How To Become an Emergency Nurse

Specialties Emergency

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Hi I am Amanda and have my dream of being an ER nurse for my Career and I basically need how to become and ER nurse for dummies so if you could tell me as simple as possible! Sorry for post a dumb question but the internet was no help!

Greatly Appriciated,

Amanda

Thanks for choosing ER Nursing (although this could change)

1. Ask your guidance counseler to 'shadow' and ER nurse.

2. Sign up to get your nursing degree - I highly recommend a BSN program while you're young!!

3. Graduate and taking the nursing boards, preferable in a compact state, find us what this is before you take the boards.

4. Spend one year in med/surg/telemetry and one year in ICU

5. Get a great job in any ER (with this background they will love you!)

6. See you in six years, we'll be waiting with bells on!

:yeah:

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I've got a quick question. What exactly are the differences between a BSN and a RN. I'm slightlty confused. Like Amanda, I'm still in the deciding process and completing high school.

Thanks,

Nicole

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
I've got a quick question. What exactly are the differences between a BSN and a RN. I'm slightlty confused. Like Amanda, I'm still in the deciding process and completing high school.

Thanks,

Nicole

Nicole, there are a few pathways to RN -- there are diploma programs (fewer of those in existence now), Association Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs, and Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs. All three educational paths are valid means of becoming an RN. Good luck in the rest of high school! :)

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So, you are a RN if you complete two years, three years, or four years of education? BSN and ADN are just the degrees of education?

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

Yep, those are the degrees. You are an RN if you attend an educational program that allows you to take the nursing boards, the NCLEX-RN. It's an exam that all RNs must pass for licensure.

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Specializes in ER, Urgent Care.
So, you are a RN if you complete two years, three years, or four years of education? BSN and ADN are just the degrees of education?

You recieve your ADN after about 2 years of nursing school. Your BSN takes about 4 years of nursing school. If you are concerned about finances I would recommend the ADN program. You will be in school for 2 years and then will take the NCLEX to become an RN. This way you would be able to work as an RN and could still go back to school for BSN. Some hospitals will also help pay for you to go back to school. You typically will sign with the hospital to work for them for a set amount of years if they assist with your tuition. If you absolutely can not afford 2 years of school right now and need to start working ASAP, you could always get your LPN or Licensed Practical Nurse. This typically takes 1 year to complete and classes are usually offered at trade schools. Good luck with your decision! :up:

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Thanks! All of this is really helpful. :hug:

One more question :o. Is there a greater job opportunity or pay with the different degrees. :confused:

(I like all of these smiley faces :lol2: :aln::brnfrt::w00t:

b.t.w. :lvan:

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

BSN-prepared RNs usually have more management opportunities, and other areas like the military (BSN required for active duty). There is a whole forum here dedicated to BSN vs. ADN vs. diploma that might interest you:

Registered Nurses: Diploma, ADN or BSN? - Nursing for Nurses

It can get a bit heated at times. :D I work with pretty good mix of ADN RNs and BSN RNs in my ED, and they all rock. Our team leaders are required to hold a BSN by 2013 if they don't have a BSN now -- we're what's called a "Magnet" facility, which is a designation that encourages/requires a certain percentage of BSN-prepared RNs.

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Specializes in Emergency, Critical Care (CEN, CCRN).
Here is another question I have for the pre-requisites. So say I have my BSN or ADN. I know I then go to nursing school but for the Pre requisites do I need to have the undergraduates or Graduates? If undergraduates do I need to go back to highschool? Like say for example I need chemistry or Calc.? also which classes should I take in nursing school is there just a ER class?

Thanks ahead of time!!!

~Amanda~

...I think you've gotten a little out of step with yourself here. You go to nursing school to obtain a nursing degree, whether ADN or BSN, which then permits you to sit the NCLEX and obtain licensure as an RN. You don't earn your BSN and then go to nursing school. (Well, us second-degree types do earn a bachelor's in some other discipline first, but I digress... :clown:)

For both types of nursing degree, there are college-level prerequisites associated with that degree, which you would need to have completed before embarking upon the nursing curriculum. Some of those courses, such as intro biology or intro chem, you may be able to "test out" by taking the associated Advanced Placement course in high school. However, that's dependent upon your school's policy for AP credit, and frequently AP credit does not count toward your pre-nursing GPA. Thus, even if you took college preparatory courses in high school, it may be to your benefit to repeat those courses in college to improve your GPA for nursing school admission.

Once you're in nursing school, your curriculum will be largely fixed, as you'll be placed in a "cohort" of student nurses who will progress through the curriculum at the same rate. You'll start with basics such as anatomy and physiology, physical assessment, and pharmacology and pathophysiology; this will be linked to your laboratory validation sequence, in which you'll practice patient care skills in a teaching lab. Other courses, such as medical-surgical nursing, pediatric nursing, community nursing, etc. will each be linked to a matching clinical. For example, you'll have a maternal-neonatal nursing class tied to your Labor & Delivery clinical. Your program may offer limited options for electives, i.e. for your Community Health class, you may have an option of school nursing, clinic nursing and/or home care nursing for a clinical. Otherwise, it's the same rotation for everyone.

To the best of my knowledge, no nursing school in my area offers a "class" in emergency nursing. Instead, you may see emergency nursing offered as a clinical elective or as a preceptorship option. (Preceptorship is a common senior-year "capstone" requirement, in which you spend a semester working on a daily basis one-on-one with a staff nurse in a hospital. In my program, students can precept in just about any major field of nursing, and Emergency is a popular and highly competitive option; other popular choices include L&D and ICU.)

Hope this helps!

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best way in is hired in, or go from a m/s floor and prove yourself in six months.

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Specializes in ED.

Things to do in high school....

Take anatomy, chemistry and as much math as possible.

Volunteer at your local hospital.

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Specializes in ER/SICU/Med-Surg/Ortho/Trauma/Flight.

Alot of hospitals do offer the medical explorers program you might check into it, it will get you in the hospital and give you some experiences, now my bsn program required you to take critical care nursing the fall of your senior year and we did numerous clinicals in er and icu. I have my bsn, and yes my job requires it as I am an er/sicu charge nurse and supervisor. And yes you can always come here to get good feedback and mentorship from us vetetan er nurses we are always happy to help.P.s.- Keep in mind real er is not like the shows or movies.Rod RN, BSN plus a whole alphabet that I dont feel like typing and the other RN's know what I am talking about.

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