That's an interesting question. The answer to that question depends to some extent on the hospital where you work. I highly recommend working for a non-profit hospital. When I was a new nurse, I did not know there was such a difference between for profit and non-profit hospitals. I went to work at a for profit hospital. I have never worked so hard in my life. The Telemetry floor was extremely busy and it was not unusual to miss breaks and take a 5 to 10 minute lunch. My shift would usually start with patient alarms going off. There was report to take and usually two admissions at the beginning of the shift. There were assessments q 4 hours, medication passes, vital signs, and endless patient requests. There were different types of drips, such as antibiotics, blood transfusions, and occasionally dopamine. Since it was a cardiac floor, codes were not uncommon. When a code took place, every available nurse went to the code. There is one thing I will say about working at that hospital. I learned more about nursing than anywhere else I worked. Even though Telemetry can be extremely challenging, it can also be very rewarding.
