Medical

The Department of Medical Nursing provides care to patients with acute and chronic medical diagnoses through the critical, acute, and rehabilitative phases of their hospital stays. Several general and many specialty units comprise the Department of Medical Nursing. These specialty units, offering the latest in disease-specific care and specialty nursing practice, include oncology, medical and cardiac intensive care, neuroscience and acute rehabilitation.

>> Learn more about medical nursing at HUP

Surgical

Penn's Surgical Nursing Units are preeminent in cutting-edge technology and expert nursing care. The surgical specialties include trauma, gastrointestinal, otorhinolaryngology, urology, cardiac, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, vascular, thoracic, plastics, bariatrics, gynecology, maxillofacial, and transplant.

Professional nurses in our Surgical Intensive Care Units provide complex care to patients of all surgical specialties. Our Level 1 Trauma Unit is an AACN awarded Beacon Unit. Our transplant program is the busiest in the region and affords our nurses the opportunity to care for patients undergoing all of the major body organ transplants.

>> Learn more about surgical nursing at HUP

Perioperative

The Perioperative Services Department at HUP includes the Operating Room (OR), the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), the Ambulatory Procedure Unit (APU) and Endoscopy Suite. Our Operating Room nurses are key members of the surgical team. They provide the highest level of care to patients during their surgical procedure.

With 12 specialty areas, the OR performs a variety of surgical procedures including cardiac, vascular, transplant, trauma and neurosurgery in a state-of-the-art environment. The highly skilled nurses in the Ambulatory Procedure Unit (APU) provide a superior level of care to those who have undergone outpatient surgical procedures.

The nurses in the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) combine their critical care nursing skills with their expert surgical knowledge to care for patients immediately following a variety of complex surgical procedures.

Gateway to the Operating Room
The Gateway to the Operating Room (OR) is a six month long, comprehensive orientation program that is open to both experienced RNs and “new to practice” Nurses. During this program, you will learn the fundamental principles of Operating Room Nursing through both formalized classroom instruction and clinical experience. At the completion of the program, you will become a key member of the Operating Room team at one of the most well respected hospitals in the country.

The Operating Room at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania has 31 OR suites and is divided into three zones with 12 specialty areas. In collaboration with experienced staff, educators and preceptors, you will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to function competently as a Registered Nurse in the OR.

The core competencies that you will learn include:

• Pre-operative assessments
• Basic OR case prep skills
• Scrub and circulate during procedures
• Safe use of specialty equipment needed for surgery
• Airway management and anesthesia safety
• OR management of trauma patients

Critical Care

Regardless of which unit you select, you will find the collaborative practice and cutting-edge research that are the hallmarks of critical care at HUP:

Medical

• The Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) treats the sickest of cardiac patients including heart failure patients awaiting transplant and those with acute MIs, or cardiogenic shock.
• Our Cardiac Intermediate Care Unit (CICU) unit cares for some of our heart failure patients, even those requiring ventricular assist devices. Other patients are recovering from EPS procedures or being medically managed for failure.
• Our Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) manages the care of critically ill medical patients involving one system or multi-system dysfunction. This varied and complex patient population includes oncology patients, in- house medical codes, liver failure patients awaiting transplant, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Surgical

• Our General Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) manages the care of complex surgical patients including trauma patients admitted from our Level 1 Trauma Emergency Department.
• Our Cardiothoracic SICU manages the patients who have undergone heart and/or lung transplants, CABG, valve repair/replacements, and other cardiothoracic procedures.
• Our SICU Neurotrauma specializes in the care of patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures, those admitted from the ED with brain or spinal cord trauma, and also our liver transplant population.
• Our Universal Bed Unit offers a critical care environment for patients who have undergone serious vascular and thoracic surgical interventions, but are expected to recover quickly and benefit from staying in one unit until discharge.

Our nurses also enjoy cutting-edge technology such as Penn E-lert eICU®. This remote ICU monitoring facility tracks trends and issues alerts if blood pressure or other vital signs deviate from acceptable levels.

Gateway to Critical Care
This unique program provides an excellent opportunity for new to practice nurses to develop the skills needed to become safe and competent in critical care. Working in collaboration with experienced ICU Nurse preceptors, Gateway participants will follow a structured educational plan that outlines and defines competency expectation, patient assignment and preceptor/learner responsibilities.

This is a 16-week program consisting of 100 hours of classroom instruction, 30 hours of lab skills in state of the art clinical labs, and 11 weeks of structured clinical experiences at staged levels. Through lectures, discussions, videotapes, self-learning modules and clinical experience, you'll gain the basic knowledge and skills necessary to care for critically ill patients. Some of the core competencies include:

• Airway and ventilator management
• Cardiac monitoring
• Critical care pharmacology
• Hemodynamic monitoring
• Arterial Blood Gases Analysis/Acid-Based Balance
• Pain/Sedation/Neuromuscular Blockade
• End of life care

The Department of Nursing Development, Education and Life Long Learning will partner with your clinical nurse manager and preceptor to support and assist you through the completion of the program.

Women's Health

Embracing all aspects of women's health, from pregnancy and postpartum to gynecology/oncology, this specialty offers nurses the opportunity to concentrate on the unique physical and emotional needs of women and newborns. This is where you can make a difference for women who have complications of childbirth or undergoing surgery of complex treatments with the primary goal of having a positive outcome. The goal of the nursing care in this specialty is to help women gain control over their personal health and to promote healthy lifestyles.

Our Labor and Delivery unit consists of L&D beds, operating rooms, PACU beds and a perinatal evaluation center. The Mother Baby Unit cares for both the antepartum and postpartum patient with a strong focus on family centered care.

The Intensive Care Nursery (ICN) at HUP is a Level III unit where our highly skilled nursing staff provides top-notch care to our smallest patients. ICN nurses attend deliveries with the neonatal team and assist with emergency measures to stabilize and transfer neonates to the unit. As the neonate transitions, the care is focused on discharge planning and assisting the family in acquiring the necessary skills to care for their infant at home.

The Women's Health Unit cares for both inpatient and outpatients undergoing gynecological surgery and therapies related to oncology such as chemotherapy and radiation and antepartum women.

>> Learn more about women's health nursing at HUP

Psychiatry

Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing at HUP focuses on the provision of patient and family care delivered via a primary nursing approach where the patient is viewed from a biopsychosocial perspective. We place emphasis on identifying the patient's strengths and potential in the least restrictive manner.

Our Psychiatric Emergency Evaluation Center provides comprehensive psychiatric evaluation, crisis intervention and behavioral stabilization of patients with psychiatric emergencies.

On our inpatient psychiatric unit, we specialize in the care of patients with neuropsychiatric disorders, patients with affective disorders, geropsychiatric and medical psychiatric patients and well as patients undergoing ECT. Patients are admitted on a voluntary or involuntary commitment status.

Emergency Department

HUP is a leading regional resource Level I trauma center in the state of Pennsylvania. The PENNSTAR Flight Team and Trauma Service, the Medical Center's critical care flight program, is an integral component to our delivery of emergency care services within the Greater Philadelphia region.

Nurses seeking to make the move from novice to expert in the specialty of Emergency Medicine will find all the tools needed to make a successful transition here at HUP. We offer specialized courses for trauma nurse education, including the Advanced Trauma Care for Nurses course.

Need an appointment? Request one online 24 hours/day, 7 days/week or call 800-789-PENN (7366) to speak to a referral counselor.