A team-based approach to caring for female heart patients

When you think of Sharp Grossmont Hospital for Women & Newborns, what services come to mind? Yes, the hospital offers nationally recognized service in childbirth and newborn care. But did you know that it is also a place where women can comfortably recover from heart conditions?

Nestled in the center of Sharp Grossmont Hospital for Women & Newborns is the Women’s Acute Care Cardiac Unit. Sharp Grossmont is the only hospital in San Diego with such a specialized unit.

Female patients who have had a cardiovascular procedure or who may need specific monitoring for their heart condition, may sometimes require a higher level of care while in the hospital. This is where the unit comes in.

Patients recovering in the women’s cardiac unit include those experiencing high blood pressure disorders, congestive heart failure, abnormal heart rhythms, and women who have undergone various cardiovascular procedures, such as cardiac catheterizations, pacemaker insertions or ablations.

“We commonly care for female cardiovascular patients admitted for chest pain, congestive heart failure or dysrhythmias,” says Abigail Bagsic, a registered nurse in the unit. “Along with caring for women who’ve had heart procedures, we frequently care for female patients needing diagnostic tests, such as echocardiograms or stress tests.”

Specialized nurses

Another element that makes Grossmont’s Women’s Acute Care Cardiac Unit special are the nurses who are highly trained in addressing the unique needs of women with cardiovascular disease. Because of the diversity of not only cardiovascular but also non-cardiovascular conditions the unit addresses, the nursing staff is trained in a combination of specialized skills that include:

• Reading and identifying abnormal heart rhythms

• Mastectomy and hysterectomy care

• Wound care

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) care

• Diabetes care

Nurses in the unit also complete an annual competency in performing emergency standing orders per hospital protocol, which serves as a guideline on how to treat patients with a symptomatic arrhythmia.

A team-based approach

For patients who are pregnant and dealing with cardiovascular complications due to their pregnancy, nursing teams from both the obstetrics-gynecology (OBGYN) and cardiovascular specialties work together in a team-based approach to care for such patients. These nurses are trained in obstetrics and gynecological postpartum-focused assessment, fetal heart tracing, lactation education and other vital skills.

“The nursing staff in the Women’s Acute Care Cardiac Unit team up with OBGYN nurses to create a ‘hybrid patient’ program in which both departments are involved in the ongoing care of a pregnant patient while she is admitted,” says Dazel Brebner, supervisor of the Women’s Hospital Observation Unit and Women’s Acute Care Unit. “This is a team-nursing approach that provides the patient with comprehensive nursing care while she is staying in the hospital.”

From pregnancy to older adult life, the staff of the Women’s Acute Care Cardiac Unit is poised to ensure the service they provide prepares women to live fuller lives after they leave the hospital.

“I have cared for women between the ages of 16 to 102, and our goal is always the same,” says Trang Le, a registered nurse in the unit. “That is to provide comfort and support through the process of recovery and assisting patients to regain the strength they need to resume or adjust to life after hospitalization.”

Learn more about heart services at Sharp, and how we advocate for women’s heart health alongside the American Heart Association.