Some of you may remember be posting a month or two ago, when I was deciding whether or not to switch from NICU/PICU to the ED. Well, I did it, and landed a day shift job in my hospital's 80 bed Level I trauma center. Holy Cow. I just finished my second full week on orientation in the Chest Pain Unit section of the ED, and I must say I have a newfound appreciation and overall awe for ER nurses. My head was spinning from the minute I hit the door, not just from all that "adult" stuff I had to dig up from the back of my brain. I learned so much those two weeks, as pt after pt rolled through the door in RDS, AMI, CHF, etc.....By my second shift, I had helped code 3 people! Luckily the N/P ratio in the ER is 3-4:1, so my preceptor had a few minutes to explain away some of the confusion. I must say after all this, that I love the ER. I love the diverse array of pts, illnesses, quick pt turnover, new challenges rolling in all the time... Love laughing at/with the stupid pts who call EMS b/c they think their baby might "have an ear infection", "chest pain" with raging clap......etc...... I really hope I never get tired of it. I'm still at the point where I can't wait to get up and go to work. I guess I'm what you'd call one of those adrenaline junkies, who like to be crazy busy all the time (with a safe assignment, of course) SO: my hat's off to all you ER nurses who've been doing this forever. You are a special group of people!
