REQUIRED ON ALL DARTMOUTH JOBS (NURSING AND ALLIED) All travelers must have 1 year of Level I Trauma experience within the last three years in a hospital with 300+ beds Rotating and Night Shift ONLY Start: 10/25/26 (unit opens 11/8/26)9 Needs! The 16-bed Cardiovascular Progressive Care Unit (CVPCU) on L4WA is a newly established unit within the Heart and Vascular Center, anticipated to open in November 2026. CVPCU will provide an important bridge between the Heart and Vascular Unit and the Cardiovascular Critical Care Unit (CVCC), caring for complex patients who require a higher level of monitoring and nursing care than an acute care setting can provide but do not require intensive care.
The patient population will include both cardiovascular medicine and cardiothoracic surgery patients, including those transitioning from CVCC following critical illness, patients recovering from cardiovascular procedures, and patients requiring a higher level of care from other areas of the hospital. RNs will care for a complex cardiovascular population in a 1:3 nurse-to-patient ratio, utilizing and strengthening their cardiovascular assessment, telemetry, clinical judgment, and early recognition of patient deterioration skills.
Specialized nursing skills and experiences on the unit will include continuous invasive pressure monitoring, vasopressor and inotrope infusion management, transvenous and epicardial temporary pacing, chest tube management, phlebotomy, and peripheral IV insertion. This environment provides an opportunity for experienced progressive care, step-down, telemetry, cardiovascular, and critical care RNs to care for higher-acuity cardiovascular patients while continuing to develop their clinical expertise in a collaborative progressive care setting.
Credentials Required: 2 years of Progressive level of care nursing experience or Critical Care nursing experiencePrimary continuous bedside monitoring (ECG, SpO2, BP, RR)Cardiology specialty experienceCardiac surgery specialty experienceACLS certifiedContinuous invasive pressure monitoring (Arterial Line, CVP monitoring)Temporary pacing (transvenous pacing, epicardial wire pacing)Vasopressor infusion management (phenylephrine, norepinephrine) Inotrope infusion management (milrinone, dobutamine)Chest tube managementPhlebotomy Peripheral IV insertionCredentials Preferred:2 years of Critical care experience highly preferred (does not have to be cardiac ICU specific)Charge RN experienceRN precepting experienceUnit Dress Code: any color scrubs & DHMC dress code policy