PCU and Telemetry Nurses Find Fun and Career Growth on the Road
By Melissa Hagstrom, contributor
Telemetry and progressive care unit (PCU) nurses have the job of caring for people as they transition from critical care. Travel nursing assignments in these evolving specialties allow nurses to expand their skill sets, work with a variety of patient populations and gain valuable exposure to different types of units.
Although the terms are often used interchangeably, PCU and telemetry specialties can be very different depending on the unit, the hospital and even the region.
“PCU and telemetry units are different at every hospital,” explained Holly Pharr, senior recruitment manager at Medical Express, and AMN Healthcare company. “A telemetry unit at one hospital might be a PCU unit at another and vice versa, so when I look at assignments, depending on the RN’s background, it’s possible to progress from a telemetry RN to a PCU through assignments.”
After graduating from nursing school in Alabama, James “Patrick” Murphy, RN, decided to take his career as a PCU/tele/ICU nurse on the road.
“I had a friend who worked for Medical Express and did emergency department travel,” Murphy said. When he considered becoming a traveler, she recommended her travel nursing agency to him. “I’m so glad she did.”
Murphy decided to pursue travel nursing because of the opportunity it provided--primarily the ability to learn new skills, see new places and meet new people.
“I think you get a lot of opportunity to learn different ways that hospitals in different areas do things. It’s just really good experience all around, both professionally and personally.”
Since starting his travel career with Medical Express last fall, Murphy has taken two telemetry contracts in California, including one that asked him to extend.
“In Downey, the units I worked on were standard telemetry step-down units, and the patients were typical cardiac and respiratory patients. Most of the work on these types of units is general med–surg; the patients are just more ill,” he said. “At my current assignment in Hollywood, the patients are a little more critical in the units I am on. Many are ventilator-dependent and on high-risk medications.”
Rikki Logana, RN, a PCU travel nurse with NursesRx, an AMN Healthcare company, is on her third assignment and has been able to gain experience in multiple types of units, including a neuro-telemetry unit in Texas, a med–surg/oncology unit in Nevada and a PCU unit in California. Prior to traveling, Logana worked at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., which she said gave her a solid foundation to start her career as a travel nurse.
“I never had much neuro experience, so my first assignment being on this type of unit was very interesting. I really got to learn a lot about closed head injuries, strokes and back surgeries,” she said. “I was intimidated at first, but the nursing staff was really supportive.”
In addition to bolstering his clinical expertise, travel nursing has also helped Murphy become more flexible and able to think on his feet.
“As a travel nurse in these specialties, you have to learn very quickly because you only have a short orientation and then you are on your own,” he explained.
Because Logana has expanded her scope of practice and knowledge base through traveling, she is often called upon as a resource for other nurses who may have telemetry- or PCU-related questions.
“At my current assignment, the nurses here really look at us PCU nurses as a reference and rely on us a lot,” she said. “I love that.”
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