A Career in Cardiology

Oct 9, 2017

1. Specialization tasks
2. Pathway
3. Common job scopes
4. Common terms
5. Career opportunities

Cardiology

Cardiology is a branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the heart as well as parts of the circulatory system the field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology. Physicians who specialize in cardiac surgery are called cardiothoracic surgeons or cardiac surgeons. The supporting role of the surgeons and physicians are cardiology nurses.

Although the cardiovascular system is inextricably linked to blood, cardiology is relatively unconcerned with hematology and its diseases. Some obvious exceptions that affect the function of the heart would be blood tests, decreased oxygen carrying capacity, and coagulopathies.

Coagulopathies

source: Resus.me

Specialization Tasks

All cardiologists study the disorders of the heart and all cardiology nurses are trained to take care of either adult or children conditions. This is due to differing aspects of training for adult and paediatric physiology. Surgical aspects are not included in cardiology and are in the domain of cardiothoracic surgery.

For example, coronary artery bypass surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass are both surgical procedures performed by surgeons, and not cardiologists. As a nurse, your task will be that of assisting the cardiologists in this matter. A properly-trained cardiology nurse would have the necessary critical thinking in order to draw conclusions to make meaningful impact of treatment.

Common tasks in the wards that you might have to do include the insertion of stents, pacemakers, and valves.

Pathway

Cardiology OT

source: verywell

Cardiology is a specialty of internal medicine. To be a cardiology nurse, a three-year work experience followed by a post-basic or relevant course is required. It is possible to sub-specialize in Malaysia. Recognized sub-specialties in cardiology for Malaysia are cardiac electrophysiology, echocardiography, interventional cardiology, and nuclear cardiology.

Currently there is insufficient data for Malaysia, for salary, but it is guaranteed to be higher or on par with other similar nursing specialists.

Common job scopes

Cardiology is a vast field. Not only does it involve the heart and its systems, it also involves supporting systems such as haematology and its diseases. It is important to know and train for this when pursuing this specialization.

Cardiac electrophysiology

An example of echocardiography

An example of echocardiography

This is the science of elucidating, diagnosing, and treating the electrical activities of the heart. The term is usually used to desccribe studies of such phenomena by invasive catheter recording of spontaneous activity as well as of cardiac responses to programmed electrical stimulations. These studies are performed to assess complex arrythmias, relieve symptoms, evauate abnormal ECGs, assess risk of developing arrhythmias in the future, and to design treatment.

Cardiac examination

The cardiology nurse is able to carry out cardiac examinations of patients. It is performed as part of a physical examination, or when a patient presents with chest pain suggestive of a cardiovascular pathology. It would typically be modified depending on the indication and integrated with other examinations especially the respiratory examination. Like all medical examinations, the cardiac examination follows the standard structure of inspection, palpation, and auscultation.

Paediatric cardiology

Paediatric cardiology

source

Paediatric cardiology is a specialty of paediatrics. To be a paediatric cardiology nurse, one must complete at least three years of registered working experience and pass all the required courses. Adult cardiology certifications are not valid due to differences in physiology in children.

Common complications that you will see as a nurse practicing paediatric cardiology are paediatric hypertension, paediatric hyperlipidemia, heart palpitations and arryhthmias.

Diagnostic tests

Diagnostic tests in cardiology are the methods of identifying heart conditions associated with healthy vs. unhealthy pathology heart function. It is commonly started by obtaining a medical history, followed by auscultation. Blood tests soon precede after, and imaging can be done on a need-to-do basis.

Common terms

1. Tetralogy of Fallot

It is the most common congenital ehart disease arising in 1-3 cases per 1000 births. The cause of this defect is a ventricular septal defect and an overriding aorta. These two defects combined causes deoxygenated blood to bypass the lungs and going right back into the circulatory system. The modified Blalock-Taussig is used as a treatment for this condition.

2. Pulmonary atresia

This happens in 7-8 births per 100,000 and is characterized by the aorta brancing out of the right ventricle. It causes deoxygenated blood to bypass the lungs and enter the circulatory system. Fixing it can by done by a team of cardiologists and nurses by redirecting the aorta and fixing the right ventricle-pulmonary artery connection in surgeries.

3. Double Outlet Right Ventricle

Double outlet right ventricle is when both great arteries, the pulmonary artery and the aorta, are connected to the right ventricle. There is usually a ventricle in different particular places depending on the variations of DORV, typically 50% are subaortic. A VSD closure is the most common form of treatment for this condition.

Career opportunities

Search for high-paying cardiology nursing jobs on MIMS Career. Browse, save, and apply for nursing jobs, all in one-click. Take the opportunity for higher pay and better work locations. Our pages are all mobile-responsive, allowing you to take that leap for a better job whenever, wherever you are. All our job postings are heavily screened to prevent scams and mistrustful behavior.

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About Australia Register with NMBA Apply for skills assessment with AMNAC Get on AHPRA online public register Pass the AMNAC skills assessment Living in Australia About Australia Because it was geographically isolated as an island for millions of years, many species can only be found on the Australian sub-continent. Australia is a rapidly advancing country: it is the 13th-largest economy, and is ninth on the list of income-per-capita. It ranks highly in terms of quality of life, healthcare, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and human rights. An influx in migration from all over the globe to Australia has resulted in the country becoming a rich, diverse, and friendly melting pot of cultures and ideas. Register with NMBA The process of migrating to Australia for work as a nurse involves a few regulating bodies. In a nutshell, in order to practice nursing, you’d have to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA). This board handles your qualifications, and deems your education to be relevant, meeting Australian standards. Then you have to apply with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council, or ANMAC. This body takes into account your work experience, and handles your migration to Australia. It is possible to be accepted by the NMBA, but rejected by the ANMAC. The suggested pathway is to register with the NMBA first. For registration, they will assess you on three things: Criminal history English language skills (a recent result of tests like IELTS or TOEFL is needed) Recency of practice. You need to clear this part if you’ve already been practicing as a registered nurse here in Malaysia. Recent grads without prior work experience need not do this step. Apply for skills assessment with AMNAC Once this is done, and approved by NMBA, you then apply to AMNAC for a skills assessment. This is the application that will approve your migration to Australia. 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