Emergency Room?

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Is ICU the same as the ER and if not what are the differences. My ultimate goal is to become a RN and work in the Emergency Room:w00t:

Also if anyone can share their experiences in the emergency room and what I can expect. THANKS :)

Specializes in CCRN, ALS, BLS, PALS.
Is ICU the same as the ER and if not what are the differences. My ultimate goal is to become a RN and work in the Emergency Room:w00t:

Hey, I'm currently both ER and ICU. The two are definitely not the same. In the ICU, you do not have an MD right there to look at the patient if you think there is a problem. For ICU you have to use your clinical judgement on whether or not to call the doc. ICU is also more critical most of the time. In ICU you will have either 1 VERY bad off patient with tons of meds and constant monitoring or you will have 2 PRETTY bad off patients. You definitely must have your monitoring skills in check and be able to tell if something is going bad, because often, things change quickly in the ICU-remember that they are the sickest of the ER patients, and you get two of them.

In ER, it is very hit and miss. Some days you will see a bunch of people who have chest pain, but nothing is really bgoing on, but other days you will have tramua after trauma after trauma. The good thing about ER is that there is a good amount of staff should things go bad and also the MD is there to order meds quickly. It usually never stops in ER, but it is very exciting at times! Esp if you like seeing alot of things.

Nursing is very rewarding in these areas if you like to learn.

hope this helps!

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