For as long as I can remember, nurses and technologists have clamored, “We are professionals and should be treated as professionals.”

What is the size of your cath lab facility and number of staff members? Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is the principal teaching hospital of University of Medicine & Dentistry in New Jersey (UMDNJ)-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The hospital is a 572-bed Level I trauma center, and is home to the Heart Center of New Jersey, one of New Jersey’s busiest cardiac programs. Our catheterization laboratory has seven cath lab suites and a 12-bay holding area. Five of our labs are used for diagnostic cardiac catheterization and interventions. Two labs are dedicated to intracardiac electrophysiology studies (EPS), ablation, and device implants. Our lab is comprised of 39 registered nurses, three respiratory therapists, one radiology tech and two cardiovascular techs. More than half of the staff members have at least five years of experience in our cath lab.

I graduated in June 2005 from Spokane Community College (Spokane, Washington) as an Invasive Cardiovascular Technician. Prior to my career change, I was formally involved with workplace ergonomics for 12 of my 32 years with Hewlett Packard (HP) and Agilent Technologies. I was certified by HP and Agilent Technologies to practice ergonomics. At the peak of our program, I was the manufacturing ergonomic focal point who reported to our corporate offices regarding our progress in meeting injury and ergonomic metrics. I also had the pleasure of being involved in some of the initial Washington State Ergonomic Toolbox Meetings, held in Spokane, Washington.

This article is reprinted with permission from The Journal of Invasive Cardiology 2005;17(10):560–562. It can be accessed at: http://www.hmpcommunications.com/JIC/displayArticle.cfm?ArticleID=article4711

At Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, we perform approximately 1,440 fluoroscopic procedures per year in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. It is important to monitor and minimize radiation exposure to our pediatric patients as they often require more than one diagnostic or interventional procedure. Most procedures utilize biplane fluoroscopy to define cardiac and pulmonary anatomy of congenital defects and to perform interventions such as angioplasties, dilatations, stent and device placements, and embolizations.

I am currently employed as a cardiac cath and EP lab supervisor, chief of CV and EP technologists at Jordan Hospital. I started my career in the cath lab in 1979, and acquired many international and national certificates. I am also a member of many recognized societies. I have been a cardiac cath lab supervisor at Alkhalidi Medical Center and Jordan Hospital since 1991. I have been the EP lab supervisor since the inception of the EP program in 1999. Over the years, I have trained numerous invasive lab technologists.

On a clear day in Anchorage, the view to the northeast displays the peak of Alaska’s Mount McKinley. As North America’s highest peak, the mountain seems to scrape the top of the sky. From the 2,000-foot-high lowlands, McKinley shoots up 20,320 feet, a greater change in vertical relief than Mount Everest.

Multiple ongoing questions... Your responses are welcome!

Could you tell me a little bit about balloon pumps? I see them occasionally and they are mostly for our critically ill patients. Do they always have to be critically ill?

Cath Lab Digest recognizes and salutes the hard work of this great cath lab team: The Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

Among the many new procedures confronting the cath lab staff is atrial septal defect (ASD)/patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure.

The Osceola Regional Medical Center’s first experience with targeted renal therapy (TRT) utilizing the Benephit™ Infusion System (FlowMedica, Inc., Fremont, CA) occurred on June 22, 2005. This new device is intended as a selective infusion catheter system. It delivers therapeutic agents directly to the renal arteries through a dedicated infusion catheter while allowing simultaneous coronary procedures through a single vessel access site. Since our center’s initial experience in June 2005, fourteen patients with acute renal insufficiency in need of diagnostic cardiac catheterization have successfully received targeted renal therapy (TRT) with the Benephit Infusion System at Osceola Regional Medical Center. Several of these patients had subsequent percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty via the infusion system. This new device is intended to help prevent further kidney dysfunction in patients undergoing coronary or peripheral procedures.¹