The practice of nursing requires specialized knowledge, judgment, and skills to provide care to groups and individuals. The RN utilizes knowledge derived from the principles of biological, physical, behavioral, social, and nursing sciences to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate patient care. All care is provided based on the concepts inherent in the model of care for TCH which promotes an on-going partnership between patients and families and the team of healthcare providers. The care is culturally based and age specific. The RN adheres to American Nursing Association (ANA) code of ethics and to the scope of practice described in the Ohio Nurse Practice Act.

The Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) is a 28-bed cardiovascular recovery and intensive care unit. It is a fast-paced environment where state-of-the-art technology, nationally recognized standards of care and critical thinking skills are utilized by the all-RN staff to provide compassionate patient and family-centered care. Our CVICU RN's are highly proficient in pre-operative support as well as immediate post-operative recovery of cardiovascular procedures. This includes open heart surgery, heart transplants, ventricular assist device implantation, and various interventional and structural heart procedures. Acute cardiology and heart failure patients also receive care in CVICU. These high acuity patients are managed many times on inotropic support or temporary left and right ventricular devices. Our highly competent nurses care for patients with Impellas, IABP's, ECMO, C-Mag and in the near future Total Artificial Hearts. Staff expertly manage all types of invasive lines, medications, hemodynamic needs, continuous dialysis and ultrafiltration machines, and various ventricular assist devices both permanent and temporary. Good patient outcomes and patient safety is our number one priority, and our nurses are highly supported by their leadership and interdisciplinary teams.