Cardiac Catheterization Lab Nurse – Career and Education Profile

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Cardiac catheterization lab nurse work with patients to measure how well the heart is working. Typically, this kind of nurse assists a doctor or team of doctors with the cardiac catheterization process, but can also perform other nursing tasks.

Job Responsibilities

While a cardiac cath lab nurse most commonly deals with the catheterization process, but you could also help with angioplasties, valvuloplasties, implanting heart devices, and more. The exact tasks you’ll do depend on your level of education, but you could do things such as preparing the patient for his or her procedure, assisting the doctor during the procedure, and teaching the patient about home care. You could also help perform research tasks in a true lab setting, working with researchers to examine the results of a patient’s tests.

Salary and Career Options

The salary you can expect depends on the type of nurse you become – the more education you have, the more money you will make in most cases. You can also make more money by working with a specific group of people, such as infants, or working in a specialized hospital. On average, cardiac cath lab nurses make $81,000 annually, according to Indeed.com.

Educational Requirements

Your first step to becoming a cardiac cath lab nurse is to become an RN, which requires an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in the field. Once you have a BSN, you can go on to get your master’s degree, which allows you to learn more about this specific medical field so you’re better prepared to work with heart disease patients. Your classes will focus on both general nursing skills and more specialized skills that you need for catheterization, and you’ll also participate in hands-on learning through clinical work at a medical facility with real cardiac patients.

LPN to RN College Programs

While several schools have online nursing degrees available, few offer LPN to RN programs. What's the good news? We have listed some accredited schools below that do offer the program in addition to schools with other bridge programs available. Find out more information and contact each school by using any of the links below.

Indiana State University—Indiana State University offers a robust online program designed for LPNs wanting to become registered nurses and earn their BSN degree. Since ISU's credits transfer to over 80 campus majors, this is an ideal program for people wanting to open opportunities for their career down the road.

The College Network—The College Network is a partnership with several universities and organizations like the National League for Nursing that focuses on online education and programs, with several courses for nurses or those interested in a nursing career. Specifically, TCN helps students prepare for their PN and RN licensures and move on to earn graduate degrees.

Other Nursing Degrees

Walden University—Walden University is typically a graduate school with several masters and doctoral programs available, but they do have BSN and RN to MSN bridge programs available. Walden is based out of Minneapolis and offers several options in transferring your previously earned credits to and from (or even within) the school.

Kaplan University—Kaplan University is one of the nation's largest and leading online educators and offers several bridge programs for registered nurses to earn their BSN or MSN degree. If you have previously earned credits, Kaplan makes it easy for you to transfer to any one of their undergraduate or graduate programs.

Herzing University—While Herzing University does not offer an undergraduate nursing degree, it is a great choice for working nurses wanting to pursue leadership positions in Nurse Education or Management. With over 10 campuses and 45 online programs available, Herzing has a massive network that makes it easy to transfer to or from the school.

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