Cardiac Rehab: Week 1

       I have begun my cardiac rehab internship at Valley Hospital. I was excited to get things started as soon as I walked in. I wasn't sure what to expect since this was my first time in a clinical setting.  I am working with about 6 nurses that are rotating between outpatient and inpatient. I stayed with Pat, the clinical supervisor, on the first day. We worked with inpatient all morning. Before entering each room, she explained the patient's case and what the goal was. I would take the patient's pulse oxygen as Pat took the blood pressure. She also educated each patient on how to safely move around, exercise, and diet. Pat explained everything to me as well, including information on the cardiac rehab program that each patient is recommended to complete.

     The days when the cardiac patients come to the gym for their exercise sessions are the busiest. These are the days I get to be hands on and constantly be moving. Blood pressure, RPE, and METS are recorded throughout the session. The patients rotate among the machines in the gym while wearing a EKG monitor. A nurse is always sitting by the computer monitoring the EKG rhythms.

Finally, Thursdays are evaluation days. I was able to observe an evaluation with Pat this week. It will be interesting to see how each patient changes from day 1 to the last day of the program. Overall, the staff has been very helpful and is constantly teaching me. It was a great week and I look forward to learning more while interning at Valley.