It's late at night, the sirens wind down as they approach the ambulance bay....emergency nurses and staff await the patient in the trauma bay. As the patient is wheeled in, a hastily shouted report is given by the paramedic and it begins...Circulation - level of consciousness, pulses....Airway - is it clear? If not, what needs to be done to make it so...Breathing - yes or no?And on it goes....emergency nurses taking care of a very ill or traumatically injured patient. Organized chaos as everyone knows their role and what the ultimate goal is - a patient that survives to walk out of the hospital...In another room, a nurse is soothing an infant and giving the parents information as they face their child's admission for an asthma exacerbation...In another room, a nervous 14 year old finds out that whew! She's NOT pregnant. The nurse provides resources for this young girl...In another room, a 51 year old male is finding out that the chest pain he has had intermittently for "a few days" is actually a NSTEMI. The nurse discusses upcoming tests, and the ramifications of this diagnosis...In another room, a family is being brought in to say goodbye to an 84 year old female who was brought in after being found "down" by a neighbor. After a short code, the next of kin asks that resuscitation efforts be stopped. The nurse cleans her up as best as possible and invites the family in...What do all these situations have in common? An ER nurse is there to provide care, caring, education and skills to help those that can be helped and care and caring also to those that can't be helped.Not only does the ER nurse care for the patient, but the family as well. Entering the ER is never planned and many times it comes on the heels of a life-threatening or serious illness or traumatic injury. We all know that when we are under stress, how we might need instructions or education provided to us more than once. The ER nurse acts as teacher, educator, social worker, and nurse to everyone. Juggling all these roles is the forte of the emergency nurse.Often a thankless job, the life of an ER nurse revolves around chaos. People are not always nice in the ER: stress, illness, injury, ETOH, drugs all can combine to make for a not-so-nice patient or family member. However, these people must also be cared for. With clear boundaries, some assistance of security and sometimes restraints, the ER nurse trudges on.As an ER nurse for 10 years and a pre-hospital RN for 17+ these are some characteristics of ER nurses:They are usually type A personalities - they love the chaos!Having secure knowledge that they are at the top of their game - whether the next is a neonate born outside the hospital or a senior at end of life.The "full moon" phenomenon is "real"The "Q" word is also "real"Did I mention that ER nurses love chaos?To all the ER nurses:Who have stayed over to chart the full arrest...Who have gotten a rocking chair in the room so a Mom could rock her infant one last time...Who have taken the time to explain what the provider said over and over again...Who stays abreast of all the latest trauma research...Who possess all the ER-specific certs possible...Thank you for all you do. We all hope we never encounter you at work, but if we do, we know we can count on you.THANKS!!!!! 1 Likes About traumaRUs, MSN, APRN Trauma Columnist 14-yr RN experience, ER, ICU, pre-hospital RN, 12+ years experience Nephrology APRN. allnurses Assistant Community Manager. Please let me know how I can help make our site enjoyable. 88 Articles 21,249 Posts Share this post