What is a CVOR nurse? Do you consider yourself a compassionate and caring individual, who is looking for a meaningful career? Are you interested in the medical field but don’t want to pursue an MD or RN degree? Then you may have just stumbled upon the perfect profession.
A CVOR nurse is a registered nurse who specializes in Cardiovascular Operating Room (CVOR) procedures.
These nurses take on an important role in many surgeries involving the heart, lungs, and arteries.
In addition to providing nursing expertise before, during, and after the surgery, these professionals may be involved in post-operative care as well.
What Is a CVOR Nurse?
A CVOR nurse is a specialized type of nurse who provides care for patients before, during, and after cardiovascular surgery.
CVOR stands for “cardio-vascular operating room” and these nurses specialize in caring for patients before and after open-heart surgeries such as coronary artery bypass grafts.
A Certified or Registered Vocational Nurse (CVOR/RVN) is an RN who provides direct patient care tasks including providing assessment, treatments, medication administration and monitoring of vital signs.
They have specific qualifications to be able to assess conditions quickly, critically analyze issues within the patient’s condition based on normal changes within the particular situation, recommend appropriate treatments while considering financial aspects necessary to make sure treatment provided is within the budget limitations of their institution.
CVO (cardiovascular) nurses provide direct patient care and often focus on preoperative education and assessment, risk stratification and postoperative monitoring.
Here’s what you need to know about the role of a CVOR nurse…
Education Requirements
CVOR nurses must have at least an Associate’s degree in Nursing from an accredited institution or higher.
Furthermore, they must be certified by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses as Registered Nurses and complete additional courses in emergency nursing science, critical care, pharmacology, cardiac arrhythmias, ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator), hemodynamics, and other related topics.
Professional Responsibilities
CVOR nurses are responsible for providing quality patient care to those undergoing heart surgery or having cardiovascular procedures at hospitals or other medical facilities.
They assist with preparing the patient prior to their procedure; they perform pre-operative patient assessments; they monitor vital signs during the procedure; they provide postoperative care, including wound dressings; they assess the patient’s progress periodically throughout recovery; they ensure proper instrument management so that all materials used meet sterilization standards; lastly, they may be tasked with teaching new team members about standard practice protocols for CVOR setting.
In addition to the above duties, CVOR nurses must be able to work collaboratively with other healthcare professionals in order to provide comprehensive post-operative care which may include physical therapy or respiratory therapy interventions.
Skills & Qualifications
CVOR nurses must possess excellent communication skills as well as physical stamina because these positions can require long hours of standing upright while assisting surgeons currently working on the heart of a patient.
In addition to being detail oriented, you also must be able to make quick decisions under pressure when treating patients in crisis situations.
You also should have a comprehensive understanding of cardiac anatomy/physiology – including arrhythmias – as well as providing critical nursing care immediately following surgery lasting from 2 hours up to 8 hours in length.
Finally it is important that any prospective CVOR nurse possess excellent problem-solving abilities to identify complications quickly before further damage can occur.
Conclusion
Becoming a successful CVOR Nurse requires formal education followed by additional certifications specialized certification courses related to this field of study.
It also requires strong knowledge of anatomy/physiology associated with cardiac health problems plus experience in providing nursing care immediately following lengthy surgeries that involve serious risks if complications arise during operation or post-op restoration periods.
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Taking all this into consideration – becoming a successful CVOR Nurse is no easy feat but it is certainly rewarding!
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