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I think we all get a little bit distracted from the main topicstarter's theme

The similar subject was already observed somewhere at this thread

Dear! I am pleased to present my work "electrical Processes in the Body" to you. I hope you will get interested in the results and conclusions of my work. The work is at - http://bocharov.ucoz.com
Sincerely yours, Mikhail Bocharov, PhD

What's a good resource and/or Association that is great for connecting with EP nurses?  We have Midwest hospitals and facilities that are critically in need of EP nurses and have not been successful.  Is this a scarce group of professionals where there are just too few of them available?  Also what is a reasonable salary expectation geographically.

We use much of what was already mentioned above.....


 We have a dedicated anesthesia team whom makes the call on whether to use LMA or intubation. They monitor the airway the whole case under general anesthesia.
There are least one, if not two circulating nurses depending on the workload. RCES or RCIS can circulate as well.
We have a scrub that after the transeptal is performed comes into the monitoring room to run the 3D mapping system (Carto or ESI) or EP Med pacing system.
ACT's are ran every 20-30 minutes depending on the doc.
Acunav or ICE is manipulated by the doc throughout the case and ran by the circulator. All of our staff can run the acunav or do emergent 2D echos.
The 3D mapping is ran by a staff memeber for all cases,but company reps are still present during complex cases. But we are becoming more and more independent.

When scrubbing left heart and complex procedures that require a variety of sheaths and catheters, it is more efficient not to go back and forth from the prep table to procedure table.  One way to organize transseptal supplies and catheters is to layer them on the foot of the table like a club sandwich with sterile towels as the bread.  Start with the earliest items to be used on top, then layer chronologically to the bottom.
For example all of the venous access needles, wires and sheaths are at the groin, The first catheter and US catheter are on top of the stack, then under the first sterile towel the first wire/transseptal sheath/transseptal needle, then the next item, etc. to the last catheter that is placed.  Have heparin on the table as well so you don't have to turn around to get it. 
It is much quicker and you never have to take your eyes off the action.

We use acunav ICE cath for continuouse echo during the procedure to avoid need to call echo dept..we also use arterial lines for BP measurement..both of these allow quick and definitive answers to hypotension issue under anesthesia.

We use the acunav cath and we leave it in place the entire procedure (pulled back slightly for quick easy access if needed) and this has proved useful. We also use the 10F acunav for more support.. the 8F is a little floppy for our docs.

For a behind the scenes look at what goes on at the Johns Hopkins EP Lab, read http://adventuresincardiology.com

With the ICE catheter, do you leave it in after the trans-septal for the entire procedure, or just place it after the end of the procedure or if there is a possibility there is a problem?