneurisms (Cerebral), AVM, Brain Injury and Tumors, Dementia, Pituitary Tumors, Spine Care, Spinal Stenosis, Spinal Tumors, Stroke/Brain Attack/CVA, and Trigeminal Neuralgia.
Seeking new critical care challenges? Consider applying at John Muir Health.