When I was first contacted by the Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals (ACVP) to write this article on one of the challenges of cath lab managers today, I really had to think about how I would approach the topic of staffing shortages. I thought the best way was to simply write about my personal experience as Director of Invasive Cardiology Services. Some of what I write may be controversial, but I ask that you keep an open mind. We must all think creatively about ways to bring additional staff into our labs.

What is the size of your cath lab facility and number of staff members? Located on Florida’s southwest coast, Charlotte Regional Medical Center is an acute care facility specializing in cardiac care. It is also home to two cardiac catheterization labs, and an additional lab dedicated solely to electrophysiology (EP). Our staff includes 16 full-time employees comprised of:• one LPN • six RNs • one RRT • four RT(R)s • one RCIS • one CVT • one manager • one director In addition to their dedication and loyalty, some of our staff members have been at this facility for more than 20 years.

I am a classically trained cardiac and vascular surgeon and a member of the Cardiovascular Institute of the South, a group in which equal clinical and equitable partnerships have been formed between cardiologists and surgeons. This group actually encompasses approximately 45 cardiologists and 9 cardiovascular surgeons who work intimately together, so I learned long ago to respect the cath lab.

This monthly column reviews important points of distinction in DES, from characteristics to techniques, so that physicians have valuable and relevant information about this revolutionary technology.

In 2003, Shore Memorial Hospital, a not-for-profit, 296-licensed bed facility in southern New Jersey, installed Medcon’s TCS Symphony to supply all cardiac image and information management requirements. The installation included a complete network and archive, with five multi-modality review stations connected to three echo machines, three vascular ultrasound stations and one cath lab.

Our vascular closure devices today have significant limitations (Table 1). What we really need to do is to develop an “ideal” vascular closure device (VCD). Thankfully, there are new technologies coming out that hopefully are addressing this issue. Figure 1 is a novel device called the Angiolink EVS™ staple device. It is not yet FDA-approved, but Angiolink has just finished doing a pivotal trial and anticipate approval in the fall of 2004. We have worked on this project with Angiolink (Tauton, Massachusetts) for 4 years.

Discussion group members responded to the questions below, and emails are included for any questions readers may have regarding a particular lab’s policies. If you’d like to join our group, please send an email to: cathlabdigest@hotmail.com

Cath Lab Digest talks to Heartlab CEO Robert Petrocelli, who shares his perspective on the information systems market and dissects current trends for readers planning for the future in their cath lab.

I am a Cardiovascular Clinical Nurse Specialist currently consulting for medical device companies in the field of interventional cardiology. I recently acquired CCA (Cardiac Care Associate) certification through the American College of Cardiology for my collaborative work in manuscript writing and publications with Drs. Peter Fitzgerald, Yasuhiro Honda and Paul Yock of Stanford Hospital. My interventional experience began in 1987 as a CV Research Nurse at the San Francisco Heart Institute, working for Drs. Richard Myler and Simon Stertzer. Prior to this, my clinical background included ICU Staff Educator, ICU Head Nurse, and staff nurse in Burn/Trauma, Medical, Respiratory, and Cardiac Surgical ICUs. I received my undergraduate degree from Alfred University (Alfred, New York) and my MS from Boston University. I’ve also had the opportunity to work at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, Massachusetts) and the University of Michigan Medical Center (Ann Arbor, Michigan).