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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While this article focuses on nurses doing locum jobs at private practices, we hope that these points will still be able to help doctors, pharmacists, dentists, and other healthcare practitioners as well. 1. Start high source: @dan_carl5on Start out by always proposing a rate higher than you would. It doesn’t have to be a lot. Say your desired rate is RM20 an hour. Just mention RM25 as your starting rate. You can slowly reduce it to the price that you sought out initially when discussing with the clinic or institution. You don’t want to be working with people who feel like they have to squeeze the most out of their budget to accommodate you. Such scenarios do not lead to healthy long-term relationships. It’s better to make them feel like they’ve got a good deal. 2. Look for an agreeable outcome source: pixabay Remember, the owner of the clinic wants to fill some gaps in his workforce, and you want to get paid. Think of it as a bridge. Both of you are on either side. The best outcome is if you both meet in the middle. Don’t rip people off. Good negotiation is about both parties walking away feeling like they both got a good deal. If you think that milking out money from people to the point where they are reluctantly agreeing to your prices, think again. That relationship isn’t going to last very long. The best employer (whether they employ you full-time or otherwise) is one that continuously offers you work. They can’t do that if they don’t like you. 3. Be aware of supply in the area source: pixabay A lot of nurses doing locum jobs in the area? That might affect your locum fees. Try to look for clinics or institutions that have an under-supply of part-time nurses. The main reason why your locum employer is paying you below average is probably because a replacement for you is so easy to find. Price is a reflection of the demand for the locum jobs and the supply of those capable of doing it in the area. This is commonly known as the law of supply and demand in economics. It applies here as well. 4. Rates are not permanent source: here Rates are not set in stone. Even if you’ve negotiated quite a while ago, you can still make some changes if you approach the employer tactfully. Explain that you’ve been here for a while, and that you haven’t let him/her down. So you’d like an increase in your rates. The worst thing that can happen is they say no. Don’t worry. It’s not the end of the world. At least you tried. 5. Negotiate other aspects of your rates source: pixabay While there is a fixed rate for your schedule, try to consider other aspects as well. Things like emergency calls, or last-minute requests to come in for locum. Make it clear to the employer that these are out-of-the-norm occurrences, and that you would like to be compensated accordingly. 6. Losing locum jobs is not necessarily a bad thing source: blupics When increasing your rates, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 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It’s free, easy to use, and safe. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Set up a job alert and we’ll notify you by email whenever positions that suit your preferences are available. All of our pages are mobile-responsive, so you can take your applications with you on the go. Our Most Popular Articles Think About These 5 Things Before You Decide On A Specialization 5 Things Nurses Need To Know To Be Paid More 10 Ways Malaysian Nurses Can Increase Their Income

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Normal way: Build it from scratch. Tools needed: PC, tablet, smartphone. Word editing software needed. Building your résumé from scratch allows you to customize every single aspect of that you can present to your future employer. Start by writing down your info. Be concise, truthful, and accurate. Then add your work experience , or educational background. As previously mentioned, this depends on whether you’re still studying or have already worked. Put it in reverse-chonological order; meaning the latest job first, and the first job last. Same with education. Add in your skills. It helps employers a lot if you could put in the degree of proficiency. To keep it simple, just rate it from 1-5. For example, ANSYS = ⅘ , SolidWorks = ⅗, verbal communication ⅗, and so on. Some skills to add include software (ANSYS, SPSS), or equipment handling (telemetry, ECG, cardiographs). Don’t forget to add in your language ability. When working in sectors like healthcare, where you deal with a diverse set of people (especially in multi-cultural Malaysia!) it helps to be bi- or trilingual. Employers love that. Now that you’ve added all you have to add, start by styling the text appropriately. A good rule to follow is to enlarge each point by a few titles, then bold it, so the reader can quickly skim through your résumé. Ensure there is enough spacing. Think of whitespace as breathing room. You want your text to be able to breathe in order to be legible. A cramped document is not fun to read. Add in the headers and footers. A good use of headers would be your name and contact number , in 9-pt font. Employers often put your résumé in a stack, and putting something to identify you there would help a great deal. You can put a page number on the footer for continuity purposes. View over the entire document. Ensure the margins are properly aligned. Is the font legible? Clear? Then head over to save and print it out. You’re done! The creative approach With easy application processes from job portals like MIMS Career, employers now are as equally likely to read your résumé in a digital format, on a screen. This allows for some creativity, as current screens can now reproduce millions of colors, in different shapes and sizes. Remember not to overdo a creative design; keep it subtle, keep it clean, and keep the information legible. Easy way: Use an online résumé builder. Tools needed: PC, with keyboard and mouse recommended. An internet connection is important. My favorite résumé builder is, by far, Novorésumé . Very intuitive controls. A good degree of customization available. Their presets are killer design. They’ve matched out complementary colors in each of their templates so you don’t have to. They’re all subtle, yet sophisticated. Clean, yet intricate. It’s also multi-lingual, so you can craft your Bahasa Malaysia résumé in it as well. Have a look at Elon Musk’s résumé, generated by Novorésumé. 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They are scalable at various dpi on-screen. Whitespace layout Whitespace is space where there’s no stuff. Use it to define hierarchy by putting some space between your education, work, skills, and information sections. Use that whitespace to build flow for the résumé reader. Conclusion That’s it! It all depends on how much time and effort you can put in to your résumé. Remember to keep it simple, accurate info, and not too long; 2 pages should be the absolute maximum. You what would be a great use of that résumé? Use it when applying for jobs in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and Indonesia with our job portal, MIMS Career .. A lot of nurses, doctors, and other healthcare practitioners have been using the service, and many of them have landed the jobs at the location they’ve always wanted. Signup and apply now using our 1-click application feature. It’s fast, safe, and free. Any problems? Email us at mycareer@mims.com for more inquiries.

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