South Building Medical Unit (SBMU)
South Building Medical Unit (SBMU)
Leadership
Lorraine Martino, MSN, RN, NE-BC
Nursing Director
Suzanne Gregory
Clinical Nurse Specialist
About the Unit
SBMU is an 18-bed unit. SBMU is located in the 1958 Building on the ground floor. It is open 24-hours- a-day, 7-days-a-week.
Staff
Head Nurse: Marcia Nettingham, RN
Head Nurse: Irene Radko, RN
Case Manager: Lori Berthcsi, RN
Social Worker: Nicole Schuren
There are 1-2 critical care technicians each shift who assist with basic patient care. Patient monitors are assigned to all behavioral health patients to ensure patients’ safety 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a –week. There is a unit secretary on each shift to perform data entry and secretarial duties.
Patient population
The SBMU nursing staff cares for adult medical cardiology and medical-surgical patients ages 18 years through the lifespan. Patient care for this unit has a variety of cardiac-related diseases including heart failure, angina, and arrhythmias. Others may be here for interventional cardiac therapies and correction of cardiac arrhythmias. Patients may also have secondary diagnoses such as: mental illness and/or behavioral health management issues, diabetes, respiratory disease, anemia, and renal disease, liver disease, and others.
Patient Care Needs
Patients on SBMU receive 1 to 6 nursing care. Patients may require continuous cardiac monitoring and interpretation, frequent vital signs, frequent nursing and ancillary interventions, pulse oximetry, chest tube placement, management of laboratory results, medication administration, blood and blood product transfusions, pain management, intravenous pharmacological agents such as ativan, natrecor, lidocaine, low dose dobutamine, milrinone, bumex, furosemide, renal dose of dopamine and heparin, and others.
About Our Nurses
Nursing care is provided by professional registered nurses competent in the care of medical cardiology patients. Competencies include, but are not limited to:
- EKG certification
- Pain management
- CPR certification
- Provision of respiratory care treatments
- Management of vasoactive, anti-arrhythmic and anticoagulation drug therapies
- Blood glucose monitoring
- I.V. certification
- Blood transfusion
