I feel like I need ER experience.

Specialties Emergency

Published

Specializes in Psych.

Hello...I'm getting ready to go back to work and I feel like I never had enough rotation time in the ER back in school. For some reason, I feel like ED is the litmus test of nursing. Although I probably don't have the personality for it [ I'm rather soft-spoken and introverted ] my confidence in returning to nursing would improve, think, if I could have some experience in the ED. Would the ED nurses please provide insight? Should I give it a go - even maybe volunteering? How does a nurse whose background is in psych get some good clinical experience? Thanks for your thoughts.

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Specializes in ICU.

Adult ED nurse here. If you are interested in ED, jump into it. It's sink or swim really. You could volunteer if you want, but why? What's the end game for being a volunteer when you have a license? Go for it.

We have several excellent nurses at my hospital who have backgrounds in psych nursing. Very helpful for crisis patients.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

Psych nursing is good for those patients that are in psych crisis. I see them all the time in my ER. That's a skill-set that (I suspect) most ER nurses don't have. The ER does test a lot of your nursing skills, but it won't test your abilities in longer-term care. I come from a pre-hospital background. I learned to care for patients for a few minutes to an hour. Then I became an ER nurse. Now I'm starting to get better and better at taking care of patients for a few hours. Ultimately my job is to help find a way to make my patients "somebody else's problem" whether that's d/c home, to the floor, or to a unit, or to another hospital. That being said, I do use a LOT of skills and do a LOT of critical thinking about my patients while they're mine.

If you're looking to become an ER nurse, just be ready to jump in and start swimming. One good (and bad) thing about ER nursing is that nearly everything is done "stat" so you have to learn to just hop right to doing something NOW because if you don't, you'll fall behind as there'll be something else (or 4) that needs to be done stat on other patients. The time management you'd learn doing M/S nursing, Psych nursing, or ICU nursing is going to be different because of this difference. Few things will be scheduled/timed.

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Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.

Hmm. Do you WANT to be in the ER? Just because you think it's the litmus test of nursing doesn't mean you want to be there. If you WANT to be there, go for it.

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.

I agree - if you WANT to be there then go for it. Are you able to float down there or pick up extra shifts? That's how I got my foot in the door. And you can still be an ER nurse even as a soft-spoken introvert - I'm one myself and I've also worked as head charge of a 38 bed ER in the past. It can be done! :)

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Why is ED nursing the litmus test of nursing (coming from an ED nurse here)?

I love ED nursing, for my own personal reasons- but that doesn't mean that other types of nursing don't have as much value.

Nursing is so much more, IMO. I have learned so much from nurses in other areas. I say keep an open mind and do what you're passionate about because you're passionate about it, not because you think you "should".

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Nothing to it..but to do it. Nursing is one of those fields to where you sink or swim. On your off time review areas to improve on. Go for it!

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