Good Personalities for ER Nursing?

Specialties Emergency

Published

Hello,

I'm about to begin the U.W. Oshkosh accelerated nursing program and have been thinking about where I would want to specialize (in the last clinical we get to choose a specialty, whoo!). I am wondering what kind of personality does best as an ER nurse? I have an interest in a few particular specialties, but I do realize that what you *think* will suit you best doesn't always do so, sometimes because it really doesn't fit your personality (and sometimes because what looks fun on TV is not actually fun when you do it!).

So, what kind of personality should a person have to survive in ER nursing?

I've always thought I would want to go into ER nursing, but I don't know if it would fit me. I am a very organized person, I live by schedules and "to do" lists (what am I supposed to be doing this second? What will I do for the next 5 minutes, and the 5 after that? then what?). And yet, I'm an adrenaline junkie. I kind of like it when my schedule flies completely out the window- but I wonder if I will be able to handle being "off kilter" all the time, or if I will just become a spastic mess because I don't have a dependable routine (frankly, routines quickly bore the h*ll outta me, yet the unpredictable can send me reeling like a spaz)

Thanks for your help :nurse:

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Specializes in ED, ICU, PACU.

You will have to be able to have the ability to constantly change your priorities. Lists of things to do (per patient) are OK, but you may have to juggle about 6 of those lists at one time.

With what you describe yourself to be, I would suggest critical care nursing. There you can give the patient more focus and not have to be juggling 4+ patients who all need something done at the same time.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
You will have to be able to have the ability to constantly change your priorities. Lists of things to do (per patient) are OK, but you may have to juggle about 6 of those lists at one time.

With what you describe yourself to be, I would suggest critical care nursing. There you can give the patient more focus and not have to be juggling 4+ patients who all need something done at the same time.

Uh-uh.

Anyone who has worked ICU knows that priorities change instantly in a split second. If you are a lists person, then OR nursing or perhaps pre-op/pre-surgery...

ER/ICU is not a place for a "lists" person, unless you can multi-task and don't mind when things get disrupted. That is the way of super-intense areas.

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Specializes in PACU, ER, Level 1Trauma.

:redbeatheWelcome to the exciting world of nursing!!! I have been an ER nurse for over 10 years. The thing with ER nursing is you either love it or hate it. No middle ground here. I would not recomend it to a new grad. Get some tele experience under your belt. Remember, if you can read a monitor you can do anything because the heart runs the whole show. Also, you better have a very thick skin. You are constantly being yelled at by someone(often a doc)and getting the "hairy eyeball" from someone else who wants to know why they don't have a room upstairs yet, haven't received their d/c instructions and another patient who is demanding mso4 and a box lunch. But an ER nurse must get thru all this and do it with a smile. That being said, it is a really exciting place to work and if you work in the ER you will know you can handle anything!! If you are a true adrenaline junkie(like most ER nurses are) then this is the place for you. If you don't like it you can transfer out in 6 months but you will NEVER forget your gig in the ER. Good luck!!

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Specializes in ED, ICU, PACU.
Uh-uh.

Anyone who has worked ICU knows that priorities change instantly in a split second. If you are a lists person, then OR nursing or perhaps pre-op/pre-surgery...

ER/ICU is not a place for a "lists" person, unless you can multi-task and don't mind when things get disrupted. That is the way of super-intense areas.

You misunderstood what I meant about changing priorities. As you must know, ICU changing priorities are no where near the complexity found in a busy ER, where there can be more than six beds (filled by more than 6 patients in a shift). ICU is more focused and the prioritization found there do not involve a multitude of patients.

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Specializes in CAPA RN, ED RN.

Many of the students that I see really like the time they spend in the ED and I try to give them a feel for what it is like. But mostly I will give them what they want as an experience in my department. Doing the program in the ED may give you the answers you are looking for. If you are clear with your preceptors about what your goals are as a student you will get a better feel for what it is really like. I would ask to get a feel for what it is like to manage all the pieces that it takes to be an ED nurse.

Emergency Nursing might work for you. You will just need the ability to keep a whole bunch of lists and priorities in you head simultaneously and keep the lists up to date so you can change what you are doing on a dime. It's actually easier to plan how you want to manage each patient and where you want to go with them. Then the "lists" fall into place.

However you may want to get experience in a less stressful environment while you are developing your personal philosophy of what it means to be an RN. And any skills you learn in another nursing environment will be useful in the ED since you will see everything there at some point. All the best as you move forward!

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
you misunderstood what i meant about changing priorities. as you must know, icu changing priorities are no where near the complexity found in a busy er, where there can be more than six beds (filled by more than 6 patients in a shift). icu is more focused and the prioritization found there do not involve a multitude of patients.

i have worked both areas and multi-tasking is a necessary skill, whether with a multitude of patients or one that is in a code blue situation for 6-7 hours at a time. neither is harder than the other, and both can be harder than the other--depending on the situational crises that evolve at the time.

very difficult to do both, and requires adaptability, flexibility and out of the box thinking.

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Specializes in ER.

I ran into a similiar dilema when I was trying to decide which I wanted to do...

I think ER worked great for me because most of the time, your patients are not very critical. You may have 1 or 2 out of 5 patients who probably need to be in the ER.

ICU is very detailed oriented. You have to cross all t's and dot i's. If the dr. is not there, you've got to call him to get orders for this and that, give him results, etc. In ER, the dr. is right there to get results and give orders. I like that alot. So that's also something to think about if you like instant gratification!

Good luck!

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Specializes in ED.

I've seen all kinds of personalities in the ED. You'll just have to always keep in mind that the ED is a fluid environment and your priorities can often shift on a moment by moment basis.

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Specializes in PACU, ER, Level 1Trauma.
I ran into a similiar dilema when I was trying to decide which I wanted to do...

I think ER worked great for me because most of the time, your patients are not very critical. You may have 1 or 2 out of 5 patients who probably need to be in the ER.

ICU is very detailed oriented. You have to cross all t's and dot i's. If the dr. is not there, you've got to call him to get orders for this and that, give him results, etc. In ER, the dr. is right there to get results and give orders. I like that alot. So that's also something to think about if you like instant gratification!

Good luck!

I have worked in the ER for last 11 years. Every person that walks in has the potential to be very sick. Someone comes in w/ a toothache and has undiagnosed htn of 225/170 or the nausea x 2 days, undiagnosed diabetes with a blood sugar 1100 mg/dl(yes, I had these patients). As far as the doctor "being right there". Well, that is true as long as he isn't in a code or even better, if it is a teaching hospital then your doc may be 2 months out of medical school. Sure, there are attending MD's but it is up to the nurses to know their stuff. We have to know something about every type of patient that walks in the door cause you better never count on just reading back the results and getting some orders. Like they say about ER nurses "Jack of all trades" and we are proud of it. As far as ICU being more detail oriented and having to dot your i's and cross your t's. Well if you think it is less detailed in the ER then that is not the place for you. That attitude of not being detail oriented will end you up on the wrong end of a big lawsuit and I sure as hell wouldn't want my ER nurse not being worried about the "little" details when she/he took care of my aging parents or my baby.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, PACU, Corrections, cardiac.

I have a good friend who has been director of several ED's in different states. She has been telling me for years that I have an " ER personality". I finally made the transfer to ED a few months ago and realized she's been calling me a *itch all these years!

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Specializes in Med Surg/Tele/ER.
I have a good friend who has been director of several ED's in different states. She has been telling me for years that I have an " ER personality". I finally made the transfer to ED a few months ago and realized she's been calling me a *itch all these years!

:hhmth:

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